Im interested in purchasing a GPS unit. I would like to try and get the most for my money and have it pull double duty.

Is there a GPS unit made that you can put in your car for street by street directions that I can also take into the woods with me and use to find treestands, etc.?

I would prefer to have audible turn by turn directions for the street portion of the GPS. I would like to have a topo view when using it "off road" so to speak.

Size is not too much of a concern, the bigger the better actually. I do not pack a ton of gear when hunting, so even a model with the 4-5" touch screen would not be that big of a deal, and my abe even preferred as it will see far more duty as a street navigator tham in the woods.

I have not really kept up with the GPS tech. I bought my dad a Garmin eTrex for $110 probably 6 or 7 years ago and the darn things STILL sell for that!

Any help and experience would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...w=1719&bih=920

 

Thanks, ive searched already. Yours would have been more helpful had you spelled topography correctly though, but I appreciate the effort.

Now that we have that out of the way.

Is anyone able to offer first had experience with a unit that is capable of this? Recommend one over another?

 

I'm a fan of Garmin myself. Garmin makes a unit called Montana that might fit your needs. It also accepts sd cards so you can crate custom maps for hunting areas.

 

GFY.

 

Yup, Garmin can't be beat. They up-grade their maps yearly and it doesn't take your first new-born child to pay for them, unlike the Ford version.

I've also got an 'I-Go' unit that was thrown in with my truck purchase.

Both do their jobs well, the map info is compatible (quality and updates) both are MP-3 players with BlueTooth capabilities. Both list "Points of Interests".

The Garmin is mounted on my Harley Ultra (cuz it's waterproof) and I use the I-Go in my 150.

Only drawback:

The user interface is completely different on both units.
Takes patience and time to take advantage of all the options that are offered on both.

Garmin will stand behind their products also, if that's important to you....

 

That thing looks perfect! A tad pricey, and looks like I still need to factor in the cost of maps, but it will do what I need it to do.

Looks like I need City Navigator NT for road maps, do I need to buy or DL a program for topo such as Topo USA 24K, or is something like that pre-loaded on there. The website is not too helpful there.

 

I have a Garmin GPSMap 60CSx. It's designed to take quite a beating and keep going. I use it on my ATV for track logging and just to get a good idea of where I am.

I bought the Topo USA 24k maps and they came on a 2GB SD card. I was surprised to find that it also included road maps as well as the Topo maps. Not sure what's all in the City nav maps though. Probably more precise and better for use in turn by turn directions.

 

Personally, the hand held units are much better for topo use, but the screens are a little on the small size for use in your vehicle. A widescreen version that can use topo mapping isn't all that compact to take in the field and reception could be horrible in wooded areas. Figure out which feature is more important and spend your money accordingly.

 

have you looked into marine gps units? most are built to last under pretty harsh conditions.

they offer waypoint tracking. not sure how they would work on the road though. worth taking a look i'd think

 

What have times become, that we need a GPS to find a tree stand?

 

I think some people these days need a GPS to find their ***.........

 

I started using gps a couple of years ago and now its one of those things you wonder how you lived with out it. After I broke the one I bought I turned on the GPS feature in my phone and pay the $10 a month for it. Worth it.. No topo in it though.. My experiance in the back country with them has been they will give extreme 4x4 trail in the directions so you have to be careful and plan still