I agree with all of you about the compass thing although as far as I know, all the older GPS units with a compass warn you that it works only when moving. When you select a waypoint and instruct it to "Go to" you get this compass rose pointing directly to the target with outside parameters to be set by the user. In other words, you can set it to where an alarm goes off if you stray more than fifty feet off course to right or left. This is for situations where you would be holding the compass in front of you for the entire trip. I don't find that a good choice. While I am watching the compass, I will step into a stump hole or smack a tree head on. I just take the bearing, confirm with a compass, and turn it off and follow the heading, checking periodically to see if I am still on course. That always works for me. Of course you can't always follow a straight line unless you can walk on water, walk thru barns, etc. They are now making GPS units with MP3 players built in and I believe, cell phones. I wish they would just stick to the basics and improve on any problems the unit is causing, namely the "moving compass". That being said, I still say that the GPS is the greatest navigation tool invented since.....................well........................anything! Don't let it intimidate you. It's not all that hard to master. You don't have to learn ALL it will do. Mine has three modes, namely "Easy Mode", "Advanced Mode" and "Hunt Mode". The easy mode more or less just gets you back to your vehicle which is all that a lot of folks would want. Then Advanced Mode goes into projecting waypoints, creating routes and return routes, etc. The more you fiddle with it, the more you will learn and you can enter the most foreboding wilderness with all the confidence in the world that you will emerge just where you entered and have a ball while you are in there saving waypoints, experimenting, etc. One final comment. I have never encountered a woods canopy that was so thick that I couldn't get a fix. Admittedly, on a few occasions it buzzes and says "Position Lost" but I take a step or two and it shows "Position Acquired". This scenario is so rare that it is not a problem. Wade into it and enjoy! Are you listening Benjammin with your divining rods, rules of sine, slide rules, protractors, etc.? <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Question: "OK, understood. HOW FAR do I have to move? What if I can't?

Would you guys tell me something: you talk about powering-dawm the unit, and then bringing it back up to get a fresh bearing and to save batteries.

My question/comment is, is there not a 'reload' function to get a new bearing w/o power up/power down? and second, given that manufactureres' battery life claims to seem to be longer than what you guys are reporting, are you using as much or more power cycling than leaving it be?

I don't own one. i've been looking, but the consumer end technology seems to be in such state of flux that I am now glad I have held off.

Any comment about the integrated units with 2 way radio communication and/or NOAA monitoring capability?

Oh come on! Now I'm left wondering what the "Hunt Mode" does.

I'm guessing it won't stop pointing at the waypoint until the waypoint is identified as dead. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

GPS's are very cool and great to use. Eventually people will warm up to them and they'll be standard outdoor equipment.

What did they think about the first person who tried to ride a on top of a horse?

Can you imagine what users of flint & steel said when someone invented the wooden match?

Can you imagine what peple said when someone invented the magnetic compass?

... or the automobile, or the microwave oven, or the cell phone, or the personal computers, or fabrics made out of plastic ... <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

It takes time.

As a guy who sells GPS gear, I'll second the call for UTM -which is quickly becoming the standard for emergency services. UTM - which is used by the military as well - has so many advantages it's hard to list them all. Suffice it to say that this was good advice.

Only higher-end GPS units (over $240) have a "real" compass built in. None of the Magellan Explorist series do. Without a real compas, you need to be moving to get a bearing line.

Thanks for your response Martin. Now if there was just some way to get the USGS to print the UTM grid on ALL their topos. Perhaps a "plea" to our multimillionaire congressmen? Are you listening USGS?
I am looking at an old (1950) topo map and it has the UTM hash marks on the border. It was photorevised in 1971 so they might have been added then. At any rate, they have been around for 34 years and I doubt many people, myself included, had the foggiest idea of what they were.

For the benefit of those not familiar with these markings, they are located on all four borders of a topo map and are about 1 5/8 inches (1000 meters) apart and consist of a small number(s) followed by larger numbers. Map data in lower left hand corner of map says, "1000 meter Universal Transverse Mercator Grid ticks, Zone __, shown in blue." There are 60 UTM zones North to South worldwide. West Kentucky is Zone 16 and the numbers increase as you move East. Your zone will be displayed on GPS screen along with UTM figures.

As has been posted earlier several times, visit www.maptools.com for UTM tools and other map items including a good pamphlet explaining UTM. You can get the booklet and a plastic overlay UTM grid for $6. UTM sure beats longitude/latitude in degrees, minutes and seconds, something my mathematically challenged mind has never been able to completely grasp. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I guess the regions whose topo maps have been newly revised have UTM lines, but most still have just the margin tick marks. I hate hand drawing UTM lines, but don't have much choice.

Well, Ken you don't have to draw them. For just an occasional or emergency use, just fold the map up from the bottom and align with the tick marks. Then do the same with the left or right side of the map and you have located the 1000 meter square. Just as accurate as if the line was drawn. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Ken, forgot to mention, as I have stated earlier somewhere, if you elect to draw the UTM lines, just draw every other one vertically and horizontally. Works just as well. Try it. You'll see what I mean.

I have the Garmin eTrex Lengend C and mine is the same way, need to be moving to get the compass to report correctly. It does seem to respond with just one or two steps in a relatively straight line though.

Michael