Stand alone GPS

[Krazykarl]

Will the 66i work ok? I see one on ebay for $350...

[Inkslinger]

Will the 66i work ok? I see one on ebay for $350...

You’ll get way more battery life from the 67i.

https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?fa...GF7bdgPJot0ds9

Check out this guys YouTube channel. He takes a deep dive into gps and satellite communications.

https://youtube.com/@outdooremergenc...6jhQDiyczMbfQS

[Defaultmp3]

Something else to consider is simply using a smartphone, and put it in airplane mode to conserve battery if needed. You'll have a much better touchscreen than most units, larger screen than most units, that can get brighter than most units. You'll have a lot more ability to utilize multiple different maps and overlays, as you have multiple maps that you can use. Sure, it may not last the entire 10 days, but it would be pretty trivial to bring along an extra battery pack or two. On my SAR team, the only standalone GPS device people use are watches and inReaches, smartphones are overwhelmingly the primary navigational device. I'll also note that within the next few years, possibly as early as later this year, satellite connectivity with smartphones will become a thing.

If your eyes allow for it, I'll note that a watch can be very nice, because you can just glance down at it to check the trail, rather than having to dig a phone or standalone unit out of a pocket.

When I go backcountry, I carry a phone, my inReach Explorer+, and my Garmin watch. The watch serves as the primary, mainly because I preplan my trips and have all the .gpx tracks downloaded, so there's little by way of bushwacking. The phone is used when I need higher resolution maps, and is usually pulled out when trying to plan or look further ahead on the trail. The inReach serves as a back-up to the watch and phone, and is synced to the phone. I'll bring along a battery pack, usually a 20k mAh Anker, and if it's a long enough trip, a small solar panel.