I have often wondered whether to buy/bring a GPS on safari / hunting trips
A)could be fun too see on detailed map (like Google Maps) and B) could be safer in some cases (misplaced jeep... or lost contact with PH/Guide....

Thoughts?

I always carry a small pocket GPS.
I make it a point of marking the camp, the truck each time we stop and follow anyting, and all the locations of the different animals we shoot. As well as any relevant place.

Great fun, as well as being very useful.

I always carry a Garmin 60CSx in Africa.

In addition to keeping me from getting lost and letting me know how far I've chased something, I've marked down the location of every trophy taken on recent trips.

They're a great tool and nowadays very reasonable in cost.

Saeed: what model do you carry?

Anyone else have one they've been haopy with? Kinda skeptical on the one with touch screen (from freezing snd below in Sweden, to broiling in africa... Neees to be tough)...

OHH: thanks! My thoughts too

Definitely get one. If nothing else you'll have a lot of fun retracing your hunts.

And if something unexpected happens and you find yourself alone in the bush, (not likely of course), it could come in quite handy. It is, after all, Africa.

quote:

Originally posted by Orvar:
Saeed: what model do you carry?

Anyone else have one they've been haopy with? Kinda skeptical on the one with touch screen (from freezing snd below in Sweden, to broiling in africa... Neees to be tough)...

OHH: thanks! My thoughts too

I have a Garmin 60CSx and its a great bit of kit, but fast becoming "obsolete" compared to some of the other units Garmin produce.

Stay well away from the basic Garmin60 as it has an inferior GPS engine in it compared to the 60CSx..I tried the basic 60 thinking it would be good enough for what i wanted, but the lock-on times were slow and it easily lost the signal even under light cover...

I replaced it with the 60CSX, and it was a huge improvement in all respects..

The smaller Garmin E Trex Units are also worth considering, but you want a recent model with a "high sensitivety reciever" for the best lock-on times and signal reception..

Looking @ the Garmin website, I'm looking at the 62st

Anyone used that one?

Orvar,
In my view the 62s, the model I recently purchased to replace a 60csx, is a better gps, particularly the compass, and with the option of being able to download satelite photographs better still.
Here in the north island of New Zealand where much of our stalking is in bush the ability to see clearings and how much tree cover there is in any given location via the birds eye downloads is a huge improvement over the 60csx

I always took the cheapie Garmin Etrex, If someone didn't mooch it in camp I'd leave it behind for someone.

My friend I was with last year had a GPS, he reported how far we walked, where we were and such. We were in Moz and it fell out of the Cruiser at a charcoal vender and we did not realize it until hours later.
My Sony camera has a GPS in it and records the location, direction and the angle of the field of view. It came with a program that interfaces it to Google Earth. Pretty cool.

Mark

When taking a GPS to Africa, do you need to download the "Africa Map" or will it still be able to locate itself without the "data"?? Thanks for all info/replies!

quote:

Originally posted by Skip Nantz:
When taking a GPS to Africa, do you need to download the "Africa Map" or will it still be able to locate itself without the "data"?? Thanks for all info/replies!

yes

It's a good idea to take a gps to Africa. I have been lost on two different safaris (with the PH).

I use the Garmin Etrex HCx.

It is very small and fits nicely in a pocket.

quote:

Originally posted by Mark Clark:
My friend I was with last year had a GPS, he reported how far we walked, where we were and such. We were in Moz and it fell out of the Cruiser at a charcoal vender and we did not realize it until hours later.
My Sony camera has a GPS in it and records the location, direction and the angle of the field of view. It came with a program that interfaces it to Google Earth. Pretty cool.

Mark

my Sony HD video camera also has the GPS built in and it works great. you can geo tag all your video and still pics if you want to and later download to a Google type map or look at the area map directly on the camera's touchscreen display. since the camera also takes 12 meg stills in addition to 1080p video, having the GPS built in gives you 3 pieces of kit in 1 unit that fits in the palm of your hand- or a pants pocket.

Sounds like the one I have. I would have to dig it out of the safe to check the model.
I really like it, I only had a vague idea of where I was I could figure it out later. The video it shoots if great, what I shot is a better image than a lot of hunting shows have.
I bought it because it would fit in my shirt pocket. My old camera was large and carried in a bag so it was slow to get out and I missed a lot of potential photos the first time I was in RSA.

MARK WHERE DO YOU GET THE AFRICA MAP[ FOR THE GARMIN 60CSX?

I usually take an old Garmin III + . This was the current model in 1999!! (As my kids would say, "That's so last century…") It still works. And no, you do not have to download any of the data, unless you want to. By installing the Africa map, you get the convenience of roads, towns, etc. If not just switch on the GPS when you get there and manually initiate the positioning to give the GPS some idea of where you are. 'cos its still thinking its in the good ole US of A (or wherever it was last switched on). Once it locks on to the satellites it will track your progress.
One of the cool things I do is to mark the spots where each of the trophies where taken and when I get home I transfer the data to Google Earth and you have a great database of where you where and where each of the trophies where obtained. And that goes for any unusual landmarks or anything else you care to mark. When the data is transferred to Google Earth there is sometimes a little mismatch, as that beautiful little lake you saw is not exactly where you marked it. But its very easy to tune the settings so that everything looks right.

Jas

quote:

Originally posted by dr.475:
MARK WHERE DO YOU GET THE AFRICA MAP[ FOR THE GARMIN 60CSX?

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/buymaps.do

If you are going to download it the file are huge. The USA/ Canada update I did was 2 gig.

I was messing with my Garmin Nuvi I have in my truck and it has all the major roads in the whole world. It does not show secondary roads.

I use "tracks4africa" which will load into a garmin...I couldn't believe it when we drove up on a pan in the middle of nowhere and the maps had it marked with the local name.