I'm going on my first multi-day backpacking trip with my Fenix 5X (first with the watch, not first backpacking trip) and was wondering how others use their watch while hiking or backpacking. I'll be on reasonably marked trails, but have been unable to find anything interesting with google searches beyond tracking the activity, and potentially looking at the map to get a sense of upcoming elevation changes. There didn't seem an obvious or easy way to use it to navigate to a waypoint (the next shelter for example).
I like to track some basic metrics and also elevation. Keeping it simple is best for me. I can't handle 6 data screens. I usually use 3 including the map.
I just got back from my first backcountry canoeing trip and I used it extensively while in the water to track where we were and to find portage routes. Our guide had been on this route six times but was doing it off memory and we would have veered off course if it weren't for this watch. Aside from that, here are my first impressions after a week of intensive use on land, water, and in an automobile:
Pros:
1. Battery life was amazing. In boat mode, I set the GPS to UltraTrac and I had no issues with accuracy. 2. The topo maps were fairly easy to work with (zoom in and out, pan left-right-up-down, etc.) once you get used to them. Waypoints are clearly marked.
Cons:
1. No contours marking elevation on the topo maps. This would have been helpful for finding Portage routes. 2. On trips involving travel over land and water, there doesn't seem to be a good routing option. For me it just basically drew a straight line between two points. If the topo maps actually had elevation contours and the software was smart enough, it should be able to predict the best portage routes and either minimize time or distance. I'd be interested to hear from Garmin if they've considered this or if there are plans to add this kind of thing. It would be invaluable in the backcountry. 3. Overall, I don't have much confidence in automobile routing at this point. I've been testing it out on well traveled routes with the 'minimize time' option and using GPS+Glonass for maximum accuracy and there have been times when it's told me to take a bizarre turn that directed me away from my target (added via sendpoints). I've also encountered a glitch where the map clearly indicates a turn but the instructions tell me to 'stay left' on the current road.
Other:
Not sure if these topo maps have hiking routes and points of interest like backcountry campsites, but this is something I'll be keeping a close eye on. On the 'Bain Route' in NW Ontario, the map showed these little asterisks on the shoreline that looked like camps but the 'Around Me' feature seemed to just call them all Islands. I'm going to test it out in an area I'm more familiar with to see what's really going on.
I'm going on my first multi-day backpacking trip with my Fenix 5X (first with the watch, not first backpacking trip) and was wondering how others use their watch while hiking or backpacking. I'll be on reasonably marked trails, but have been unable to find anything interesting with google searches beyond tracking the activity, and potentially looking at the map to get a sense of upcoming elevation changes. There didn't seem an obvious or easy way to use it to navigate to a waypoint (the next shelter for example).
I bought a fenix 5X recently and I have basically the same question. What would be a "how to use" guide to use it for backpacking?
I agree. Only by searching YouTube can you actually figure out how to use the watch in the field to navigate. What I discovered too is that the topographic maps sold in the Garmin map store are just that: detailed topographic maps. They're not actually trail maps. Yes there are some hiking trails on the topographic maps, but not nearly as you'd find on a National Geographic trail map, for example. I'm disappointed about that; I need to use Basecamp and Google Maps and even my paper map in order to actually plan a route in Basecamp, and then send it to the watch. Now I have to figure out when I'm on the trail, how is the watch actually used to keep my on the right trail.
I use basecamp for planning a course, then download to the watch. Sometimes I put a .gpx file directly on the watch using drive-type copy files rather than download thru basecamp. Out in the field, I generally 'follow a course' that uses the pre-prepared course. Trying to use the tiny-little map on the watch for navigating when I have to go off-course does work SOMETIMES, especially if there is a track marked on the map to follow. It can do route-finding using the map, if it is a routable map and that works OK. Other times it gets difficult, especially if the destination is far away from my current position, or is not a saved location, or not a waypoint in the map. Mainly because moving around in the map is awkward using the buttons.
