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Looking to buy a hand held GPS to use in marking fishing structure..my question is what do I need to look for in my purchase? What do you all recommend as far as brand/model? Which one do you all use? Thanks in advance for all your information!.......Brett
Look in the custom search at the top right of your screen,type in your subject and read tons of info. It really helps me a lot.
Garmin 72 is hard to beat, accurate, decent size
i use to have a garmin gps 76,but think they have been discontinued
If you are looking for a basic hand held Garmin makes a Etrax. The units are not made anymore but I have seen them for sale on eBay for less than $50. The replacement is a GPS 10 which sells for around $100.
If you need a mapping unit the Garmin GPSMAP is a nice color unit. I have used both and they worked quite well
I agree with Bob/MN. Hard to beat the Garmin Etrax or its replacement.
In the old days we marked honey holes using a triangulation. Find three prominent points in opposing directions. Draw a map, or use words. Tree with dead limb on north side, laydown at end of cove, brown house with white dock. All three line up and your on the spot. Pirates have been doing it long before GPS. Free. If you want a GPS coordinate, go home and pull up Google Earth. Put a pin on the spot, and write down or export the numbers.
Garmin Venture, or Etrex
I have used a Garman GPS76 for years in Geocaching. It was superseded by the GPS MAP 76 which has downloadable base maps. The equivalent today would be the GPSMAP 64 which will set you back about $200 and would be my choice to replace my GPS should I have to do that.
That being said, have you considered a Depth Finder, Fish Finder, GPS combo? I know you specified a handheld but if you need to make it portable something like the Humminbird Helix series would be an easy project. You can get a Helix 5 Sonar/GPS for $300, add a Gel Cell battery for less than $30 and some foam to float the transducer and have a not only a GPS but a 2D sonar also.
I did this with a DF/FF because I fish out of different boats and did not want to permanently mount it in one of them. I just mounted it on a box, put the battery in the box and floated the transducer so I could take it in my jon, my canoe or even with me using my float-tube.
Just a thought..
I had a Garmin 72 for 11 years and it worked as good the day I sold it as when I bought it. That said, there has been many upgrades since. Simple is good if it's your first, the 72 had no maps but did mark and keep waypoints and left a track to back track on. Suited my needs just fine. Eyes got worse and I looked for a bigger screen. What I will say is that no matter which one you buy you will need two things; a Ram mount to hold it while you drive and a hard wire power cord that plugs into a cigarette lighter as they like batteries---A LOT. About a set of batts per day, I wouldn't count on 2. I good sonar with GPS is also a good upgrade if it doesn't need to be portable.