So I phoned home from work last night to speak to my wife and found out her best friends dad has gone missing in the Cairngorms whilst out walking. He’s 62 didn’t tell anyone exactly where he was going and has been missing since Tuesday. Family is in bits as you would expect. Now the missus is freaking and saying that could easily be me when I head out on my bike sometimes although I do normally always tell her where I’m going anyway. I’ve told her about the new Garmin Edge 810 which has the function of allowing your other half to see where you are. Has anyone bought one of these and how good is it? Also are there any shops doing deals on them as they seem bloody expensive. I also just bought the 800 a month or so before the 810 came out, will my map card plug in exactly the same and is my heart rate monitor going to work with the new unit?

Thanks

All the sensors are the same, the where am I feature as I understand it (not bothered using it) relies on BlueTooth to link it to a phone and then do live tracking via that/garmin connect. No phone signal no worky. I would also guess it’s data hungry and power hungry when out there too.

I’m happy enough with my 810 (some people reported problems but had none of them)
As for deals
– it’s brand new
– there are still 800’s around
– from what I hear the margins are not great on them

Do the usual shopping checks but if you buy abroad then you wont get UK maps for it – there are work arounds for free maps. I assume the maps are compatible/transferable but I would check before you buy with Garmin help.

if its genuinely needed for safety purposes then look at spot trackers.

my advice is dont become complacent and rely on these devices without giving route plan and time plan to someone – its a recipe for disaster – or even a waste of resources when emergency services are called because your battery has died or there is no phone signal.

and dont forget to carry a map/compass and know how to use them.

Tr + 1

Spot +1, exact tool for the job

You shouldn’t be using technology to find you, as above it has limitation’s, the battery could fail, you wont have mobile coverage, you could drop it etc.

I’m going on a long bike ride today. Ive emailed Mrs FD and my Mother the route I’m doing and rough timings.

At least if I fail to turn up emergency services would know roughly where to look.

Endomondo does live tracking and works on a smart phone, Mrs FD does use that to track me if I’m out on a ride to see when in coming home to put dinner on, and ive used it to track a friend so I could meet up with him on a trail, but I would never use it as a safety feature.

My wife has been moaning about not knowing where I am while i’m out on the road bike. A map and compass would be no use at all in my case. 🙄

Cheers lads. If I’m heading away a ride I do normally take a map and I always have a compass and leave details of my route with my wife. Its more for the wee local rides that I head off on around mugdock and the west highland way where there’s a network of small single track trails which I don’t really plan out on a map. If I come off and end up in a ditch with a broken leg or something and can’t get help or reach the phone. During these rides I’m never normally out of phone range and certainly shouldn’t run out of battery. My camelbak always has a compass, first aid kit, whistle in it as is.

That’s good to know about endomondo though. Sound like that could save me a few hundred quid. I take it that it requires a 3g signal?

A wife moaning about not being able to keep you under the thumb is different to emergency services needing to find you.

As above Endomondo is pretty good for the wife…

Edit – Yes Endomondo requires 3g, can be battery heavy as well. Will only turn my 3g on every hour or so today so people know roughly where I am. With Endo fully on it indicates about 50% battery use over 3hrs, but of course that’s not accurate and I bet the last 50% battery goes much quicker than the 1st..if that makes sense

my next question was about battery life actually. So i could expect around 4-5 hours using endomondo alone? how is battery life affected whilst using the phone and the garmin 810 together?

Edit: ignore me.

haggis, one thing I’d say re

During these rides I’m never normally out of phone range

is that there is a lot of the Mugdock area that has no coverage. We have found this on numerous club and individual rides, so tend not to expect it to work. Agree on your strategy re whistle etc

>My wife has been moaning about not knowing where I am while i’m out on the road bike.<

One of the few benefits of road riding then 😉

Ok so you’re riding in the ‘Gorms (likely without any mobile coverage) with your wee spot tracker on and Wifey watching you inch your way through the hills. Then you stop for lunch, then you have a mechanical. Nothing wrong you just end up stopping for a while. At what point does she call out the MRT?

>He’s 62 didn’t tell anyone exactly where he was going and has been missing since Tuesday.<

Went alone and “didn’t tell anyone where he was going.” That’s really the problem right there surely?

If it’s genuinely about safety then you cannot do better than a route plan, a mobile phone (registered for the mountain rescue text service and with an ICE number) and an epirb. The SPOT system uses the satellite communications network in the event of distress so should be good worldwide.

FWIW, I’ve been considering this problem too and have decided that the SPOT Tracker is the way to go.

I am sure that I have read that Garmin map cards are one device only. ie once they have been used in one gps they won’t transfer to another. Pain in the **** and that’s is whats stopping me buying such a tool.
Check that one with Garmin.

your mobile can do this via any one of a dozen different apps and a spare battery or two is a hell of a lot cheaper than a bells and whistles GPS. Spot Tracker looks great but unless you are doing risky solo stuff in very remote locations it seems a little overkill.

I am sure that I have read that Garmin map cards are one device only.

The map cards can be moved from device to device but not updated, if you buy the mapping on DVD it’s locked to one device but can be updated.

Ok so you’re riding in the ‘Gorms (likely without any mobile coverage)

Was up there last Thursday. Only managed to get the lowest mobile data rate up on Cairn Gorm and that was data roaming too. This did surprise me, being used to 5 bar mobile signals in the Alps, but it could just be o2 being selective as to whom they prefer to roam with.

Think the Garmin needs 3G or better?

I am sure that I have read that Garmin map cards are one device only. ie once they have been used in one gps they won’t transfer to another. Pain in the **** and that’s is whats stopping me buying such a tool.
Check that one with Garmin.

I swapped my 1:50k OS map card from one Edge 800 to a new one with no bother after I smashed the screen and got a replacement from Garmin (at a very fair price, I might add – I was impressed with their customer service).

I had an 810 for a while. Compared to my old Edge 305, I thought it was very gimmicky. The tracking does work so long as you’re in contact with a mobile network, and the Bluetooth is solid, but the screen resolution is terrible and I barely used the map function. As for weather updates…well I soon realised that my HTC One was doing everything that the Garmin was, only better in most cases.

There is a more interesting alternative coming from Garmin in the shape of this:

Garmin camera gps

That seems like a pretty compelling combination. Garmin produces excellent products, but the 810 is an overpriced miss.

Blackmount
Ok so you’re riding in the ‘Gorms (likely without any mobile coverage) with your wee spot tracker on and Wifey watching you inch your way through the hills. Then you stop for lunch, then you have a mechanical. Nothing wrong you just end up stopping for a while. At what point does she call out the MRT?

Did the Inner Cairngom Loop (Lairig an Laoigh) a couple of weeks ago and there was very little coverage all the way round
Spot trackers would be of use – I dont have one (yet) but believe there is a help button – Wifey would need instructing not to panic until a help message came through

Friend of mine, bombing it down a hill, his 810 came off its mount hit the deck and smashed. The signal on the tracker thing just ends half way down the hill. You’ve no idea how much grief that caused.

“Find my iPhone” for local rides and spot tracker for big rides. Tracking mode on and occasional OK message to keep everyone happy…..and spare batteries. 😉

Friend of mine, bombing it down a hill, his 810 came off its mount hit the deck and smashed.

My 800 fell off, luckily at low speed. so no damage done.

Now I use one of the silicon cases with a big o ring looped through the case then around a brake cable. So if the mount fails there’s a backup to ‘catch’ the expensive lump of plastic before it hits rocks!

If you both have iPhones then use Find My Friends. I got lost up near Aboyne and my wife helped me out. Only problem was that my phone dropped out of my pocket at the top of the last descent so she thought I had knocked myself out as I was stationary for 40 minutes before I trudged back up and found out. It should have been a true death ride!

we’ve had a couple of problems with spot “i’m alive/off site/ok” etc messages not being delivered to the phones of designated people in H&S plans, not the fault of spot, but illustrates it is easy to become too reliant on technology.

if its genuinely needed for safety purposes then look at spot trackers

this.

Garmin / Endomondo etc require a data connection and you don’t need to be in the wilderness to find there is no data available.

Of course if you’re looking for a reason to convince ‘er indoors that a new toy is a good investment then get the Garmin 😉

Road ID have just launched an free app:

http://www.roadid.com/ecrumb

Might be worth looking at.

http://www.findmespot.eu/en/index.php?cid=102&referrer=EuSpotHomeEN_BannerBottomSPOT

We use the Spot beacons – have half a dozen in the company – avoid the ones that bluetooth to an Iphone – im yet to get one to set up right.

We use them when we are out remote in the ozzy bush >500km from nearest tarmac road and we’ve found them pretty reliable.

I hope they find they guy in the OP’s post safe and well.

If I went for something like this I’d want to know it wasn’t relying on mobile phone coverage and that it had a battery life in days, not hours.

A friend had a fall recently – was unconscious on the trail for 3 or 4 hours before he was found.

I can see that if you’re out for a days ride or walk that no one is likely to miss your for possibly 8-10 hours after you set out – they won’t track you, just look to see where you are when they realise you are late.

Cairngorms? Or Glencoe maybe? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-23866341

It’s something that’s crossed my mind as I’m inclined to solo spins, some local MTB ones but also further afield, and the wife has no real idea where I am – and often I’ve no real idea of where I’ll head either, especially if solo..

So route plan is of limited use, verbal update of possible route usually means little. I did reckon that if I had come to grief and had access to a phone, I’d probably phone a friend who’d know the rough area or indeed the stretch I was on.. (“hi, I’ve bust a leg, about half way down The Swoop, can you call MRT?”)

But Endomondo tracker would work sufficient until things get a bit better; would probably need a battery pack as well to keep the phone topped up.

So it looks like the Spot Tracker would be the most reliable then but i think i’ll get an extra battery pack for the phone as well and get the live tracking on Endomondo up and running. yes i think it must be the Glencoe one as he was supposed to return on Tuesday

Road ID have an iphone app that tracks you and your loved ones can see where you are. It can also text people if you’re stationary for 5 mins.