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best apps for 4x4/backcountry travel

Caleb

Caleb

Well-Known Member
Location
Riverton
I'm with the crowd that uses the GPS for major POI, intersections, etc only. I love having my GPS and recording the tracks and then checking it out afterwards, but I have no desire to plot my entire trip out. I would have missed out on a TON if I had planned my trips and plugged them in to the GPS. Nothing beats a true GPS for both accuracy and battery life.
 
DAA

DAA

Well-Known Member
Location
West Bountiful, UT
I used Terrain Navigator on a variety of laptops and tablet PC's before deciding to ditch the whole mess. The app worked fantastically - real time tracking on USGS 7.5 topos. Too much production and foo faw that isn't needed though. Just a good solid marine/chartplotter style GPS on the dash, phone turned off and stowed away works best for me.

- DAA
 
M

mhudson

YEEHAY
Location
Bountiful
Ok. If I can chime in.... I use my tracks on my android phone.. I also use a Garmin GPS 60cs. This unit works great for everything. I use my phone for a back up kind of thing... I use the GPS 60cs for all my tracks, geocaches, maps. I also have paper maps for locations as well. For my around town. I use a Garmin nuvi car unit. It works great for around town.. Though my phone is just as good or better for around town. since the android phone works off the Google maps.. I also use Google earth to make up tracks at home. I can zoom in close to see a trail or sheep trail. I can load that to my 60cs unit, or my nuvi as well.

as far as the android phone. I use my tracks mainly.
 
M

morg59

New Member
Try back country navigator pro. I just used it on trial last week. You can pre cache maps and import kml files too. free trial .. I was impressed.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Forum Fiend v1.1.7.
 
SAVAGE

SAVAGE

Member
Location
Richfield Utah
i use terrain navigator pro a lot. It can show you several maps from aerial imaging to quad maps. I use it most at work when Im in the back country surveying to help find old roads, section lines and fence lines.
 
S

skeptic

Registered User
Old thread I know, but the only one I've really played with is tracks, like others have mentioned. It's cool to get back from a trip, upload it, then see the satellite view of where you went - and be able to easily share that with others. It's not really a "how do I get there" tool, but if you get lost you can use it to back track your way out.
 
sixstringsteve

sixstringsteve

Well-Known Member
Location
UT
I have been super impressed with trimbleoutdoors. Far more reliable than gaia and backcountry nav, and it really has some amazing features if you have the elite plan. I figure $3/month will last me 10 years before I cover the cost of a dedicated GPS.
 
Kevin B.

Kevin B.

Not often wrong. Never quite right.
Moderator
Location
Vehicular limbo
I poked around a little in Trimble, but nothing grabbed me. What do you like that you don't get from BCN? What's more reliable?

I really like the Accuterra maps for BCN, does Trimble have an overlay that shows land ownership status?
 
sixstringsteve

sixstringsteve

Well-Known Member
Location
UT
Trimble basic has an overlay for public lands and forest roads.

Trimble elite has US doplar radar, land ownership, Satelite cloud cover, wind, temperature, weather radar, public lands.

It all depends on how you use your GPS. I use the app to completely map out and plan a trip before I go. I can then geotag photos and videos right into the app (without having to attach them). My favorite part are the export features, import features, and the way it hosts all my trips on their sever so I can send the trip to someone else. The web-based portion is why I love it. If I only ever used it on my phone, I'd still love it, but backcountry nav would be fine for that.

Also, Trimble has my favorite maps. Their maps of AF canyon are the best I've found. They show trails that other apps don't. Keep in mind I'm using this more for hiking and backpacking than for off-road travel. For off-road, most people don't need super detailed topo maps.
 
SAVAGE

SAVAGE

Member
Location
Richfield Utah
oh I messed up, Im using Trimble Outdoors Navigator Pro. If you use regular Terrain Navigator Pro it has less layers you can use. They seem like the same app but the Trimble version has 7 different layers to choose from. I have been using both apps, but the Trimble one is the one I paid for and the one I definitely like better.
 
Kevin B.

Kevin B.

Not often wrong. Never quite right.
Moderator
Location
Vehicular limbo
sixstringsteve said:
Trimble basic has an overlay for public lands and forest roads.

Trimble elite has US doplar radar, land ownership, Satelite cloud cover, wind, temperature, weather radar, public lands.

It all depends on how you use your GPS. I use the app to completely map out and plan a trip before I go. I can then geotag photos and videos right into the app (without having to attach them). My favorite part are the export features, import features, and the way it hosts all my trips on their sever so I can send the trip to someone else. The web-based portion is why I love it. If I only ever used it on my phone, I'd still love it, but backcountry nav would be fine for that.

Also, Trimble has my favorite maps. Their maps of AF canyon are the best I've found. They show trails that other apps don't. Keep in mind I'm using this more for hiking and backpacking than for off-road travel. For off-road, most people don't need super detailed topo maps.
Click to expand...

That's one thing I wish BCN had, a PC interface. I can upload .kmz or whatever easily enough, but I'd love to be able to interface with the program directly.
 
sixstringsteve

sixstringsteve

Well-Known Member
Location
UT
Kevin B. said:
That's one thing I wish BCN had, a PC interface. I can upload .kmz or whatever easily enough, but I'd love to be able to interface with the program directly.
Click to expand...

how are you using your gps? Do you enter waypoints, or upload a .gpx from someone else's trip, or are you using it to track where you're going?
 
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