Off road support kit (comms and nav)

[ikon]

looking at getting a group of friends into some off road treks, national parks, forestry, fire trail etc

main equipment a GPS considering the Garmin Edge 305 or a Magellan unit have to look into what map support they have and then CB radio looked at units by Or Scientific and also Doro and one other. the points are that it is small and water resistant range 3 - 10 Km but i need to find a way to make it secure on a pack shoulder strap but still usable on the strap, i figured that VOX would be unusable due to wind and breathing so PTT would be the best way to go. looking for people who have similar experience or ideas that my be of use in this en devour, it would be ideal if it was still able to use an ear piece. other concerns are what additional gear people recommend very doubtful that there will be any phone service inc CDMA or 3G. planned length of rides is 1 - 2 days max most only one day 5 - 6 hours point to point or loop.

 

[pharcyde]

Ebay has cheapish ORION CBs that are compact enough but still have good strong range (1.5Watt)and can be stashed into a zip lock bag and strapped onto something. One tip though .... when locking them in a zip lock, drop in a small silica bag (those small annoying little white bags that come in a new pair of shoes box or DVD player), this will soak up and moisture or vapour inside the bag and keep the electronics working like a dream.

GPS wise ... I bought a GARMIN eTREX Legend. Waterproof, bombproof and loaded with basic mapping. Admittedly I didnt buy it for any advanced orienteering or mountaineering, it was only purchased for geocaching but the basic mapping can be a help in locating and resolving a route.

 

[pistonbroke]

IMO get a 5 watt radio if you have the funds,the extra power would be usefull in an emergency.Stuff the radio in hour pack and run a mouthpiece cliped to your strap.
Are they to communicate between riders?If so .5 watt radios are next to useless.In my motocycle club we do trail rides and have learned this in recent years.Once in a gully or over a big hill,no comms.

 

[wtr]

Once in a gully or over a big hill,no comms.

Yup, VHF works on line of sight. Have a whistle with you at all time. And depends on the level fire restriction, pack a flare gun.

Be sure to check out those Silva compasses at your local camping stores.

 

[Elbo]

I recently bought an handheld Uniden GPS205. About $300.
Some of the features are:
GPS, send, receive and navigate to location of caller or specific co-ordinates, compass guidance to caller/location. distance and time to reach caller/location, 500 user marked locations (camps, trails, blackspots, whatever you want), latitude, longitude and altitude display. 1 Watt UHF 40 channel radio built in, CTCSS, 6km range, 7 hours battery life running off 3 AAA's with GPS turned on, Duplex, VOX, Splashproof. The GPS also has a trip computer, display current speed, average speed, max spped, show estimated time to reach destination, built-in compass and GPS co-ordinates.

Although this is a great handheld, I wouldn't rely solely on technology. Nothing can beat a good compass, map, whistle, mirror, light and even a flare.

 

[slaw]

Best thing to take is experience and common sense. I've regularly toured in the backcountry in totally self-sufficient groups with just the maps and a bit of nouse. You'll need maps anyway as a GPS won't tell you what your route should be (unless you've been there before). You don't even need a compass if you can read a map well. But do take a first-aid kit, and tools and spares for the bikes.

If you're only a day or two in the bush, and with a group, then it would easy for someone to ride out quickly or find a 4WD with a radio.

The only time I've taken such equipment other than a mobile phone, was on a 3 month outback journey where a group of four of us took a GPS, a small CB (to get in touch with a nearby 4WD if needed) and an EPIRB. Out of those, we only used the GPS to record our nightly position. Satellite phones costed thousands of dollars in those days.

 

[poridge]

Mapping

Magellan Explorist GPS for sure. I use one (Explorist 600) to map the local trails. The mapping software is sweet, then with magellan Map Send Lite software for your PC (free download) you can then view your Track Logs in 3D and even make your own Topo maps......

See example map below..
(all names censored to protect the guilty!)