Caribou Gear Tarp

Garmin for OnX

Preach

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I’m considering purchasing a Garmin for use with OnX maps for an upcoming public land Elk hunt in Montana. Which device would you recommend? I would like to have a good one but not break the bank. I don’t have to have top of the line just something that functions well and is reliable.
Thanks,
Preach
 
Honestly I’ve been exclusively using my iPhone for OnX use. I have a Garmin 62st that I used before OnX made the platform available on cell phones.

If you're stuck on using a dedicated GPS unit, my recommendation would be for the largest touch screen Garmin makes.

Once I switched to the huge screen on my phone from the tiny one on the GPS unit, there was no looking back.

I do carry the GPS as back up in my pack, but haven’t even pulled it out in the field for several years.
 
I’m considering purchasing a Garmin for use with OnX maps for an upcoming public land Elk hunt in Montana. Which device would you recommend? I would like to have a good one but not break the bank. I don’t have to have top of the line just something that functions well and is reliable.
Thanks,
Preach
Hey Sir,
I am selling one in the classifieds if you were interested. It's a Garmin 64s, lightly used and comes with a map chip that cost $100. The chip has data from most western states. However, it's not up to date at this point.

 
Honestly I’ve been exclusively using my iPhone for OnX use. I have a Garmin 62st that I used before OnX made the platform available on cell phones.

If you're stuck on using a dedicated GPS unit, my recommendation would be for the largest touch screen Garmin makes.

Once I switched to the huge screen on my phone from the tiny one on the GPS unit, there was no looking back.

I do carry the GPS as back up in my pack, but haven’t even pulled it out in the field for several years.
Thanks. That sounds like a great idea. Just want to make sure I don’t kill my battery or lose connection with gps.
 
Hey Sir,
I am selling one in the classifieds if you were interested. It's a Garmin 64s, lightly used and comes with a map chip that cost $100. The chip has data from most western states. However, it's not up to date at this point.

Thanks I’ll keep that in mind for sure.
 
for easy basic use: your phone. download the maps before heading out, put OnX in off line mode and phone in airplane mode, go all day
Thanks for the information on how to set up my phone. Can you turn on OnX to navigate back if you don’t have cell service?
 
I use OnX on my phone and also bring my inReach mini. The earth mate app for the inReach on the phone works well for the gps. Also I bring 2 phone size solar chargers, one to take with me and the other to charge while I'm out and hunting, to make sure neither the garmin or phone lose too much battery and die.
 
Thanks. That sounds like a great idea. Just want to make sure I don’t kill my battery or lose connection with gps.
Connection with satellite will not be an issue, but ALWAYS put the phone in airplane mode, battery will last all day.
 
For the guys that use only the phone, how do you get around the battery drain during really cold temps? I find that if I use my phone, the battery hardly lasts if its cold. Last year I even had it go almost instantly to zero during the early cold snap in MT and I had just a thermometer appear on the screen indicating that it was too cold to operate (iphone 7). An yes, this is in airplane mode with Bluetooth off.

I also hate taking my gloves off in order to really be able to use the phone, whereas the GPS buttons are much easier to work while gloved. Moreover, I find the screen to not work well in temps below freezing. Lastly, I worry about the phone being more fragile than a built for purpose GPS unit.
 
For the guys that use only the phone, how do you get around the battery drain during really cold temps? I find that if I use my phone, the battery hardly lasts if its cold. Last year I even had it go almost instantly to zero during the early cold snap in MT and I had just a thermometer appear on the screen indicating that it was too cold to operate (iphone 7). An yes, this is in airplane mode with Bluetooth off.

I also hate taking my gloves off in order to really be able to use the phone, whereas the GPS buttons are much easier to work while gloved. Moreover, I find the screen to not work well in temps below freezing. Lastly, I worry about the phone being more fragile than a built for purpose GPS unit.
I take a portable charger and keep the phone and battery in an interior pocket very close to my body. It’s not perfect, but it helps.
 
I just sold a Garmin 64s with an onX chip for WY. The set up worked great. However, I preferred using the cell phone with onX app and a portable charger if needed. I’d really look at going this route over a GPS.

I think your phone with onX and a Garmin inReach is the way to go.
 
For the guys that use only the phone, how do you get around the battery drain during really cold temps? I find that if I use my phone, the battery hardly lasts if its cold. Last year I even had it go almost instantly to zero during the early cold snap in MT and I had just a thermometer appear on the screen indicating that it was too cold to operate (iphone 7). An yes, this is in airplane mode with Bluetooth off.

I also hate taking my gloves off in order to really be able to use the phone, whereas the GPS buttons are much easier to work while gloved. Moreover, I find the screen to not work well in temps below freezing. Lastly, I worry about the phone being more fragile than a built for purpose GPS unit.

I bring an anker power pack for multiday trips. A pretty small one will keep 2 phones + a garmin mini charged for a week.

I haven't had major issues with batter life... I think the coldest hunt I used it on where I was regularly checking it was -5 or something.

I keep my phone in my base layer chest pocket when it's cold. Phones definitely aren't as rugged as the old school GPS devices but my IphoneX is waterproof and has made it 3 years of abuse so 🤷‍♂️
 
I liked it way better on my phone then on my GPS, so much so that I ditched the GPS. I use my phone and and inreach as a Catastrophic Back up..
 
I use OnX on my phone and also bring my inReach mini. The earth mate app for the inReach on the phone works well for the gps. Also I bring 2 phone size solar chargers, one to take with me and the other to charge while I'm out and hunting, to make sure neither the garmin or phone lose too much battery and die.
Thanks for the help.
 
I just sold a Garmin 64s with an onX chip for WY. The set up worked great. However, I preferred using the cell phone with onX app and a portable charger if needed. I’d really look at going this route over a GPS.

I think your phone with onX and a Garmin inReach is the way to go.
Thanks
 

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