GPS Unit

[pickle]

What is the best handheld GPS unit!

[colorado_rob]

Need more info on what you want. I personally use the simplest, lightest little thing out there, the Garmin Fortrex 401. All I want is to be able to find my position in a pinch, plus occasionally navigate to waypoints, use it as an "odometer", etc. I have no need or want of maps on a GPS. I find them fairly useless. Most folks like having maps on their GPS units though.

[Maddog]

I love my Garmin 60CSx...that being said, I do almost all of my hiking on the AT and it is absolutely unnecessary! Maddog:D

[MuddyWaters]

Mapping GPS are really great. They are not necessary, but they give you elevation, show your position on topographical countour background map, etc.
As well as having complete detailed maps of towns, local roads, forest roads. Extensive Point-of-interest databases with restraunts, stores, etc.

But today, most peoples phones will do all that too.

I dont always bring mine on a hike due to weight. But , what I like best is to load someone elses track, and waypoints. Then I know exactly how far it is to a water source, a shelter, a road, or even to the summit of a peak.

Using my gps, I have even bushwacked at night. Not fun, you go over, or thru whatever is in your way. But you can get to your destination if need to, and come out just a few feet from it.

[10-K]

I have a Garmin Oregon 450 and love it. Unless I'm just on the AT I almost always take it with me.

[Sarcasm the elf]

I love my Garmin 60CSx...that being said, I do almost all of my hiking on the AT and it is absolutely unnecessary! Maddog:D

+1. I bought one for Geocaching, but only brought it on my first few backpacking trips before I realized I didn't need it on the A.T.
One of my hiking buddies has a Garmin Colorado which he still brings on a lot of shorter trips. He leaves it on all day while hiking and I will admit its fun to sit back at the end of a hike and scroll through the route and elevation tracking features to see what we've done. He stopped bringing it on trips that are a week or longer though because he couldn't justify the weight of all the batteries

Tip: if you do get a GPS, buy a few sets of rechargeable batteries, the two models I mentioned use AAs and burn through them when they are left on continuously.

[fcoulter]

I'm very happy with my eTrex 20. It holds maps and routes, uses AA (which means I can get new ones on the road), but the batteries last for a long time. (Don't buy maps if you don't need to. I've downloaded free topographic maps from gpsfiledepot (http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/).

On the other hand, Garmin sells a complete trail map on a chip for both the AT and the PCT. I guess I can figure out what the two most popular long distance trails are...

Why did I get the eTrex 20? I wanted AA batteries, long battery life, downloadable maps, and CHEAP.