I am on a mountain rescue team and have used and owned the small etrex receivers but find they can be difficult to read especially at night if your eyesight is less than perfect because of the small font. Though the 72 is larger in size and wieght than the etrex series, I find it a joy to use because of the larger screen. Doesnt have the ability to upload maps like the 76 but if youre looking at an INEXPENSIVE GPS, you cant go wrong with the Garmin 72. This is an addition to my original post above. On a recent SAR mission, another member had a hard time reading his smaller etrex coordinates. Get a 0,9,8,5,3 or a 7,1 mixed up because you cannot correctly distingush the tiny numbers and you can be in a world of hurt (or the person you are rescuing). And that was in the daytime. I am also pleased with the ability to use the 72 with rechargable Nickle metal hydride batteries, last longer than expensive alkaline and more so in cold weather. (8-2-2012) Another addition: works great, still using the Garman 72 even though we have 'smart phones'. We are now using it to locate amateur/experimental rockets and for near space balloon recoveries. Simple, has a large screen, and works great. Im trying to figure out why I only gave it 4 stars.Read full review
The __ is an excellent handheld GPS for the money. The manufacturer has installed many user-friendly features that make the first time buyer or the professional happy. They manufacturer has excellent customer service and many additional add-ons to make this unit an extremely versatile GPS to be used in town, on trips, hunting, fishing, cycling, hiking, four wheeling or camping. Suggestion: 1. One of the best ways to protect investment is to purchase a Protective Case for this GPS. You can find a top of the in line protective case that protects while allowing full viewing and access to all the features of your GPS unit. See a variety of cases at: http://stores.ebay.com/FIS4HER1-COM_W0QQssPageNameZL2 2. Purchase cable accessories that allow you to upload or download maps and data from your GPS. Purchase a 12v auto charger so that you can always keep you unit charged before heading out cross-country. Purchase quality power and data cables at: http://stores.ebay.com/FIS4HER1-COM_W0QQssPageNameZL2 3. Purchase an Amplified External GPS Antenna for the unit. The internal antenna is ok but will become intermittent in high buildings, cloudy skies and stormy weather. Purchase a quality, high gain remote antenna. See specification on 28dB and 55dB GPS antenna at: http://stores.ebay.com/FIS4HER1-COM_W0QQssPageNameZL2 Cheers – Fis4herRead full review
I have been a lakewater quality monitor in the state of Maine for 30 years. Every 2 weeks during the warmer months, I go out to the deep hole of an assigned lake to monitor conditions there. Before having the Garmin GPS72 unit, I relied upon guesswork and shore features to reach an approximation of the deep hole area. Since many deep holes of lakes are relatively narrow in width, one can end up in 20 feet of water, instead of 100 feet, if you are just 60 feet from the center of the deep hole area. That can make it difficult to pinpoint the deep hole, and often resulted in the need to transverse the general area for 20 minutes or more while searching for the exact spot with a depth finder. This season I was fortunate to receive funds from the Cathance Lake Association to purchase a GPS unit. I chose the Garmin GPS 72 because it is accurate, lightweight, handheld, affordable, and waterproof. If accidentally dropped into the lake, the unit will float. I am very pleased with this GPS unit. Now I can jump in my boat and quickly motor out to the deep hole location. The navigational screen points the way, tells me if I am off course (and by how much), tells me the speed I am traveling, and alerts me when I am nearing my destination. Once there, I anchor the boat to prevent drift so that my water quality readings at various depths are accurate. The GPS72 has a nice feature that will alert me if I am dragging the anchor and drifting off course, and that is easy to have happen when even moderate waves are rocking the boat. Another nice feature of the GPS72 is that it gives an elevation reading in addition to latitude and longitude coordinates. A lake's elevation is important to know when taking dissolved oxygen readings, because the sensitive dissolved oxygen meter must be calibrated before use by taking elevation into consideration. I am sure that in the years ahead our lake association will find the GPS72 useful for many purposes besides the water quality monitoring which I do. This could include pinpointing coordinates of: underwater navigational hazards, areas where invasive plant species or other water quality issues have been found, navigational buoy placement, sunken boats, and areas where an automobile or snowmobile has sunken through thin ice. In summary, I would say that the Garmin GPS72 is the cat's meow for person or organization considering a GPS device, and highly recommend it. Richard M. OffingerRead full review
Highly rugged. I can say that after dropping, smashing, burring it under tons of equipment, and abusing it in over 160 degree heat, mine still works like its brand new! The Garmin GPS 72 has an impressive start up time of 5 seconds. The ability to intake over 24 V for external power was crucial because of our systems in our HMMWV. With over 500 user addable way points, you will find it hard to fill them all in. This unit is the single most important piece of personal equipment I own in Iraq. It has actually saved my life I believe. The reversible route system is key to navigation on dark roads with poor maps. Just being able to reference way points and see how much distance remains and the ETA to point feature is helpful. Reception is prenominal. I have seen other units, to include the Army issue PLUGGER GPS system fail in sand storms or electrical storms. However, my Garmin GPS 72 still picked up satellites and was able to maintain 3D tracking. I enjoy this unit so much I have purchased a second one for home use. The first one is a little worse for wear, but nothing I wouldn’t expect in a combat vehicle in Iraq. I cannot stress enough how rugged it truely is. You could jump up and down on it and the case would hold up. Id trust it to run over it with out 12 ton HMMWV, but I haven’t tried that yet! No matter if you’re in the middle of the desert, or the middle of the woods, I would trust my safety to this piece of equipment. From the use of mine, I have convinced others to purchase their own when they were amazed at how well mine worked. And I highly recommend this cheap rugged user friendly unit to anyone deploying overseas, or in need of quick, accurate, and reliable GPS location.Read full review
I purchased the hand held GPS unit approximately 3 weeks ago to use in my sailboat. The unit is exactly as described by the manufacturer, durable, easy to read, with good battery life. Nice marine unit that can be used on the land as well. Would highly recommend to anyone looking for a hand held GPS for their boat.
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