What to look for in a GPS for backpacking

Generally speaking the same GPS works great for both day-hiking and backpacking. You want a model that balances size/weight with features and screen size. For backpacking, two criteria become more important.

- Weight: even if you're not of the ultralight persuasion you'll want to go with a lighter unit such as the Garmin eTrex Vista HCx.
- Battery life and replaceability: if you're out on the trail for a couple of days or more battery life becomes very important, because you don't want to carry spare batteries if you can help it. This is an area where the Vista scores again. More expensive lithium AA batteries will give you much longer battery life. Lithiums are also much lighter than conventional batteries, and work better in the cold. All our GPSes here have replaceable AA batteries, so you can always carry a spare set, or pick them up at a trailside town. Some otherwise very good units such as the cycling-oriented but surprisingly versatile Garmin Edge 705 have built-in, non-replaceable batteries.

For day-hiking these may be less important, and if you use your GPS for other activities then the needs of those activities might sway your choice. For example, for geocaching you might want a large bright screen to display detailed map and cache information, for skiing something with larger, glove-friendly buttons, while if you use your GPS to track your running you'll want a smaller, more easily pocketed unit.

Relates to:

• Garmin eTrex Vista HCx
• Garmin Oregon 400t
• Garmin eTrex Legend H

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