GPS Advice Sought

[pianoman9701]

My partner uses his phone with OnX. It's pretty sweet. The one thing the phone doesn't have is the ability to communicate when out of range. The Rino 650 or higher has the ability to communicate with a strong radio - 5W, places your partner on your map any time he keys his mic or location button (as long as he also has a Rino), and coordinates with a desktop application to edit tracks and waypoints and create tracks and waypoints for future use. I really like the GPS for those reasons. I have the 655T. I think the 650 has a slightly bigger screen, though.

[ctwiggs1]

I don't use OnX because I really haven't had a need in WA yet.  If I pick up any WY antelope tags next year I'll just put it on my cell phone.

I picked up an inreach mini this year and absolutely love the thing. 

[Tbob]

Yeah, I run the onx on my phone, but in cold weather (even in airplane mode), my phone can die quickly! It happened to me in AZ one year in late December. I even kept the phone in my pocket closer to my body heat. Thing was dead in a couple hours.. my Garmin 64st is rock solid (with onx chip)so I always have it and a few xtra batteries now. Never to be stranded again!

[yakimanoob]

There’s little doubt that phones provide certain benefits that a dedicated GPS doesn’t. I will still use a dedicated GPS when hunting in the field for the following reasons:

Batteries. Four AA batteries weigh about 3 ounces, are available everywhere, cost a couple bucks, can be easily field replaced, and will power the GPS for 25 to 30 hours. Long term, I find a good battery pack to be a better option. My Anker PowerCore weighs a few ounces and holds 13,000mAh and will charge either my phone or my Garmin inReach.

Durability: a dedicated GPS is more weather resistance than most phones.

Advanced features: there’s probably a way but I haven’t yet found a way to easily and quickly project a waypoint based on distance and bearing on a cell phone application. It’s straightforward on a GPS. Check out the Spyglass family of apps.  They are battery-intensive as they're Augmented Reality apps, but they work surprisingly well for orienteering.

Compatibility with computer software: I have decades of tracks and waypoints stored in various computer files associated with programs such as Basecamp. It’s very easy to connect the GPS and download/upload selected waypoints and tracks.  This is a big criticism of the OnX system, and it's one of several reasons that I only use OnX for verifying that I'm standing on legal ground.
 For general navigation, mapping, note-taking, etc., I use TopoMaps+ on my iPhone.  It's an obscenely fantastic app with the best map suite I've seen, and, among other things, can accept standard GPS-format data into it.  Tracks, routes, waypoints, etc can all be loaded in.  I've heard similar compliments about the Gaia app, but I've only given that one a cursory glance.

Replacement cost: I drag my GPS through mud, snow, sleet; through them into packs, bang them around in vehicles, and basically trash them. If I need to, the replacement cost is around $250. Replacing my cell phone would cost $600 plus. No argument here.  Smartphones are cripplingly expensive.  That said, choosing a waterproof phone and getting a solid case will get you a LONG way.

To each his own.

Fair points.  Counterpoints from a phone-user in blue 

My setup is my iPhone 7, a Garmin inReach SE+ (used just for communicating with my wife while I'm out and, God forbid, as a PLB), and a battery pack for trips longer than an overnight. 

I hunt solo though.  If hunting near, but not exactly with, another party, I can see how a Rhino would be a game changer. 

[T-Dozzer]

Onx in offgrid mode, then an inreach mini if you need to text out when out of cell service.

[C-Money]

I went for it and got a new Garmin 64s and the WA OnX chip. Seems pretty straight forward to use. Pretty excited. This new Garmin is a HUGE leap in technology from my old Magellan Explorist 210. The new Garmin is a TON faster. Can't wait to get out scouting with it!

[Bob33]

I think you'll really like that GPS.

[pianoman9701]

I went for it and got a new Garmin 64s and the WA OnX chip. Seems pretty straight forward to use. Pretty excited. This new Garmin is a HUGE leap in technology from my old Magellan Explorist 210. The new Garmin is a TON faster. Can't wait to get out scouting with it!

The 600 series is really amazing with the speed that it locks up, even in heavy cover or overcast/rainy skies. We were hunting in the first three weeks of September and for 5 days, the rain was torrential. The only time it wouldn't lock was occasionally when it was in my pocket. When I took it out, instant lock.

The wireless features on the 64S look interesting. Will it synch with a Rino and have you show up on a partner's GPS? That's a great feature of the Rino.

[C-Money]

I think it will? I saw a feature that family can track me on their cell phones. Lots of aspects of this GPS that will take some learning...Being old school, I wanted buttons vs a touch screen. The 64s appeared to have everything I wanted. Tri State in Moses Lake price matched Wal-Mart.