Got myself into a bit of a pickle last week, walking in a wilderness trying to find a footpath on a remote hillside per the O.S map.

Didn't want to clamber up any higher as I was already knackered after a long hot walk, so opted for trudging away through a bog.

I wasn't lost as such, but i wonder if a hand held device may well have shown me exactly where i was in relation to the path I was longing for, and then a decision could have been made as to wheather it was worth the added effort or not.

Any recommendations in here from anyone?

Don't want anything too fancy, but ease of use, clarity, helpful, precise and good battery life.

Don't mind paying up to approx £200 for something that will get used regulary.

I have a small Garmin unit (like this:http://www.amazon.co.uk/Garmin-eTrex-Handheld-GPS-Navigator/dp/B000PDV0CE/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1371383200&sr=8-6&keywords=gps+handheld+garmin) that will give an excellent OS map ref that can easily be transferred to the relevant map.

Bought it for geocaching, but hardly ever bother with it now as my car Garmin is just as good, so might be willing to sell it.

I have a Garmin 60CSx and while it's a few years old, it's been excellent so would be a great second hand buy. Newer units do more things and have better screens but the navigation side of the 60CSx is great.

Depending on your phone, there might be an app for it?

I've used mine before when lost in the middle of nowhere and it's been quite useful. Relies on having signal though, which can be a pain.

I have been looking at hand held GPS devices too recently, because almost the same thing happened to me the only real difference was I walked though a lot of very deep heather and a couple of streams. The one I like most was the Memory Map, which is pretty water proof, has a decent sized screen and comes with full 50K:1 OS maps. The downside is it is a little over your budget at around £260 (although I think the kit also includes a bike mount kit too). There seems to be a way of buying a fixed amount of extra mapping (xxx/square miles), then outlining your walking area and downloading a 25K:1 OS map of it.

Download 'Open Maps' if you have an iPhone its excellent and free.

It has maps built in (not OS maps but still useable), will record your route and store it. It also shows height gain/loss as well as average speed, etc.

Only thing is it doesn't do is OS grid references.

For that get 'OS Converter' - also free.

If its occasional use these are great, but they do zap the batteries pretty quickly as they use the inbuilt GPS (so no issues with being out of mobile phone signal range).

My mobby is powered by coal and steam.

Only cost £30 mind, and am absolutely delighted with its basic functions even after 5 years still!

Don't think it's going to be much use for any 'apps' tbh, so hand held device it's going to be.

What i REALLY would like (don't know if its available), is a device with the full set of OS maps already on it, as I don't have much luck with downloading stuff off the 'puter tbh.

I may even consider increasing my budget if this is available.

Now signal is something I hadn't thought about, so I presume this IS going to be a fairly big negative issue in some remote parts of the countryside?

IIRC there wasn't any signal on my mobby around the back of Darrog (near Betwys-Coed) where I was last weekend.

Edited 16 June, 201313 yr by Mr Ree

The Memory Map 2800 also comes with full 50K maps and is around £180. Both their products come with the maps already installed too I am led to believe. The maps are worth a lot of money too.

The price of map updates for ALL of these premium GPS devices is a rip off, especially when half of them are rip-offs of the OS maps.

As KB suggests you could use your phone with a suitable GPS app to give you a fix to cross reference against your OS map, but using it for any length of time will flatten your battery as I've found out-luckily I was in the centre of Manchester, not in the middle of nowhere

If you are looking at the Memory Map GPSs, make you get the full, 50k Great Britain map. There are all sorts of other map versions such as National Parks and 100k map.

Now signal is something I hadn't thought about, so I presume this IS going to be a fairly big negative issue in some remote parts of the countryside?

IIRC there wasn't any signal on my mobby around the back of Darrog (near Betwys-Coed) where I was last weekend.

With a handheld GPS device (or phone using GPS) you don't need to worry about not getting signal. As long as the GPS device can see at least three satellites (in other words it can see the sky) then it will pick up enough information to calculate your position.

Obviously more satellites = more accuracy especially when it comes to speed & altitude.

With your budget you could get a smart phone (last generation and no need to put a SIM in) and use that.

But I don't see the point in that as you'll be disappointed with the battery life.

However something line a Galaxy SIII does have a very nice large screen...

...With a handheld GPS device (or phone using GPS) you don't need to worry about not getting signal...

Correct - assuming the maps are on the phone and not downloaded from the web

If you are buying a suitable GPS enabled Android phone, there are plenty of GPS Map apps available for free.. I used one to find an address in Cheltenham on Saturday and it got me there with no issues, even after I ignored it and came off at the wrong motorway exit!!

It recalculated a new route in less than 2 seconds. I tested this by taking repeated wrong turns on the way back, and it only made one mistake - trying to tell me a private driveway was a public road through a housing estate.

In contrast, my sons TomTom (purchased last year), takes about 30-60 seconds to recalculate a new route if you make a wrong turn.

Although I am not sure if my above posts have been noted :think: one advantage of bespoke GPS devices is the battery life is usually superior to that of the average Mobile phone. It is a receive only device and isn't trying to handshake with cell masts during the walk. Worse still, the likelihood is unless you remember to put your phone into flight mode or similar, then as you venture further in the wild, your phone ramps up it's output to try and handshake and so runs down your battery even faster. As I posted earlier, the Memory map devices are claimed to come with full OS mappng at 50K:1. Of course I might be on some peoples Ignore list

The battery life issue has been noted by three people, yourself included.

TBH 1:50k maps don't really cut it for anything more than macro-nav.

I'd be looking for a system that had 1:25k maps of the areas that I visit and options to buy more later.

A little like Memory Map!

Which is available on the iPhone.....

Garmin 60 Csx is great, use it lots

think what your looking for is an old school map and compass and a step counter

Kit

^{Well the OP has said he has a budget, wants ease of use, good battery life, easy install (already installed) maps and it needs to be ruggidised if it is to be used regularly in the great outdoors.}

^{A phone is not much use in the rain (unless you spend a lump on a waterproof case) it has poor battery life (unless you spend more on a second battery-Ipohoners need to buy a secondary case type cover with a built in battery) -many GPS devices use AA or similar and the rechargeable ones can take a change of battery-,phones need the maps buying and installing (the OP wants minimum fuss) and if it gets lost damaged etc, a phone costs a lot more to replace. Better to get the right tool for the job as it will cost no more anyway. I only mentioned the Memory map system as I had looked into it quite a bit and intend to get one before the summer is over.}

^{Sorry for the weird formatting of this post, but something 'buggy' has happened and I can't get the post to display correctly :(}

Edited 17 June, 201313 yr by Lady Elanore

MMTracker app available on the net..

2005 Memory map 1 to 25k maps available on the net..

Not legit. But very cheap. And great detail.

Combine with decent Samsung smartphone with good battery life and a cheapo waterproof cover from fleabay and you have an extremely cost effective solution.

None of which I condone in any way whatsoever!

What do you want a GPS for / to do?

Giving you a grid reference? £100 (There is a simple version for around £60).

Showing your position on a decent map? £180 (But only 600 sq km unless you buy more).

Maps (1:50k) and location? £270

I've not used any of these and not necessarily recommending any of them, just giving an idea as to what is out there.

The only one I use the is the basic Garmin unit which is about 8 years old and still works very well. It gives all the basic information I need (10 figure GR, speed, Avg. speed, altitude, etc.) and allows me to prove to my students whether they are in the right place or not at the end of their navigation leg. I've found map and wrist watch to be sufficient for the vast majority of my hill days. Compass rarely comes out of the bag.

For the cost of a gps you can do a course to teach you how to use map and compass to confidently navigate a range of rural environments, you could then support a local group by offering your services to hone your skills as the qualifications are internationally recognised. http://www.sportsleaders.org/courses/qualifications/level-3-certificate-in-basic-expedition-leadership/

Pm if you would like more information, as I happen to know a very good looking witty instructor who delivers the nav training and he has a blue fabia vrs too, so epic taste to boot !

As you will read about track days, instruction will offer better times when compared to performance upgrades, the same applies to navigation, practice and skill will serve you better than gps, and you wont make 25 new friends, or borderline binge drink whilst learning how your gps works

when I were a lad, I used to navigate with a map and a compass. A watch helps too. (not digital)

Pm if you would like more information, as I happen to know a very good looking witty instructor who delivers the nav training and he has a blue fabia vrs too, so epic taste to boot !

Caution, pimp at work

Don't hate the playa