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What Garmin are you wearing?

S

Smash123

Member
Time of past OR future Camino
Figeac to Auvillar 2019
Podiensis/Rocamadour 2023
Hi All
Currently prepping for my Camino - Arles to . . . ? possibly to Compostella. The last time, I had a fitbit, and my phone for maps. I have since ditched the fitbit for an Apple watch, but there's no way I would do a Camino with a watch that needs such frequent charging. That said, it's really a gift to simply look at the watch to see a map, directions, a text or receive a phone call. I am thinking about going Garmin for my next Camino. Tell me what model you have used and why. The choice is overwhelming!
Thanks

- Edited to add - Don't tell me I don't need one, okay? Fine if you don't have one, maybe just let those who use one respond to this. Cheers!
 
Last edited:
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Hmm, I use my Fitbit to keep my cardiologist off my back and my iPhone for navigation when necessary. Mapy.cz is quite good for that but I find a general sense of direction and paying attention to waymarks works best. I’ve been impressed over the years by just how many times I’ve missed a waymark because I have been looking at some sodding gadget or another
 
It's pricey and overkill, but I love my Garmin Forerunner 965. I used a 935 before that and loved it too. My wife uses a 265S. We primarily use them for running, but they are very nice for the Camino as well - easily lasts a whole day or two without needing charging.

It's really cool to check out the tracks from years past and relive the memories.

That said, I almost never use the builtin map while on the Camino - that's what my phone is for.
 
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I will check out Mapy, but also have zero sense of direction, and waymarks work great, but you have to be near the Chemin/Camino to see them. I have a knack for getting really lost
 
Smash123 said:
I will check out Mapy, but also have zero sense of direction, and waymarks work great, but you have to be near the Chemin/Camino to see them. I have a knack for getting really lost
Click to expand...
The Corporal who taught me dead-reckoning navigation and how to read a map gave me one really good piece of advice: “slow down, your target isn’t moving. Your job is to get there”.
 
The Chemin d'Arles is mainly (if not all) GR and the GR system of waymarking is infinitely superior to the yellow arrow system having been devised before GPS existed. Keep your eyes on the route and you should be fine. The only time you will really need GPS is in towns and cities where Google Maps would serve just as well.
 
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Yep, I did the Le Puy and managed to get very very lost. The way markers are great if you're anywhere near them. But the watch is not just for mapping.
 
I have used Garmin watches, fitness bands and handheld GPS units for nearly two decades. I don't think you are going to find anything significantly better than your current Apple watch if charging frequency is your main concern. My epix might last several days as a sports-watch tracking steps and heartrate, but as soon as it is used in GPS mode, battery life drops to around 8 hours. More modern watches will have improved on this, and you might get a couple of days life.

My preference these days is to use my phone with the OSMAnd+ app and Wise Pilgrim, carry an etrex32x with the route that I am walking loaded, and use an analogue watch. That combination has served me well and I expect it will continue to do so. I very occasionally use Google Maps in a town or city, but don't find it useful otherwise. If you are going to use your phone elsewhere for navigation, get a decent mapping app. As I said, I use OSMAnd+, but MapyCZ seems to get good reports, as do most other apps focussed on outdoors sports.
 
I went from Arles to Puente la Reina in 2022. With my GARMIN Instinct Solar but using the GPS to record the track, battery lasts approx. 20h. Otherwise I just following the GR markers and when I liked to know when I will get my next coffee I checked the map on the iPhone for the next town, restaurant or bar. I also used the map on intersections, when I had to select between the "original" way or a "variant" in order which way will be better for me, depending on the weather.
 
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@Smash123, I’ve got a Garmin inreach mini 2. Never used it on the Camino, although I would carry it if I was on one of the lesser walked trails - mainly just for the SOS function. Since I broke my ankle on trail I’ve become more aware of how often I walk though cellular blackspots ! At just 100g and €230, it’s good insurance. Using the 30-minute tracking send interval and standard activity recording, with moderate tree cover, I get at least 5 days out of my battery.

I use Mapy.cz on the trail here in Germany; whilst I’ve never used it on the Camino ( I’m one of the lucky ones for whom the arrows are sufficient) I have used it for research and it’s excellent. More functions when you open it on your laptop. Extremely accurate.
The advantage is that you can save your maps, access them before you leave town, then put your phone on airplane mode to save the battery but it keeps your current position.
 
Just to reiterate a couple of reasons why I'm a Mapy.cz fanboy...
- I like that you can move almost seemlessly between big screen computer and smartphone app - so I actually use it a lot more at home exploring routes than on the camino.
- Take a camino like the Madrid, where you might be in the middle of nowhere, walking dusty tracks between wind turbines, where the sky meets the flat empty horizon in all directions.. there's a vague fork in the road and no marker, you choose the one that looks most in line with the path you've arrived on, and walk on. After about 10-15 minutes of not seeing any other markers you get that gnawing feeling that this might not be the right path at all - do you go on or return and scout the other route? Or just pull out phone and check Mapy..
- GPS only seems to fire up when you open the app and shuts down after you close the phone, so negligible battery drain (at least on my Android Fairphone). You only need/use GPS, not data, if you have already downloaded the maps. I have downloaded several in Spain, France and here in the UK and have yet to be asked to pay for any.
- Mapy.cz in Outdoor layer doesn't just show you camino routes - but lots of other recognised paths, including the French GRs which dick bird mentions above. This gives you excellent additional information, particularly if you see a jumble of signs at a 5-way junction, or want to take a more scenic route/option (like the E9 coastal path on the Norte, or the GR109 on the Primitivo)
 
Camino Ready, Backpacks, Boots etc
3rd Edition. Vital content training & pack guides avoid common mistakes, bed bugs etc
I've got an Instinct 2X which is solar. But the display is in black and white. But that makes it less obtrusive too. It has a little red light torch on it, a barometer and I can control my podcasts.
 
I have a Garmin Vivomove Sport that I have used on two Caminos and I am not that impressed with it. Even after several calibration walks over known distances it still well overestimates distance travelled. But it is very lightweight and tells the time, which is all I really need.
 
I use my phone for maps - OSMand is my app of choice. I really like it.
peregrino_tom said:
reasons why I'm a Mapy.cz fanboy...
Click to expand...
OSMand does all of this too. Both are good. In OSMand I use tracks I've downloaded from various sources, and they all work.

No Garmin, though. Nor a smartwatch. So I can't help with recommendations.

Smash123 said:
but also have zero sense of direction
Click to expand...
A sense for direction relies on paying attention: It's a skill that can be either developed or starved. Devices totally starve our natural wayfaring skills - these depend on external cues we miss when following a rout on a device: landmarks, vegetation, sun, sky, and shadow.

So I won't say you don't need a Garmin. If there's no developed sense of body in space you may very well need one. Just an encouragement to stretch yourself in that department a bit, to acquire your natural sense of direction. All of us have it.
 
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