GPS Recommendations for Kayak

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HighTide
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GPS Recommendations for Kayak

Post by HighTide »

I should be getting my Hobie Lynx in June and plan to put a GPS on it. While I do want to read depth, I find it more useful to view maps, charts and trails. With that said, I don't want a GPS that has extreme discriminating functions for downscan. That's not how I find my fish. Any fish I go over will get scared when he sees me. I just want to know the depth.

The maps, now that's important to me. I want as much detail as possible. Hopefully, I wouldn't have to buy a map chip to get detail. I'm looking for something in the 5 to 7 inch display range with an ability to export the trails to a PC. What comes to mind to you guys? I don't want a handheld unit. Hopefully under $300?

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SWFinatic
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Re: GPS Recommendations for Kayak

Post by SWFinatic »

You're not going to find what you are looking for in the $300 range unless you stumble across an incredible deal in a used one. Garmin offers bluechart g3 and the mapping is really good but you won't be able to get it on a basic unit. Their echomap units can accept the bluchart mapping and I believe are in the $700 range for a 7".
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Ron Mc
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Re: GPS Recommendations for Kayak

Post by Ron Mc »

check with @Yakety_Yak, Blake - his saved us in dense fog one morning when we couldn't keep a heading on a mile paddle.
He had never been there before, so it wasn't a stored waypoint, but a map he was reading.

This was Ken after our 2-mi paddle, and the fog was lifting.
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motoyak
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Re: GPS Recommendations for Kayak

Post by motoyak »

A much cheaper option for those rare times (such as fog) may be a compass. Take a heading from your launch point while looking at a map. Reverse direction when its time to go back. Most all phones can support a compass app and many have maps GPS features. Agreed on depth or bottom contour/composition for a FF. I had the Garmin Echo with maps and GPS, was underutilized so I sold it
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Ron Mc
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Re: GPS Recommendations for Kayak

Post by Ron Mc »

While that sounds great, and I have a great compass, five of us with compasses were off on our heading and Blake's GPS set us straight.
We were so spread out, we couldn't even talk without our radios.
I also have Steiner Navigator binoculars with direct-reading compass through the sight. It's easy to navigate when you can site on a distant landmark and keep on it, but much more difficult to follow a deck compass alone in the fog, and of course you see no distant landmarks.
Rather, your eyes try to find landmarks and steer you to them, so that you end up not believing your compass.

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impulse
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Re: GPS Recommendations for Kayak

Post by impulse »

I use my smartphone with a free app called Navigator. It's optimized for road navigation, but works well when I'm on the West Bay and the fog rolls in between the ICW and the Sea Isle canals.

Also, Navionics has a low cost ($20 per year???) smartphone app that rivals the Navionics chip in my Lowrance depth finder on the putt-putt boat. I'm amazed at how accurate the maps are in the West Bay.

In a pinch, everyone with a smartphone has Google Maps or an Apple equivalent. Great for getting back to the put-in point. For $20, I have a mount that puts it right in front of me in the kayak. (But it goes back into the jar mentioned below when I'm at risk of getting dunked)

For recording where I've been, I use GPS Tracker app and that creates a file that can be manipulated to be downloaded into a Garmin or Lowrance depth/GPS unit. That's how I record paths down to the San Luis Pass without getting grounded on the sandbars that eat boats.

The trick is keeping the water off the smartphone if you get dunked. For that, I use a cleaned out plastic jar left over from a family sized peanut butter. Holds my smartphone, wallet and car keys and floats high even if I turtle roll in the surf. A fluorescent sticker make it easy to see from 1/4 mile away.
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HighTide
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Re: GPS Recommendations for Kayak

Post by HighTide »

Thank you everyone for your input. I don't want to use my iPhone for mapping because I can't export the trails to my PC. At the moment, I'm looking at the Lowrance Hook Reveal 5. If I buy it, I will let you guys know how it works for me.

Thanks,

Why is it that when the price of a gallon of gasoline goes up, it skyrockets up, but when the price goes down, it trickles down?
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