Is anyone using the BackCountry Navigator application http://www.backcountrynavigator.com/ ? The reason I'm asking is because I was considering a new GPS this year, but after downloading the trial version of this application, I don't think I want to invest $300-500 for a new GPS unit and just purchase the $9.99 one time fee app instead. I tested it this weekend while at Baird and the topo maps are great. The track option, data points and POI are also excellent features. The fact that you can download the maps and save them to the SD card/computer is a plus, especially when you don't have limited cell reception or no reception at all. I've been reading about how to extend battery life and by using the airplane mode on the phone it lasted all day and only drained half the charge which is also good.
Anyone with a bad experience or concerns with using this app backed up by a standard compass which I always carry?
The only thing about that is.. (i have a droid).... The battery life will be gone quick. I was lost in the woods on my old lease and was using the gps with the satellite and the battery was gone quick.. I would bet an extra battery. I use the realtree compass and the time to hunt app on my droid.
Gps's and these smart phone apps are all great. I have and use some of them too. But nothing beats an ole trusty compass. Take a compass reading before you step foot in the woods, know what direction you are walking in, what direction you need to come out, and what direction the roads run. Hard to get lost doing that.
There is a difference in being turned around and lost...............
True allen.. I had no battery in my phone but a tiny bit.. i used the compass on my phone to get me to the east road when i was lost with no light in the swamp last month. I had to cross a chest high body of water in a swamp in the pitch dark but i was sure the road was on the other side of it and the compass did me well.. Like i said they have a app for the droid called REAL TREE COMPASS. But a regular compass works better then anything else!
i carry a compass in the woods all the time,and take a reading when going into an unfamiliar area just in case,i hunt alone alot and i don't have a gps
