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While geocaching I almost lost my 62ST once. I put it in my pant pocket, busied myself with looking around ground zero for the geocache, found it, then left to go look for another geocache 1/4 mile away. When I got there I didn't have my GPS & had to go back to the other one. Luckily, I put a bright reflective short piece of paracord through the hole in the bottom which is what I saw while searching for it. Since that time I physically keep my GPS attached to my backpack AT ALL TIMES when hiking/geocaching. Yes, I still have a bright reflective piece of para cord attached to my GPS for visibility, just in case. I also backup my GPS into BaseCamp the 1st of each month just in case something goes haywire with my GPS or I lose it.

@AZClaimjumper

I usually have a waist pack on (carried in front, for quick access to snacks and gadgets), and my Garmin Inreach lives in a little dry bag in the waist pack. I don't like to keep it in my backpack because sometimes I drop the backpack and wander off to go explore away from the trail. This way, it's always with me and I don't have to remember to retrieve it from the backpack.

The Inreach syncs with my cell phone, so I usually do not even take it out of the waist pack until it's time to recharge it from a power bank.

I have found two GPS's that others lost (both in VERY dense vegetation) but I've never lost one. (that's only if running over one doesn't count)

I never trusted the 'carabiner' on the Garmin 6x series so I always had it attached to the metal locking tab with a thin cord and carried it inside a case attached to my pack. This solved both issues... having it accidentally ripped off going through brush or laying it down during a hike and leaving it.

@CannondaleKid
Running over one COUNTS!
Dropping one that causes it to shatter into little pieces also counts.
I'd bet a shiny dime many more Cell Phones have been lost/gone South than GPS units.

Any truth to the rumor GPSJOE carried 2 GPS devices.

RIP GPSJOE

hiking_arizona wrote: ↑Sep 12 2020 12:58 pm Any truth to the rumor GPSJOE carried 2 GPS devices.

RIP GPSJOE

Every time I hiked with him he carried two.
Echo the R.I.P..

hikeaz wrote:Every time I hiked with him he carried two.

Interesting. He must have discontinued carrying two sometime before I started hiking with him in early 2010. I know the day he disappeared on 11/8/2010 hiking in from the Mount Peeley TH, that he had his then newer Garmin 62s with him. His son later gave me his well used but in still good condition, Garmin 60CSx, which I later personally gifted to our deserved HAZ- @BobP for his much appreciated 22+ GPSjoe search hikes.

like others have noted i have also found HAZ Route Scout on Android to be more accurate than my modern GPS.

Use the GPS only for messaging and so that family can track progress from my Garmin GPS Inreach beacon.

HAZ RS Rocks.

AZClaimjumper wrote:I'd bet a shiny dime many more Cell Phones have been lost/gone South than GPS units.

In addition to finding two lost GPSs while hiking I've also found two SmartPhones.

hiking_arizona wrote:I have also found HAZ Route Scout on Android to be more accurate than my modern GPS

That has not been my experience... especially when I'm doing a lot of ups/downs/doubling-back within short distances.

I suppose a relevant question would be... without comparing to a military-grade GPS, how do we really know which is more accurate?

One thing I have been aware of for 15+ years is that when using the Garmin default settings the Trip Computer screen reads high on mileage (~9% too high) and usually low on elevation gain. I've always tweaked the settings so the Trip Computer reads closer to the actual saved track, but no matter because I never use the stats off the Trip Computer screen anyway.

@CannondaleKid
I, too, have come to the same conclusions in terms of my Garmin hike distance is exaggerated & accumulated elevation gain is not enough.
I just prefer to be connected via Satellite than a Cell Phone Tower.
In principle/theory I choose to believe a Cell Phone is NOT as accurate as a piece of equipment that is specifically designed to record your location, meaning my Garmin GPS. I have nothing to support my opinion

Bruce & I ran the exact same model Garmin Oregon 450t, same settings and had variances up to 10%. My Garmin Fenix never matched my Garmin Oregon. In all fairness, I did not try putting my Oregon on my wrist nor my Fenix in my pocket. There are a plethora of variables involved. Phones used as cameras, communication devices, and such... add variables. Android not in airplane mode, within ~five miles of a cell tower, is typically trouble. Twenty years ago, hikers bitched about garbage on trails, crowded trails, and stats. Go with what you are willing to accept. The lowest reasonable figure from the lightest all-in-one device suits me. YMWV... literally

Back to the topic before 1 of the 5 guidelines is enforced and somebody has a conniption fit
Have you lost or almost lost your GPS?

AZClaimjumper wrote:I just prefer to be connected via Satellite than a Cell Phone Tower.

Phones connect to the same constellations of satellites that Garmins do.

joebartels wrote:Have you lost or almost lost your GPS?

Yes. Though I wouldn't say I miss it.

I set a GPS unit on the top on my Jeep Liberty above the drivers door at Peralta trailhead after a hike. I forgot about it and drove off. When I got home I couldn't find the GPS and realized what I had done. I returned and looked for it but no luck so I gave up on it. My address and email were in the GPS. About 2 years later I received an email from a guy who found it. He told me where he lived and left it outside near the front door for me to get. When I got home the same out rayovac rechargable batteries were in the GPS and it had not been used. I put in new batteries, turned in on and the GPS track from my hike 2 years ago was still there. Curiously there was one more waypoint. A waypoint dropped at the guys house 2 years ago the same day I lost it. I don't know the why but maybe the return was part of a twelve step program or some recent conversion.

@wallyfrack
My name & Phone number appear on the opening screen when my GPS turns on.
Thanks for your reply, I'm going to put a piece of paper with my name & address inside along with the batteries, just in case. I'm going to do the same thing with my PLB, except the info will be secured on the outside case of my PLB.

I purchased my first Garmin GPS Receiver in Year 2008 , a new and then very popular 60CSx. I lost it on an eleven hour Mazatzal Wilderness Bushwhack Death March with HAZ- topohiker in May-2009 attempting to hike the then impossible "Davey Gowen Tr / Deer Creek Tr" Loop. Assuming it was lost for ever, the day after I ordered a replacement new Garmin 60CSx. A couple of weeks after this, another hiking friend and I decided to drive back up to the Mount Peeley TH and then hike down the upper section of the Deer Creek Trail #45 for a short distance to see if by chance we might find my lost Garmin Receiver 60CSx ( [ triplog ] ) and [ photoset ] we did surprisingly find it

Now I owned two 60CSx units and with my friend and active hiking partner, our HAZ- GPSjoe's hiking disappearance in from the Mount Peeley TH in Nov-2010, GPSJoe's only son from Chicago, a few years later, gave me his late dad's much used, but still in good condition Garmin Receiver 60CSx. Now I owned three Garmin 60CSx units + having later purchased a newer Garmin GPSMAP62s in Oct-2012. The rewarding conclusion is that I decided to gift all three of these working Garmin 60CSx units to three our our deserving HAZ active hike members (two of three members which had lost their own 60CSx units while hiking)

I use a Garmin Dakota 20 it rides in a military phone pouch similar to this one https://www.armysurplusworld.com/tech-sheath. I also loop the lanyard around the shoulder strap knock wood this has worked so far. I also canyoneer with it and have tossed my pack along with the gps in many a pool of water no damage or lost gps.

Many years ago I almost forgot to pick up my GPS after I had set in an inconvenient spot where it seemed to get better reception. Ever since then (and also since its descendants had better receivers) I've generally kept it in my hand or in its designated packed location.

I also usually have a backup, since I always carry my phone to minimize theft exposure.

@Grasshopper

Yes, I lost mine... [ triplog ]