Garmin Edge Unit for non-biking activities?

[jabberwocky]

The live tracking is, I believe, cell based. It connects through your phone using garmins app. The unit itself has no connectivity other than bluetooth.

As for maps, the best ones available are the openstreetmap ones. The database is available for free. You can see what trail and road info it has by navigating the site (its similar to google maps). You can also get supplemental topo maps for the garmin for free online, but I don’t know what coverage is like.

[KS1G]

Is a cycling GPS the right tool for this use? I would be concerned with the adequacy of the bread crumb map in the Edge 5×0 (I have an Edge 500 so not familiar with what the 510 has). 810 (or 800) would better for the map display. Are battery life and weather-resistance (IPX7 typical for the Garmin bike units) sufficient for a day hike plus reserve time to get un-lost? GPS for hiking generally have better topo map displays, battery life, and may be more rugged vs. a cycling unit. Bring a compass (even if you lack a map, you’ll have some idea of which direction to go to reach civilization) in case the GPS with the fully charged battery isn’t (fully charged)!

[GuyContinental]

@KS1G 51872 wrote:

Is a cycling GPS the right tool for this use? I would be concerned with the adequacy of the bread crumb map in the Edge 5×0 (I have an Edge 500 so not familiar with what the 510 has). 810 (or 800) would better for the map display. Are battery life and weather-resistance (IPX7 typical for the Garmin bike units) sufficient for a day hike plus reserve time to get un-lost? GPS for hiking generally have better topo map displays, battery life, and may be more rugged vs. a cycling unit. Bring a compass (even if you lack a map, you’ll have some idea of which direction to go to reach civilization) in case the GPS with the fully charged battery isn’t (fully charged)!

Thats kinda the question- the innards of an 810 should be very similar to their other units but I have no idea if you can reduce the sample rate to preserve battery. Not so worried about water-proof ness, that can be dealt with with a case but I assume that a 810 is good to go for anything short of a dunking… Or at least I’ve seen enough of them in driving rain to suspect that,,,

On the map, errr yeah, always have a topo a compass and a basic clue but unless you are out orienteering (which I do) a gps really speeds up the process.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@GuyContinental 51880 wrote:

Thats kinda the question- the innards of an 810 should be very similar to their other units but I have no idea if you can reduce the sample rate to preserve battery. Not so worried about water-proof ness, that can be dealt with with a case but I assume that a 810 is good to go for anything short of a dunking… Or at least I’ve seen enough of them in driving rain to suspect that,,,

On the map, errr yeah, always have a topo a compass and a basic clue but unless you are out orienteering (which I do) a gps really speeds up the process.

How much battery life do you need? On Saturday, I had my 800 on for about 7.5 hours straight, with turn guidance turned on for a 100 mile route (so a decently large/complex TCX file) and an HRM connected, and the battery was at about 50% when I was done. Waterproofing shouldn’t be an issue for a quick dunk (dropping in a shallow stream, for instance), and rain isn’t an issue at all.

[GuyContinental]

@TwoWheelsDC 51881 wrote:

How much battery life do you need? On Saturday, I had my 800 on for about 7.5 hours straight, with turn guidance turned on for a 100 mile route (so a decently large/complex TCX file) and an HRM connected, and the battery was at about 50% when I was done. Waterproofing shouldn’t be an issue for a quick dunk (dropping in a shallow stream, for instance), and rain isn’t an issue at all.

While I certaintly wish that I had days and days of time for back country fun and hyjinx, the reality is well within the 14 hour stated life of the 810. I’m also absurdly well equipped with drybags (former whitewater guy) so I’m not terribly concerned with it getting wet. What I’m most interested in is the non-bike user experience- assuming that you load jobberwocky’s free maps, does a 810 essentially oerorm the same tasks as a higher end back county unit?

[GuyContinental]

Snow-day bump on this post- my iPhone4 + Cyclemeter combo is almost useless since OS7 slowed my phone to a crawl and upgrading to a new iPhone will make all of my old kit (case, ANT+ sensors) obsolete. Buying it all again will cost nearly $300, might as well get a proper set up. Anyone have any more thoughts on the 810 as a day-use hiking companion GPS? Has anyone actually loaded non cycling topo maps?

[Author]

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