Portable GPS Unit: No Subsitute for Common Sense!

Taking a portable GPS unit into remote areas can be a great way to enhance your safety: but there are few things to consider when the consequences of getting lost is a lot greater than taking the wrong turn-off from the Freeway!

The key to safe remote travel with a portable GPS unit is to always have a backup plan: do not rely entirely on your GPS! Relying on a GPS unit to steer you around the Freeway system in a strange town is a not quite the same as taking a portable GPS hiking and relying on it find your way back to your recovery vehicle.

Staying safe when using a GPS unit for navigation in remote areas includes doing some or all of the following:

• Make sure you are aware of your general direction of travel: especially in open ground when the sun is visible it shouldn't be hard to know whether you are going north or south!
• Make sure you have a backup system: no not another GPS but a plain old-fashioned map and compass (NOT an electronic compass!).
• ensure that your GPS is set on the right coordinate system. You need to have the GPS unit programmed to report in the same coordinate system as your way points or maps are in.
• Bring the manual: and read it before you are in a dangerous situation: practice using the unit to navigate back to your vehicle in town before you go bush.
• Make sure you have a backup set of batteries: either disposable or charged rechargeable. The typical battery life of a portable GPS unit is nearly 24 hours but this can be significantly reduced in cold temperatures or with frequent use.
• If you are going into an area of deep canyons or heavy forest cover your GPS unit will not be able to get such an accurate fix of its location.
• Double check everything: when you get to the remote area you are going to be hiking or off-roading make sure that you double check some prominent landmarks to make sure your GPS unit agrees that they are in the right location.
• If you are hiking and expect to return to the same place you left your vehicle; log that location as a way-point – but also write it down on paper: just in case of the unexpected. Remember the Boy Scouts? Be prepared.

A cheap GPS unit will greatly enhance your security in the back country but don't rely on it 100%. Stay aware of your surroundings: the GPS does not know that the canyon in front of you ends in an impassible rock fall! Good maps and talking to the locals can never be replace by an electronic gadget however useful they are! Remember you are the boss of the GPS unit: not the other way around!

If you are tired and lost and loosing the light do not continue on following your GPS directions. If you are in a vehicle: pull over, camp the night get some sleep. If you are hiking find cover and stay the night rather than risk falling in the dark and injuring yourself.

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