It sounds like it would be worth it to check out the eTrex H. It seems like it would provide the basics (keeping track of where you've been & figuring out where you are) at a very reasonable cost; locally they are running $90.

Honestly, this is a fair bit less than I originally thought you'd need to spend to get into a decent GPS for hiking.

I should have stated that I was basically referring to USGS topos which have the UTM grip superimposed - even very old ones have tick marks so you can draw your own grid. Lat/lon marks on these topos are pretty sketchy. Marine charts are a very different story - basically lat/lon works much more easily there.

Now that I agree with. But I really should spend an afternoon and learn UTM. It's supposedly a fairly good system.

Fortunately, both the Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx and the Geko 301 receivers can display in either Lat/Long or UTM.

Seems like about 3-4 units have come up repeatedly. Thanks all.

As for lat/long vs UTM ... UTM is OK. I only played with it for about 2 hours one day, but seemed straight forward. Since this is something i'm considering in a potential military use, the UTM would be useful too.

Thanks all for the thoughts.

Maps with UTM grid + GPS with utm coordinates is all very good. MGRS is even better - ever heard of it? It is UTM for dummies. It is UTM coordinates, but you replace the biggest number with a letter code (which only changes every 100km) and round the last numbers off to 100 meters accuracy. This is plenty accurate for wilderness navigation, IMO.


Example: Take the UTM coordinates 34W 422460 7734002. The MGRS equivalent with 100 meter accuracy is 34WDC - 225 - 340. On my 1:50.000 map, the numbers 22 and 34 correspond to the numbers written on the UTM grid (which is a 1 km grid). Those two numbers tell me which square I'm in, and the last digit ("5" and "0") tells me where I am inside that square. The 34WDC-part covers a 100- by 100 kilometer square, so it is straigthforward to keep track of that.

So instead of the 13 digits 422460 7734002 I only have to juggle around with two-by-tree numbers 225 - 340. MUCH easier! And much easier to add or substract in my head - I know instantly that my friend in position 236 - 443 is 10 km to the north and 1 km to the east (23-22=1, 44-34=10). Try doing that aritmetic in your head with 423649 7743928... Not to mention how hard it is to communicate all those numbers by phone, radio, SMS or email...

In the MGRS system, rounding off to 100 meter accuracy is optional. You can round off to kilometers, 10 meters or keep the 1 meter resolution (giving you the full coordinate 34WDC 22460 34002). But on a 1:50.000 map I can't read the coordinates with accuracy much better than 100 meters anyway, and 100 meters is PLENTY for my wilderness navigation needs. 100 meter resolution is the perfect compromise, IMO.

Please note that the GPS retains its full accuracy, it is just the resolution of the coordinates you see on the screen that's rounded off to 100 meters.


I've got a magellan GPS which was top of the range way back in 2004 (magellan meridian color). By today's standards, the map screen is horrible and the user interface is very primitive and little intuitive. But it has all the bells and whistles a geek can dream of, I can do any kind of map coordinates I like (I can even define my own, if I like) and the battery life (~15 hours) and accuracy is pretty decent, even with today's standards.

Today I'd go for a garmin, probably some model with "60" in it. But I would absolutely choose a GPS that can show MGRS with 100 meter accuracy.


Oh, by the way, both UTM and the MGRS (=UTM for dummies) is invented by the military.

Back to the original question: If all you need is a basic GPS and you do not need maps and do not ever intend to need maps in the GPS receiver, take a look at the Garmin GPS-72H.

This version of the GPS 72 has the high sensitivity receiver, a 1.6" x 2.2", 4 level gray scale display, takes 2 AA batteries (alkaline, Lithium or NiMH) for 18 hours (alkaline?), is waterproof to IPX7 levels and it floats.

According to the owners manual it allows for 29 different location formats, so I'm fairly certain that UTM is on that list.

This is basically the same GPS that I've seen some pilots take as a back-up nav system. They use a GPS 72 and preload VOR and TACAN stations as fixed waypoints for nav; it allows them to navigate off a tacan reference even though they are below the radar horizon and can't receive the tacan signal.

With all that said, the Foretrex 301 can do most if not all that with 2xAAA batteries but with a smaller display. It doesn't float, but as long as it's strapped to your wrist, it doesn't need to.

The Foretrex 301 is virtually the same price as the GPS 72.

FWIW, $.02??

I find it interesting that the 72H is the only GPS in Garmin's basic (non-mapping) handheld category for trail use that is shown as displaying the GPS coordinates on one of the device's main screens (i.e., outside of viewing/editing a waypoint).

Maybe when it comes down to practical use, you'd want to save a waypoint when checking your position anyway, so it really becomes a moot point. But this is the information I would have thought you'd see once a device is powered up and the satellites were acquired.

Having just checked the manual for the eTrex-H on the Garmin Webiste, it is again very very poor compared to the full information detailed on the older eTrex Camo manual.

http://static.garmincdn.com/pumac/eTrexH_OwnersManual.pdf --eTrex H

http://static.garmincdn.com/pumac/etrex_yel_cam_3.0.pdf --eTrex Camo

Is it just the extremely poor manual or has many of the features been disabled on the later eTrex models.

Does Garmin regard its user base as being a little dull, when it comes to Datum and Mag declination GPS features etc?

I think most GPS's will do both L/L & UTM. I prefer UTM, which is what you get Adventure Racing and Orienteering (most of the time)but Geocaching defaults to L/L.

Relax guys. Garmin's manuals are notoriously poor but the products are fine.

My old Garmin Vista HCx will put as much as 6 data fields on the main screen at a time. Which fields they are, and how many, is easily user configurable. I do it all the time. My default screen shows coordinates, azimuth (true, grid, or magnetic; user selectable), and accuracy. When navigating between waypoints I have it show distance to the next point.