Garmin ?

[Potsie]

+1 for the In-Reach/OnX app combo.

I had an older ipad Mini bouncing around my desk at work this spring. We were taking a backpacking trip to Big Bend NP so I synced the two up. Really liked the combo despite the added weight/bulk from the iPad. I'm up in the air about what I'll carry this year for hunting, but the In-Reach will definitely be going along, paired to something running the app.

That being said, I still carry a USGS topo map and a compass because technology can and will fail at times. Whether it's batteries, cloud cover, thick tree cover, a thorough dunking during a creek crossing... sometimes you just really need a compass and a paper map. Besides, orienteering is a perishable skill... use it or loose it.

 

[SandyCreek]

+1 for the In-Reach/OnX app combo.

I had an older ipad Mini bouncing around my desk at work this spring. We were taking a backpacking trip to Big Bend NP so I synced the two up. Really liked the combo despite the added weight/bulk from the iPad. I'm up in the air about what I'll carry this year for hunting, but the In-Reach will definitely be going along, paired to something running the app.

That being said, I still carry a USGS topo map and a compass because technology can and will fail at times. Whether it's batteries, cloud cover, thick tree cover, a thorough dunking during a creek crossing... sometimes you just really need a compass and a paper map. Besides, orienteering is a perishable skill... use it or loose it.

funny i have an iPad with cell service that just sits there, i thought about doing this too, thought the bigger screen might be nice

 

[Anschutz]

I'll second the phone/in reach combo. I was pretty surprised how accurate my phone GPS was in the Fryingpan Wilderness last fall. I didn't use it much but it impressed me. I'm still a young buck at 26 but prefer the map and compass method. I rarely use a compass as I terrain associate with the map to navigate. My advice is to be proficient with analog navigation. Being a long way from the truck after your GPS gives up hunting is not where you want to start learning and even if you are proficient use an panic azimuth that will take you to a main road. For example, in the Hunter Fryingpan Wilderness, I used a panic azimuth of 180* (Dead South) as CO 82 runs E-W to the south.

 

[406LIFE]

InReach mini has just been released...

 

[VikingsGuy]

InReach mini has just been released...

Should have predicted that, as I just bought an InReach full-sized a month ago.