Handheld gps unit

[new on the ice]

What is a good simple handheld gps? All i need is accuracy finding spots and brushpiles. Nothing more good close accuracy is most IMPORTANT..... Want to mark spots or put in gps coordences ... Pleas and thanks

[Capt. j-rod]

Garmin is always solid. I have a Delorme pn60 that is great, but not user friendly. It always takes me forever to remember how to use it. I have a Garmin 62 that is much more friendly. I also carry a compass... These units don't perform well in zero temperatures. I keep them on a lanyard around my neck and inside my coat. I pull it out, get a compass heading and put it back in my coat. Ride a mile or so and check the heading again. If I leave the gps out, the batteries die. If you warm it up then the batteries come back to life. Maybe they are getting better.

[dickbaker]

Garmin is good!   Most of the basic Garmin units utilize WASS to provide you with 3 meter accuracy.
Don't invest in a Rhino unless you want it for two way communication.   The 3 meter accuracy is common on open ice but not necessarily in residential areas or heavily wooded areas.
Dick

[hardwater diehard]

Garmin Etrex 20 ...you could add an SD chip later on if you like ...TOPO or LakeVu....Garmin also has a way for you to download a map to the unit so you could make customized maps ...if you can get a copy of a map on your computer then you can get it onto your GPS unit...little bit of a process but achievable.

[new on the ice]

Thanks guys. I am looking for idiotproof as well. As i have zero computer skills... But pinpoint accuracy is most important. I have hears of guys that use some gps and can never fi d the same brushpile twice. Maybe they doing it wrong i dont know. But heard other guys say they can nearly find the same ice hole. That would be great. But seams a lot to ask

[hardwater diehard]

Thanks guys. I am looking for idiotproof as well. As i have zero computer skills... But pinpoint accuracy is most important. I have hears of guys that use some gps and can never fi d the same brushpile twice. Maybe they doing it wrong i dont know. But heard other guys say they can nearly find the same ice hole. That would be great. But seams a lot to ask

GPS units have come a long way more accurate then past units ...a bare bones basic Garmin Etrex 10 can do that...but can't get maps or add features  ...some good YouTube videos out there on the Garmins

[timr35]

I have a Garmin 62s  which i think they have replaced with the 64 series models , i use this thing all year, ice fishing, snowmobiling, atving, open water fishing , moose and deer hunting.
You can buy sport specific map packs that do everything from showing crown land from private to water ways and depth and contours.
there's even a model that has a camera for the unbelievable moments .
Garmin is definitely the way to go .
Like hardwater said they have changed a lot in a short amount of time .

[hardwater diehard]

I have a Garmin 62s  which i think they have replaced with the 64 series models , i use this thing all year, ice fishing, snowmobiling, atving, open water fishing , moose and deer hunting.
You can buy sport specific map packs that do everything from showing crown land from private to water ways and depth and contours.
there's even a model that has a camera for the unbelievable moments .
Garmin is definitely the way to go .
Like hardwater said they have changed a lot in a short amount of time .

Not certain a short amount of time  ...I have a Magellan 2000 from late 90s ...took forever to get a lock ..and would eat up batteries ...but did work on fishing and hunting spots ...graphic readout was comical by todays standards

[timr35]

Not certain a short amount of time  ...I have a Magellan 2000 from late 90s ...took forever to get a lock ..and would eat up batteries ...but did work on fishing and hunting spots ...graphic readout was comical by todays standards

My Garmin will lock on in less than two min. Without cloud or foliage cover , It also has a power save mode that keeps battery drain to a min .
I was hunting this past fall with a old friend who had a older garmin trex model which  he loved and has used for years .
When he saw what a new model could do he went shopping for a new one.

[esox_xtm]

I've had a Lowrance H20c for years and it has been bulletproof. Can't go wrong with Garmin but they aren't the only game in town. Upgrades in the infrastructure put me stepping in (literally) my previous days' icehole covered by 12" of snow. Locks in usually 45 sec. or less. Bear in mind performance is sometimes weather and "overhead cover" dependent.

As far as "simple"? I don't think there's any such thing anymore. Too easy to add a mega crap ton of bells and whistles the average user will never use only to complicate usage. There is usually a "simple/easy" mode that scraps most of that to make it a little easier but plan on a learning curve.

Get a popular model and, if possible, one that a good friend also has. They can help shorten the learning thing and don't forget the infamous YouTube. It's pretty helpful if you can distinguish the brains from the bozos.

[dickbaker]

What is a good simple handheld gps? All i need is accuracy finding spots and brushpiles. Nothing more good close accuracy is most IMPORTANT..... Want to mark spots or put in gps coordences ... Pleas and thanks

As always everyone will get onto better, high tech units with so many alternatives.  If you are serious about just enough accuracy to relocate good holes or brush piles than get the cheapest Garmin!
Regardless of model you will get 3 meter accuracy and at times even find it right on top of an old hole!   In a whiteout it sure is good to know exactly where your vehicle is parked.  My first mark of the day is always TRUCK?
Dick

[bigstorm]

I also have a Lowrance H2Oc with a Lakemaster chip. Too bad they stopped making them, it works great for early ice when I'm walking out. It gets me within 10ft of the spot I'm looking for. Once the ice is thicker, I use my Humminbird from the boat with a Lakemaster chip, but that isnt a handheld unit

[new on the ice]

I also have a Lowrance H2Oc with a Lakemaster chip. Too bad they stopped making them, it works great for early ice when I'm walking out. It gets me within 10ft of the spot I'm looking for. Once the ice is thicker, I use my Humminbird from the boat with a Lakemaster chip, but that isnt a handheld unit

thanks this is the kind of info im looking for.... I do not need extra stuff that i dont care to learn about... I just wantvto get on or close to old hole from one weekend to the next.. Or find brush piles with coordences... Thank

[timr35]

not sure if other makes has this, but some one made a point about a friends model.
my Garmin has the capability to share points with another Garmin wireless.
comes in handy if your friend has found a honey hole of new lake
 

[eriksat1]

I have a Delorme PN40 and yea they are not very beginner user friendly. but it will get me within about 8 feet dia. circle of a previous hole that I have drilled.

[hardwater diehard]

On my Etrex 20 it has Way Point averaging..i am sure other Garmins have this features as well

[Ice Surveyor]

If you want accuracy, get a unit that uses GLONASS, as opposed to WAAS for gps lock.  Look at the link below, from cabelas.  You will see that accuracy comes with a price tag. 

 

I has a Lowrance H2OC  quite a few years ago.  It was great until it died, and lowrance wanted $200 just to look at it.  In the trash it went. 

[Ice Surveyor]

http://www.cabelas.com/browse.cmd?categoryId=734095080&CQ_search=handheld+gps+w+glonass&CQ_zstype=REG

Link

[Capt. j-rod]

I forgot to add that touch screens generally don't perform well in sub zero. Thats why I went for the 62S with the soft keys. Maybe the newest ones are better.

[stinkyfingers]

I just went through this same exercise with the Forum about a month or so ago. The eTrex 20 seemed to fulfill all the basic needs that I had and that you describe. I wound up not getting anything since even the most basic units were still like something out of the Jetsons and I had to admit to myself that I'm just a Neanderthal after all.

[JaminWI]

I forgot to add that touch screens generally don't perform well in sub zero. Thats why I went for the 62S with the soft keys. Maybe the newest ones are better.

Great input! My first gps handheld was a Garmin Dakota 20...nice unit but too small a screen for a touch screen IMO.  Last year I bought a Garmin 64s and while the buttons can be clunkier at times, they worked great this last week out in -10*F temps with gloves on.  That's when I truly realized the value of the buttons. 

[potatoe]

Etrex 20 worked yesterday in -7 below. You need to spend time with them and figure out how they work. Mine is pretty old, had first issue this year I lost my way points from years back. I finally recovered them with Basecamp software.

I believe they are also selling a Garmin watch, you might want to check into that also

[eriksat1]

My cellular iPad mini with gps chip is not quite as accurate as my delorme  pn 40 but it certainly has more uses. Specially with the Navionics app. Actually the iPad mini with gps chip is the ultimate hand held gps.

[potatoe]

This looks like the watch, I did a quick search

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/583825

[Gamalot]

I like to kill two birds with one stone. My Humminbird fish finder is also a GPS chart plotter. I use it in my boats and kayaks in the open water and mark spots I want to fish in hard water. They make a case it goes in for ice fishing with a small 12V battery. All I had to buy once I had the unit were the extra mounting plates and cables.

I have a great Garmin Montana hand held I only used once while hunting a new area but it sits in the box as long as I am fishing any time.

Gam

[sunniewally]

 As some  have stated the buttons are the way to go.  The touch screen is a pia!

[lunkerslayer]

I am the odd guy and purchased a magellan 710 becuase at the time magellan was the only one to have a deal with navionics back in 2013. Lowrance and lakemaster were no longer available. So i had problems with first one my fault becuase i left it on the dash and the batteries leaked wrecking the inside compartment, destroyed the cover and cuased a bad connection on the usb port.
So I bought a brand spaken new one 2 years ago from magellan works great, use lithium batteries in it only last all day.
I was surveying around Gillette Wyoming looking for blm section corners, you can use the magellan vantage point pc app to download way pts into the 710.
The way pts were never more then 12 feet from the lat and long coordinates I put into the vantage. Also it was great for saving routes to where the blm monuments were located then being able to use that point to find the next blm if I didn't have it downloaded yet. 2640 or 5280 feet worked great
Since navionics has a detailed map of devils lake and using vantage pt I can create my own way pts using Google earth.
Never had a garmin becuase they never had a lake map for devils lake so now i have a the navionics android map on my phone and my magella710.

[esox_xtm]

As some  have stated the buttons are the way to go.  The touch screen is a pia!

I HATE TOUCH SCREENS!  Sorry, had to vent.

Additionally, anything you're using in the cold will benefit from lithium batteries. I got Energizer Li AAs and never regretted the price tag. Hand held depthfinder and GPS are both superior performers with better cold weather power.