• Quick Shot Challenge: What’s the most underrated gear you never leave home without?

    Contest ends Wednesday, join now for the chance to win free Hide merch!

    Join contest

gps watch

Battery life on a "watch" type GPS will suck and be in the hours range.
Many of the "Smartwatches" have GPS built in if you want to track your runs and such, then link up to your phone / PC to go over the data.
 
Battery life on a "watch" type GPS will suck and be in the hours range.
Many of the "Smartwatches" have GPS built in if you want to track your runs and such, then link up to your phone / PC to go over the data.
Depends on the type of tracking you do. Even if it's recording position every second which is an option on the Garmin watches it'll be at least 12+ hours which is plenty to get back home and top it off. If you're rucking then you can carry a small battery pack to charge the watch if over 24 hours out in the field. In Garmin's Ultratrac (GPS) mode it's almost 2 days worth.
 
Ok, didnt think about battery life.

I was planning to use the watch at Mammoth next year. Are the options that will track my pace, log miles and have enough battery life?
 
I prefer the Garmin Fenix 3. I don’t know how much gps tracking you will be doing at the mammoth but if you need you can always bring an external charging pack if there is no where to charge it when you are out and about.

The F3 I have has heart rate and tracks steps and sleep every day. I lose around 10% per day. With GPS use it is more.

For durability I wouldn’t question it. I have worn it nonstop for a year and never have I broken the screen or scratched it. There have been times I hit it and think to myself here is no way the screen isn’t cracked. Low and behold absolutely nothing. I have also hit it so hard that I bruised my wrist from the watch and it had no indication of the strike.

My background is a patrol officer so I’m not a desk jockey (yet....) and it gets banged multiple times a day.

My only gripe about the watch is it is on the larger size. But with all the things I use it for it is well worth the price tag.
 
  • Like
Reactions: prwillard2
I prefer the Garmin Fenix 3. I don’t know how much gps tracking you will be doing at the mammoth but if you need you can always bring an external charging pack if there is no where to charge it when you are out and about.

The F3 I have has heart rate and tracks steps and sleep every day. I lose around 10% per day. With GPS use it is more.

For durability I wouldn’t question it. I have worn it nonstop for a year and never have I broken the screen or scratched it. There have been times I hit it and think to myself here is no way the screen isn’t cracked. Low and behold absolutely nothing. I have also hit it so hard that I bruised my wrist from the watch and it had no indication of the strike.

My background is a patrol officer so I’m not a desk jockey (yet....) and it gets banged multiple times a day.

My only gripe about the watch is it is on the larger size. But with all the things I use it for it is well worth the price tag.

Whole heartedly agree with this post above!

I've worn my Fenix 3 every day for the past 4 years. Active duty Marine Corps and have taken it to the field, Mountain Warfare Training Center during a winter training package and -20 degrees, the desert when it's 115 degrees, in the pool, etc. Not a single scratch on the screen due to the sapphire crystal.

I have had to replace the watch band twice though. Battery drains very fast when you use GPS tracking, but with a decent size battery pack, you'll be able to recharge it 20 times if needed. Without Bluetooth enabled as a daily heartrate/steps/workout tracker the watch lasts a week a full charge. Recharge it on Sunday night, don't take it off again until the next Sunday night.