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ABC_GPS Watches

Arbey48

New Member
Time of past OR future Camino
Le Puy - Figeac (2017)
Figeac - StJPdP (2018)
Currently at the planning stage of my return to the Camino (started in 2006!); I'm currently investigating the market for Altimeter/Barometer/Compass watches with GPS.

I would appreciate any feedback- positive or negative from anyone who has used one or is using one of these specialist devices , which might save me some research time.

Many thanks in advance,
 
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Hi,I'am using a TomTom watch .

Easy to use in combination with my smartfone.

Wish you well,Peter.
 

Hi and welcome to the forum @Arbey48
I, if at all, use the GPS on my Smartphone but I am curious, why do you think you want/need a ABCGPSetc. gadget ;-) ? Buen Camino, SY
 
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I'd be really interested to hear what you settle on and why after you conclude your research. I've looked at these over the years as a replacement to my hand-held GPS. Good luck.
 
SYates said:
Hi and welcome to the forum @Arbey48
I, if at all, use the GPS on my Smartphone but I am curious, why do you think you want/need a ABCGPSetc. gadget ;-) ? Buen Camino, SY
Click to expand...
Well, the Altimeter and GPS to assist direction, Barometer to provide information on weather changes and Compass ........ well how else to know one's direction - apart from the traditional device
BC
R
 
jozero said:
I'd be really interested to hear what you settle on and why after you conclude your research. I've looked at these over the years as a replacement to my hand-held GPS. Good luck.
Click to expand...
Well, it's not really straightforward. The Garmin are too expensive for me and the Suunto, which are more affordable seem to have a variable build quality and the customer response team appears to be indifferent, from the reviews I have read. All in all not a good recommendation considering the investment cost.
I'll post further feedback later.
BC
R
 
Camino Way markers in Bronze
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Peter Fransiscus said:
Hi,I'am using a TomTom watch .

Easy to use in combination with my smartfone.

Wish you well,Peter.
Click to expand...
Hi Peter, thanks for the feedback. Would you mind confirming which of the TomTom devises you are using, please?
BC
R
 
Arbey48 said:
Well, the Altimeter and GPS to assist direction, Barometer to provide information on weather changes and Compass ........ well how else to know one's direction - apart from the traditional device
BC
R
Click to expand...

The Camino Aragones is very well way marked and by no stretch of imagination a wilderness trail ;-) A weather app on a smartphone gives you the forecast and a compass app or even an old fashioned compass shows you the direction. Apart of that, save your money, take an old fashioned guide book or an app for albergue etc information and Buen Camino, SY
 
Thank you for taking the trouble to feedback your view on my questions.
BC
R
 
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I also started my first Camino in 2006.

1. 2006 Camino Frances - Nokia phone 1 megapixel camera, alarm to wake me up, roaming so minimal use (a couple of overseas texts home to let them know I am fine)
2. 2007-2008 Camino Primitivo/Camino via de la Plata - Nokia phone 2 megapixel camera, alarm, Paulo Coelho's ebook Pilgrimage to read, wifi, blogging, Skype with wifi from library for communications home.
3. 2012 Camino del Norte - *** This is the turning point. iPhone 4, Maps.me app with offline map of Spain, local SIM card with 850 meg data for 30 days. Know where I am all the time without incurring data charges, location based on AGPS (mobile cell tower) and when I lost cellular signal it switches to GPS.
4. 2014-2015 Camino Levante - Same Maps.me app with offline map of Spain, local SIM card with 2 GB data for 30 days this time with Asus Android phone. Using internet Whatsapp to communicate with home either via text or voice. And blogging.
5. 2016-2017 Camino Vasco/Camino del Madrid/Camino Mozarabe - Same Maps.me app. New Android phone. This time Maps.me supports kml overlay. Found overlay for all the above Caminos. With the offline map and also the overlay line even much harder to get lost.

* Maps.me update for 2017, for any plotted path you get and elevation chart too.
** As for weather, I was warned by the weather app on the phone's main screen of level 5 high winds the day before I ascended the tunnel on the Camino Vasco. Rain warning and literally every day a UV warning by 9:30 am.
*** There is a post on the forum on where you can download almost every Camino kml overlay.
**** GPS watch is another device that needs to be charged every day. Try to keep it simple and only charge 1 device (phone). Screen is too small too.

You can do all that and more plus much cheaper with just a phone. Any unlocked Android phone even the budget ones ($100) can do the trick. Maps.me is free. Offline map is free. Overlay is free. Just the phone and a 2GB 30 days local SIM with 10 Euros of talk time for 15 euros (2017 price). You can even a Camino app (if there is one for the Camino you want to walk) or save the pdf guide on the phone to save weight (suggest a couple pages of a summary paper guide as a backup).

In short, I find it very refreshing for me since 2012 that I can deviate from the route and back again easily. With the overlay I can even walk backwards on the Camino Mozarabe (Granada to Cordoba and back down to the other alternative fork to Malaga) without fear of getting lost.

Again, as with the others, I will be interested to see what will be your decision (if it is a watch).

By the way, if you are still interested in the old school barometer sensor on a device instead of a weather app, some LG phones do have built in barometric sensors, cheapest would probably be the LG G4 (released in 2015). About $193 dollars at Amazon (AT&T since they uses SIM card) without a service contract. If you are from the UK it cost slightly more.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XMGSVKK/?tag=casaivar02-20
 
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For my Pacific Crest Trail thru-hike, I used one of Casio's iterations for its altimeter/barometer/compass functioning. Having used stand-alone GPS units, the small display area of a watch is a serious limitation. Even with the bigger stand alone units, it can be a bit difficult sometimes to see details of trail landmarks like contour lines. The ease of use when downloading gps data or setting waypoints is far easier for me with the larger stand-alone units. Additionally, each of the standalone GPS manufacturers provides tools that are very easy to use to both upgrade firmware, as well as to download software.

My recommendation, if you are determined to bring such gadgets, would be to get a Garmin trail gps unit, and a separate Casio watch; the Casio PRW-3500 has worked well for me as a solar-powered unit, and its altimeter/barometer/compass components function superbly. I imagine that Casio has produced newer generation Pro-Trek watches since my 2015 model was made.

I will not be bringing either a GPS unit or my Casio altimeter/barometer/compass watch. It's simply not needed. Spain and the Camino's have the normal, European meteorlogical reporting weather-casts, and Camino is not a wilderness hike. A simple map or guidebook will be more than adequate for pathfinding. I'll be using my old Timex Ironman watch.
 
I've used a Garmin TomTom Runner GPS watch on my last two trips.

Likes:
1. Bought it off Amazon for under $100
2. Large, customizable screen that's easy to read
3. Easy to reset time
4. Uploads to MapMyFitness which shows you all your stats and maps your route so you can see exactly where you walked
5. 10 hour battery - although I've never gotten that much. Probably closer to 8 hours.
6. Watch buzzes/vibrates when it finds a GPS signal so you don't have to watch for a connection
7. Easy to turn on nightlight

Dislikes:
1. If you pause the watch, you cannot see the time. (You can check your stats, however, by pressing up)
2. When the battery dies, the clock screen is blank as well. There is no warning that it's going to die.
3. If you stay in a place that doesn't have WiFi, you can't upload stats. There is a memory, so you can wait until the next day. If you've already turned off the GPS, there's no way to see the stats until they upload.
4. To pause, it's one press to the left, off is two presses to the left. A couple of times, I paused the watch, then accidentally touched left instead of right so the workout ended. I had to start a new workout, then add the two workouts together to get my total stats for the day.

I bought the cheaper, older model so they may have improved upon some of my dislikes.

In the past, I used a Timex GPS, which I liked, but it has an even smaller battery and doesn't upload. The watch is independent of the GPS so you always have access to the time.
 
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I am really ignorant about technology . . . I was planning to get an international plan under my AT&T account for the Camino Frances. Will the MapsMe use up data? What does it mean to take it “offline?"
 
Arbey48 said:
Well, the Altimeter and GPS to assist direction, Barometer to provide information on weather changes and Compass ........ well how else to know one's direction - apart from the traditional device
BC
R
Click to expand...
Are any of these informations needed for a Camino? Weather report available on any smartphone or hospies, altimeter.... no idea, all I know is that if I see a hill I have to clumb ot no matter what, and climb down, compass.... that's what the arrows are for? I don't get it.
 
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GPS watches suffer from a common problem : in order to be a watche they need to be small, but the GPS feature needs a lot of energy.
They are running for at most a few hours... And need to be charged.
On the other hand a Casio with temperature and baro/altimeter is using a solar cell and can run for years.

An external GPS (from a smartphone or Bluetooth) will be able to run much longer.

I'm using a GPS logger with Bluetooth and a smartphone: the GPS is on all the day and records my track. When necessary, I can take the smartphone, connect to the GPS and check the map.

This setup allows 3 days without charging (6-7 hours per day).

Buen Camino, Jacques-D.
 
jozero said:
I'd be really interested to hear what you settle on and why after you conclude your research. I've looked at these over the years as a replacement to my hand-held GPS. Good luck.
Click to expand...
Hello, I hope you can help me. I just bought a handheld GPS and have no idea yet how to use it. I want to overlay a map of the Camino Frances route and use the GPS to show me whether I am actually on the Camino or have wandered off. Will I be able to do that? Any advice? I am totally ignorant about these things.
 
If I may, if you bought this to make sure you didn't get lost, take kt back to the store and get your money back. The Frances has arrows, shells and all soets of other indications of the route, plus lots of people in front of you, and coming behind you. Absolutely not necessary. Don't pack your fears, save your money for good shoes, custom orthotics, inviting fellow walkers to a round of drinks here and there.
 
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I plan on using an iPad Mini with Google Maps and a data card -

I have found an app with the CF marked on it but I suspect that this is overkill, given the reported adequate marking of the CF route itself.

However it may be handy in managing accommodation along the way - I do not plan on following the Breirly 'stages' but rather listening to my (aged) body and making stops where and when I feel the need, and being able to 'see' the way ahead may assist in deciding where adn when to stop for the night..

BTW iPad Mn 4, with cover and charger , is 750 gms OUCH!
 
This is almost worth a thread on its own, but I will try and give you some quick answers.

First, what make and model of GPS did you buy. There are many of us that can help with Garmin handheld devices, others with a variety of smartphone apps, etc, etc. I use a Garmin etrex 30, mainly to keep a record and so that I can geo-locate my photographs. It can be used for the reasons you suggest, but on the Camino Frances, the waymarking is good enough to make any GPS redundant for navigation.

Second, can it load mapping data, and have you got the maps for Spain loaded?

Third, where are you sourcing the track information for the Camino Frances? Track information is obtained separately from mapping information, and is the detail of the path that someone else took on their Camino.

That presents the first problem. While much of any camino is common, there are always variants, and unless you can find a track file of the specific variant you wish to walk, there will be times when the track data will not be relevant, and won't show you where you intend to walk.

Even when it is relevant, there is generally limited opportunity to wander off the track. You are walking on well defined paths and roads, so the major issues are at junctions and in towns. Junctions are well marked. In the larger towns where a GPS might be most useful, the relative narrowness of many streets will result in the GPS not being able to receive signals from enough satellites to be accurate. This results in the GPS unit indicating you are at a location that might be some distance from your true location.

If you can, start using your GPS on your normal walks. You should be able to find track information on web services like Map My Walk. Find someone who can help you download these and load them onto your GPS, and see how you go either following the track. It won't be a good time to start practicing that on the first day of your Camino.
 
Camino Way markers in Bronze
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Arbey48 said:
Well, the Altimeter and GPS to assist direction, Barometer to provide information on weather changes and Compass ........ well how else to know one's direction - apart from the traditional device
BC
R
Click to expand...
Noting that I also use a handheld GPS (etrex 30) with all these functions, I also use an android app, GPS Status, on my Samsung A3 in conjunction with the OSM maps application. The phone does not have a pressure sensor, so altitude is calculated from the GPS signal. Otherwise it provides the other functionality you are seeking.

What I did find is that it was rare to use any of this functionality on the Camino for navigation. I think I checked the compass on the day that I was leaving Ponferrada when I found myself walking towards the rising sun - that's not something I had expected to be doing anywhere on the Camino. It turned out to be for only a short distance, and then the path turned westwards.

If I wasn't already a GPS user for other reasons, I don't think I would carry one, and I would never recommend anyone purchase a specialist GPS, watch or handheld, specifically for any of the Camino routes that I have walked in Spain (CF, CI and Finisterre/Muxia).
 
I'm with Dougfitz on this.
I use a GPS absolutely ALL the time in the car in the UK.
I've never used one, ever, on a camino.
OK so I may have walked the wrong way a couple of times over the years - but that's not a major problem, and is eventually corrected. And it's something to grin about in the albergue in the evening !!
 
I have a Garmin Fenix which I bought four years ago, it was eye wateringly expensive and utterly brilliant at doing all the things I wanted as well as things l neither needed nor understood. Four years on there have, I believe, been two upgrades and it costs even more. It does nothing that I can't do with my smartphone; my smartphone does loads of things my Fenix can't. Draw your own conclusion.
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I'll preface my comments by saying I do often carry a hand-held GPS, even once on a Camino so it's safe to say I like and use GPS technology. I'll also say that for navigation it's my opinion that one doesn't require a GPS for the Camino Frances (I've not walked any other so won't comment on what I don't know first hand. That all said, the Garmin Fenix 5 does numerous things that any phone I am aware of cannot do such as:
  1. stay charged and running for up to 24 hours in active GPS mode (most phones would be drained within 6-8 hours and required charging every night - at least),
  2. it is waterproof to 100 metres (equivalent to the average Galician rainfall on a typical April day),
  3. for those who may need such health monitoring, it monitors your heart-rate (albeit with somewhat suspect technology I'll admit)
  4. the barometer can be used to predict weather changes by showing short-term trends in air pressure.
It's up to @Arbey48 to decide if these features or the dozens of other features that the GPS watch can perform (either on the Camino or off it) are what is important to him. He simply asked if anyone has actual experience with one of these devices and seems to have gotten a lot of opinions as to whether or not it's right for him.
 
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I use a GPS on my job to find addresses and businesses. I left all of my electronic stuff at home, only making my smart phone for a camera when I wanted one. I was able to maximum power saving and a charge would last 3 or 4 days as I took photos. I never got lost, the path was well marked. I guess I am old fashion I don't like technology to much.
 

Try the Suunto ambit peak 3- they are quite cheap now, good battery life and loads of features. Very reliable too and will sync with your phone so you can update where you are with your family every day if you want (via Strava, etc.)
 
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BetteMcKown said:
I am really ignorant about technology . . . I was planning to get an international plan under my AT&T account for the Camino Frances. Will the MapsMe use up data? What does it mean to take it “offline?"
Click to expand...
Hi Bette, Welcome to the forum. Maps.me is a GPS system that uses your phone as its hardware. It works on an iPhone or an Android phone. The maps and trail markers are saved on your phone so that you will not have to download anything else via data or roaming data. Even in Airplane mode, your phone can show you on the map where you are and where the trail is that you want to be on. Hopefully, both are always in the same place. It not, it can give you walking or driving directions to get you where you want to go.

Before you leave home, while working on Wi-Fi, you should download the maps.me app from the app store. The app is free. Next, you need to go into the app and download the maps that you want along the path that you want to take. Don't download all of Spain or it will lake up too much space. Finally, you need to download the klm files (GPS tracks) of the camino that you want to walk. These tracks can be found many places on the internet but links to go tracks are often on found right here on the Camino Forum. More detailed instructions for loading the app were kindly provided by @poogeyejr on another thread here: https://www.caminodesantiago.me/com...d-re-walking-the-del-norte.49231/#post-533772 .
 
Bette,
I'm with Michael on Maps.me
Last year I saved all of the hostals we'd booked so no trouble finding them when we arrived.
The search function works even when you are not connected to WiFi - and will tell you where to find restaurants, pharmacies, ATMs, hospitals, even WiFi hotspots!
If you are walking the CF you only need to download Pyrenees-Atlantique, Navarra, La Rijoa, Castile and Leon bothe East and West, Galicia both North and South and not the whole of Spain.
Download your home area map to practice!
 
Sorry cant help, I use the old fashioned yellow arrows and other markers. The only technology I used was a smart band that vibrated to wake me up and counted my steps which I was only interested in out of curiosity. I can see the curiosity value of an altimeter as I am particularly hopeless on hills and would like to know how high I still have to go. My compass is the sun and the desire for a barometer baffles me. Of course, if you plan to use the device on other hikes the compass/altimeter could be usefull
 
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chantele said:
Try the Suunto ambit peak 3- they are quite cheap now, good battery life and loads of features. Very reliable too and will sync with your phone so you can update where you are with your family every day if you want (via Strava, etc.)
Click to expand...
I did research Suunto but concluded from others' feedback that the build quality was not as reliable, as say Garmin. Currently enjoying all the feedback and opinions so freely offered, which is what I intended with my original post.
I planned to use my Samsung A3 with apps but wanted to explore the alternatives. So, I'm pleased with all the feedback!
BC
R
 

Many thanks Michael for your constructive advice, which I shall be following too.
BC
R
 
Let us pick up your suitcase once you arrive in Europe....
...and ship it to Santiago for storage. You pick it up once in Santiago. Service offered by Casa Ivar (we use DHL for transportation).

Well tpmchugh, the barometer would provide local information about pending weather changes - something I learned to my cost on a sunny day in 1999, when trekking across the Beacons, in Breconshire, without a waterproof. Sudden thunderstorm caught me out completely. Better for me to learn from my errors rather than repeat them. Hence the Barometer.

Anyway, thanks to you too for providing a response to my thread,
BC
R
 
Thing is Arbey, on the camino it doesn't matter what the weather is or how it is going to change, you gotta just keep going. One thing that can be almost guaranteed is that it will rain somewhere, sometime, so you will have some sort of rain gear with you. As you obviously need the barometer for other trips outwith the camino it brings to mind a saying 'what do I know' . Thanks for explaining the need for it.
 
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