GPS Devices
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After months of testing, it’s proven to be everything I need for adventuring. And then some.
Sometimes paying for camping is necessary, but Gaia Topo helps you find free alternatives that you won’t find with Google
We’ve all felt that panic when you wander off trail and can’t find your way back. Gaia GPS solves this problem.
It’s one of the lightest, thinnest adventure-sport watches on the market. Here’s what our editor thought.
Contributor Andrew Skurka tested the Ambit3 Peak for more than 1,500 miles and 300 hours in 2018. For ultra runners and backpackers, the Ambit3 Peak excels in three important ways: its long-lasting battery, its barometer, and price. “It makes the traditional outdoor ABC watch obsolete,” he wrote.
Though Outside columnist Andrew Skurka loves the Garmin InReach Mini, the device’s bigger and older brother, the Explorer+, offers a few nice features at the cost of size and weight: a bigger color screen, more efficient button layout, better virtual keyboard, and longer-lasting battery.
How to build a system of equipment that will offer direction in wild landscapes
The gear and the skills you need to get home safely
With a new line of premium watches, Garmin aims upmarket
How does the new Mini compare to other satellite messengers—and is it the right backcountry communications device for you?
We've been using the new smartwatch for a week. Here's what we think.
One of the more time-consuming challenges of public-land Airstreaming? Locating good sites. This app helps.
Being able to call for help from his watch helped saved John Zilles, but will wearable tech be a help or burden to search and rescue?
Or, the greatest oversimplified explanation of how to navigate ever written
We break down the differences between various off-the-grid communication devices. Getting the right one could save your life.
Turns out the navigation devices routinely overestimate distance traveled. Why that quirk hasn't—and won't—affect cyclists.
The top accessory picks from Interbike 2015
The $800 Forcite Alpine packs a 4K action cam, GPS, and accelerometer into its shell. You don't need all this tech in a snowsports lid. But do you want it?
New gear for more informed—and more fun—training
A flashlight, a fitness tracker, a GPS...the list goes on.
Pro athletes on the gear they want to unwrap this Saturday
19 essentials designed to keep you alive
Sometimes, technology can actually help you get off the grid.
Oakley partnered with Garmin to make the new Airwave 1.5 HUD goggle. We have to admit, it's pretty cool.
You're overworked, overstressed, and overconnected. But don't worry. We're here to help.
Landing easy money to pay for adventure is a thing of the past. Now athletes must perfect the art of low-cost, high-risk expeditions to access the world’s remotest corners, and young mountaineer Ed Farrelly is leading the charge.
Guess what? The grid is expanding and we predict in the next five years, you won't be able to unplug—even in the backcountry.
Nearly unlimited transit and trail data is coming to an app near you. And whether you're seeking singletrack or chasing a commuter train, that's a very big deal.
This new cycling GPS is so powerful and fully featured that it’s almost ahead of its time.
GPS locator SPOT launched in 2007—and has already notched 3,000 rescues
This titanium-body chronograph is the smallest, sharpest-looking personal beacon we’ve seen.
This traditional, dedicated GPS is user-friendly but fit for serious backcountry navigation
I’ve started using my mobile phone to view topo maps when on the mountain. What app would you recommend to look at them offline?
When it comes to holiday giving, you should never have to choose. This year, our editors have pulled together 68 perfect ideas—priced from $4 to $50,000—guaranteed to make anyone on your list feel like a million bucks.
Sharing powder shots, filming your friend's huck, and keeping in touch have never been easier with gadgets like Fujifilm's XP170 and the DeLorme InReach communicator.
Over the past five years, Google has taken its Street View maps to 43 countries, deploying cars, trikes, snowmobiles, and even a submersible to map 360-degree panoramas of the world around us. In June, the company announced a new initiative to bring the same seamless experience into the backcountry in a bid to create the world’s most amazing trail maps.
Outside reviews the the best gear of Outdoor Retailer, including the Pieps Global Finder.
I'm in the market for a new cell phone that will stand up to some rugged adventuring. Is it possible to find a device that will replace my GPS unit?
Outside reviews the best adventure gear for man’s best friend.
The Garmin GPSMAP 62s is a must-have item for outdoorsy men and women
Our five favorite gadgets for everything from recording splits to rocking out, including the New Balance Tri-Viz with four built-into-the-brim LEDs that can operate in three different settings; the Timex Ironman Run Trainer With GPS; and the Motorola Motoactv, a lightweight wristwatch that packs music and heart-rate tracking.
These six gadgets, from the AT&T Pantech Element, a waterproof, Android-based 8.3-inch tablet, to the Mophie Juice Pack Outdoor Edition, which doubles the battery life of your iPhone 4 or 4S, to the Steripen Freedom, a tiny water purifier, won't revolutionize your life on the road. But we promise they'll make it a lot easier.
Still fumbling around with wires and a prehistoric bike computer? It's time for a performance boost. Here are six ways to enhance your next ride, from the headlight-taillight combo Light & Motion Urban 500 to the data-collecting Garmin Edge 200 to the iBike Sports iDash Phone Booth, which you can buy as an all-in-one bike computer.
Outside picks the best hiking gear of June 2012, including the Helly Hansen Odin Fastpack.
Two-way radios might seem absurdly retro, but having an open channel of communication can be priceless on a multipitch climb or when trekking through rainforest in Costa Rica.
I spend a lot of time exercising outdoors and I need a new heart rate monitor. What should I look for?
Outside picks the essentials for March, including the Arc'teryx Motus Crew.
A combined heart-rate monitor and GPS watch will supercharge your training. Motorola's Motoactv is one of the best on the market.
Outside picks the essential tech tools, including the OtterBox Defenders Series case.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2012 Winter Buyer's Guide, including the Moving Comfort Rebound Racer Bra.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2012 Winter Buyer's Guide, including the Casio ProTrek PRW-5000Y-1 watch.
A satellite-based text-messaging and tracking device
Cooling Agents: Our favorite ultralight gear for sweltering summer runs, including the Garmin Forerunner 610 watch.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Garmin Forerunner 210 Watch.
Outside reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Garmin Edge 800 GPS bike computer.
Good physiological data helps you make the most of shorter training sessions, because you know exactly how hard you're working.
I'm looking for a GPS unit for the backcountry but it would also be nice if I can use it on the roads sometimes. Does such a combo exist? What are the top three? MJ Arvada, CO
In a tech-assisted misadventure, our man finds the most difficult line between two points
Probably the easiest to use right out of the box, the waterproof eXplorist 500 is also a pocketful of power. After a quick off-trail jaunt (exactly 1.44 miles) on a local hill (676 feet up, from car to summit cairn), I graphed my hike’s vertical profile in brilliant color right…
A safe bet for ocean adventurers, LOWRANCE’S IFINDER PRO ($209) accepts marine charts made by market leader Navionics. The huge three-inch diagonal gray-scale screen looks sharp—even when viewed in bright sunlight. Minor bummer: It’s waterproof, but only when stuffed into the included plastic pouch.
From the school of “one less device” comes a GPS-enabled mobile camera phone. Sign up at www.nextel.com ($10 a month) and download a dozen or so map or aerial-photo “tiles” from Trimble Outdoors—covering your intended travel area—onto a compatible Motorola phone. I followed my position on a hilly ramble, even…
Garmin took a page out of Apple’s book with the Oregon 400t, the first handheld GPS unit with a touchscreen and an icon-based interface. The result is the most user-friendly and intuitive GPS unit we’ve tested. The touchscreen keyboard makes entering info a cinch—something testers really appreciated when temperatures…
1. Eliminate extra gadgets: The Crossover is the first unit on the market with outdoor, marine, and advanced vehicle capabilities all crammed into a single lightweight unit. Even with the broad functions, the Crossover is simple to use, thanks to an intuitive, icon-based menu system paired with one of…
Stay Connected When you pair Delorme’s full-featured GPS (topo maps, aerial photos, 3.5 gigs of memory) with the companion Spot transmitter, something very cool happens: In addition to sending standard Spot messages (“I’m OK,” “SOS”), you can also type 48-character text messages to friends, Twitter, or Facebook. Annual subscription starts…
This wrist-top GPS manages a knife-edge feat: It’s equal parts cool and geeky. Sporting the X9i, I launched out on a run from my hotel room in downtown Buenos Aires. Within minutes, the 12-channel GPS receiver had locked on to satellites and was displaying my speed and distance. When…
BEST FOR BEGINNERS Never used a GPS before? Check out the refreshingly straightforward Venture. On day hikes and quick overnighters around British Columbia’s southern Coast Mountains, testers with limited GPS knowledge found the cell-phone-size Venture’s simple menu system the most intuitive to operate. Its relatively big (1.3-by-1.7-inch), bright color screen…
Mapping Maven This super-powerful GPS takes personal navigation to a new level. Testers were shocked by how eyeblink-fast it updated location on its gorgeous 4.3-inch screen—as if the satellites were just overhead—and how easy it was to enter a destination and then find arrival times, elevation, traffic alerts, and, of…
If you thought real GPS navigation was beyond your budget, you haven’t seen the cell-phone-size 210. It’s not the only player in its price range, but it stands out for its internal 22MB memory—essential for digital mapping. The 210 ships with a built-in North American base map that shows…
ASK MORE FROM YOUR PHONE Some friends and Web sites give great directions; others, not so great. So why not get the info straight from the pros? With a subscription to a third-party GPS application like TeleNav ($10 per month), the 8703e smartphone becomes a full-featured on-road navigator, providing onscreen…