hand held gps

last lear i was heading back from mountain. i was navigating by gps due to rain and fog. my wife says "what happens if the gps breaks"? good question ! i am in the market for a hand held back up, just in case. does anyone have any sugestions for a decent, waterproof hand held gps? i don't need a lot of features since it will be a back up. i don't need color or to store a ton of waypoints. just something reliable in case i need it. thanks

i have a smart phone. i was thinking of something a little more rugged. something that can be submersed.

Smart phones do not have any GPS capability.
They only work in range of cell towers and back from mountain does not sound like a place with service.

My cel works where some GPS Units don't and faster too

I have the cheap 100 dolla Etrek. I use it on the boat as I dont have a state of the art fish finder. It clocks my speed down to the .1 mph for trolling. It has a built in compass. It is water proof.
 
BH

I have a Garmin GPS maps handheld as a back up . I have different cards for each area I fish. I have used the unit out on the ocean and GL as backup to my base unit. Also use it for hunting out west.
Also I as a last resort back up I would invest in a good compass and some good nautical charts.
 
 

I have a Garmin Dakota 20 handheld GPS that I use for backpacking/hiking/canoeing. I absolutely love the thing. I got it on sale for $250 from Cabela's. I've always had a great signal, even hiking in a dense forest. I can't say about any of the other units because I don't have experience with them. If you don't want to spend the money the smart phone apps might be the way to go (if you a GPS enabled phone). I agree with wirenut45 though, always have a real compass for backup, about $15.
 
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Garmin174-Dakota-20-GPS/709830.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Dgarmin%2BGPS%26x%3D-911%26y%3D-51%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts&Ntt=garmin+GPS&WTz_l=Header%3BSearch-All+Products

My GPS and iphone both have a compass

Yeah, I use my compass all the time, but only to maintain a rough heading when cruising...but for navigating hazards in low or zero visability...not so much.

Yes , I am serious as a last resort.  I was in the military long before they had GPS . It may be outdated but it will get you home when all else fails, and find points efficently utilizing 8 or 10 dig coor with a map.
If you were in seas that rough , in a channel. Then I say you are in port and have bigger things to worry about .   

several people mentioned using a compass. seriously? have you ever tried to use a compass to find a 100 yard wide channel on the lake in low visability in 3-5 foot waves? i had orienteering classes in the military. it usually involved using a map and shooting back azimuth's to 2 known points. points are hard to see in low vis situations. i suppose one could just head south until you see land. hopefully you won't hit the rocks off north east before you can shoot a azimuth to a known point. i can see myself now, compass in one hand, chart in the other, wheel in my third hand, and gilligan standing on the bow. hell why even rely on that new fangled compass technology. real men navigate by the sun and stars. anyone know where i can buy a sextant?

i was in the field artillery before gps and computers. i know a little something about using maps and finding my location on the earth. i just am not familiar with how to use a compass and a map to determine my location on water, in low visability, with no landmarks. i would love to know how to do it. perhaps you could share this information with us.

when i was refering to the chanel i meant finding the channel to get into the bay. and yes the channel can get that rough. have you ever been on erie?

not to be a sm----ss, but will all these elec. things work if the problem isn,t yr. phone or gps, but the grid itself ,like happened some years ago around great lakes? i seriously don,t use those things, i,m an old woodburner type and don,t quite unnerstand them. no cell, no ipod, no gps. pi--es off kids ,n, grandkids, but hey, i,ve lived longer than any of them, without, so can,t be doing too bad.

I've had a hand held garmin since the mid 90's (approx), won it from the sons drawing. It's the only one I have. Use it on the boat (for you know what,) snowmobiling (thankfuly we never had to use it there,) & farm (plowing straight and speed for spraying), works like a charm. I get the big pieces of velcro from the craft store, stick one end on the unit and the other on what ever dash I might be using. Works off AA batteries and it seems pretty easy on them, though always carry an extra set.
 
Smitty

 If we need a defibrillator I'll just pull the coil wire off... 
Hope it never comes to that..
Mike

Bogey,
Did you happen to get the Navionics + upgrade? If so, does it seem to give much more detail on the local inland lakes? I think my Lowrance is on its last leg, so bought the Navionics app as a back up. But the detail isn't as nice. I tried to look at the maps they had online, but look the same. Mostly looking for Arthur, Pymie and some of the other smaller inland lakes. Presque Isle Bay would be nice too. The standard one on the bay looks pretty nice, but always better with more detail.