Products Catalog

Specification

Hiking GPS: The Big Picture

GPS technology is a super useful tool for outdoors men and women. They make navigation easy, and can help in the event that you get lost on the trails.

A hiking GPS gives you several tools to record or track your hikes so you can view data from your past treks such as: distance, elevation changes, calories burned, and average speed. The possibilities to extrapolate from such data are endless.

But...

While many of the features that a hiking GPS unit offers are cool to have, they are also not necessary for you to have an enjoyable hike.

Some may even argue that using a GPS in the wild takes you away from the real experience of being in touch with nature. Others may say that GPS technology gives you a better understanding of the land you’ re exploring.

In any case, a hiking GPS should NEVER replace a simple magnetic compass and a paper trail map. Right when you need to find your way, your batteries could run out. A magnetic compass won’ t quit on you.

The Basic Functions of a Hiking GPS

1. Giving Your Location

At the click of a button, your GPS device will tell you almost exactly where you are on the globe, using the UTM coordinate system.

( The UTM coordinate system is an imaginary grid covering the entire globe. This way, we can assign every tiny spot on the Earth an “ address� if you will. If you want to learn a little bit more about this system, click here .)

You can use your location in coordinates to find your position on a topographic map, since most use the same UTM coordinate system.

2. Point-to-Point Navigation

Simply, you can tell the GPS receiver the location of point A, point B, etc. and it will point you towards each point and tell you how far you have to go.