How to disable Garmins auto chopping (distance and moving time) "feature"?

Also today I tested what may trigger this strange behaviour...I walked in a super slow pace (40-50 mins/km which is harder than expected :D ) and the distance and moving time were correct.

So I suspect it may be based on slow pace + certain GPS patterns.

Try using the Walk Activity instead of Hike, and also turn off the Auto-Stop option in that activity settings. At Hike there is indeed a pace threshold where the watch won't count the distance if you move slower than that. I believe it is set lower (or disabled) at the Walk activity type.

Thanks, I think I've tried all default activities and they all worked the same. But I will try walking again.

This is a pretty dumb logic, Garmin deciding for us how to measure and not making it optional...

Yeah, walking activity is also chopped...thats kind of annoying :/

Try creating an own custom activity (with enabled GPS). Not sure it helps, but would be interesting to find out

Tested, and it is is still the same. Pretty annoying that you watch and app are actually not displaying correct data unless you export to another app...

My opinion is that for the distance shown on the watch that it uses GPS + wrist accelerometer to come up with the distance track. What happens when you open it in basecamp is the distance is only calculated on GPS points. I wish there was some way to turn off the accelerometer.

I wonder if a Biking activity would have the watch accelerometer turned off. 

I don't seem to have this issue with the Instinct. 

My Instinct records GPS tracks and distance accurately on walks that have good GPS conditions such as open Moorland, and where time spent under heavy tree cover is kept to a minimum. The Instinct keeps pace with my Ambit3 well, until there are periods where I am under heavy tree cover where the GPS antenna must struggle, the distance starts to under record, the end GPS results can be quite off track, and if you are using the route navigation, you can tell straight away when it's struggling if zoomed in at 200ft, it can be as much as 50ft off the actual path. 

I don't believe the issue is down to slow speeds entirely, as my Instinct performs exactly the same when running. 

Runs that are relatively easy for GPS it will keep up with my Ambit3 on Distance, only under recording when in poor GPS conditions. 

On a 10 mile run the worst my Instinct has performed is being 0.2 miles off the Ambit3 and the planned route length. 

I did however take a walk yesterday almost entirely through difficult GPS conditions, with only 10 minutes or so of open moorland and over a 2.5 mile distance, the Instinct under recorded by 0.1 miles.  Looking back on both GPS tracks afterwards, it was clear the Instinct was much further off the path and still drifting offset in open spaces in comparison to the Ambit which is mostly bang on the path until the heavy tree cover. 

There are plenty of examples of the Instinct online under recording distance, see my reply in the comments here

forums.garmin.com/.../gps-sw-update-to-2-70

Here is an example from the weekend of the Instinct performing well.  Instinct (top) vs Ambit3 (bottom)

To add to that, this review of the Instinct matches my own experience with the GPS performance. Its something that is probably not noticeable unless you are recording with another device or walking/running routes where you know when the mile markers should be triggered. Running an extra 320 metres at the end of a 10 mile run, has been my personal experience with the Instincts underscoring. 

"Garmin Instinct Review THE GPS Summary: After finally completing my formal test I found that the Instinct’s GPS performance in that test was mediocre. In easy GPS reception conditions it was good but when buildings or trees were involved the GPS performance slipped notably and the overall score was 65% and a good Garmin on a good day would normally give up to 79%, with other, non-Garmins scoring even higher. So here we are typically talking about positional accuracy often being more than 5m away from where it should be and some times a lot further away. In more day-to-day, ad hoc usage my perception was that the Instinct was generally better than my formal test suggested.

This general level of accuracy is fine for seeing a nice post-hike track of where you have been. However the Garmin Instinct is a navigation device and I certainly noticed that sometimes it didn’t quite recognise that I’d visited Waypoints when a pre-determined course had me set to go to them and when I knew, for sure, I had been to the exact spot. So if you are looking for a precision navigation device then the Instinct is NOT for you. However, it will be ‘broadly alright’ for most people’s casual hiking and adventure needs."

the5krunner.com/.../