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GPS watches

Jwiggins762

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 13, 2019
Messages
1,203
I've done little research but I have looked to see if I could get onx on a watch. I've seen Garmin has there own topo GPS watch. I would love to have a watch that has onx on it. If I'm somewhere I dont look at a compass I usually look at my phone and it would be easier if I had a watch instead. Anyone use any watches and also know if onx is setup through a watch?
 
I've done little research but I have looked to see if I could get onx on a watch. I've seen Garmin has there own topo GPS watch. I would love to have a watch that has onx on it. If I'm somewhere I dont look at a compass I usually look at my phone and it would be easier if I had a watch instead. Anyone use any watches and also know if onx is setup through a watch?
You can upload all sorts of map files to a garmin if you get a high enough end one. What kind of filenis onx? They just end up as overlays on the garmin. I have a tactix charlie. It kicks serious ass. I also have the highest detail garmin maps on it.
 
I have a suunto traverse alpha. Its not the end all be all, but I use it fishing the marshes of the chesapeake, hunting state parks. It isnt a topo, but you can utilize breadcrumb trails and download topos on your phone. It works for me, built in compass and a few other features. Worth a look, but garmin is probably better

Sent from my SM-G965U1 using Tapatalk
 
I transitioned to a Garmin from a Suunto. I have been a suunto user for 20 years at this point. A Suunto is AWESOME in conjunction wiht a map and always having a good understanding of your surroundings and knowing how to use an instrument wiht a map is the most important thing...BUT I moved to the Garmin to expeiment with better waypoint marking(being able to actually name them as opposed to having to use the built in tags like home, rock, water, etc.) and for the topo map capability. It has been a huge positive change in the woods and the number of apps available for download are spectactular. I do not have blue tooth turned on on mine, so it is still being used as more of an instrument than a smart watch, but there are some pretty cool things it can do if you do link it with your phone....like use your phones web capabilities to pull in weather radar images and such.

I"m very happy wiht mine. The only thing left ot be a little desired is battery life. My suunto definitely lasted a lot longer....but the garmin has been easily charged by a small solar panel when taking backcountry paddling trips so far.
 
I've done little research but I have looked to see if I could get onx on a watch. I've seen Garmin has there own topo GPS watch. I would love to have a watch that has onx on it. If I'm somewhere I dont look at a compass I usually look at my phone and it would be easier if I had a watch instead. Anyone use any watches and also know if onx is setup through a watch?
Looks like it is a GPX file. You should be able to get it on a garmin watch...It looks like you can just pop the onx chip in a garmin handheld unit, so their watches shouldn't be any different if you pull the file from the chip and transfer via USB from your computer to the watch. If it is waypoints from ONx you want, they have a whole video tutorial on it. I have 3 different map sets on my watch-blue charts, a detailed road map chart , and the most detailed north east topo. I can just toggle between them in the settings.

I"m going to venture a guess and say watch memory will be the biggest issue you run into...so keep that in mind.
 
Looks like it is a GPX file. You should be able to get it on a garmin watch...It looks like you can just pop the onx chip in a garmin handheld unit, so their watches shouldn't be any different if you pull the file from the chip and transfer via USB from your computer to the watch. If it is waypoints from ONx you want, they have a whole video tutorial on it. I have 3 different map sets on my watch-blue charts, a detailed road map chart , and the most detailed north east topo. I can just toggle between them in the settings.

I"m going to venture a guess and say watch memory will be the biggest issue you run into...so keep that in mind.


Thank you, I was looking at the Garmin watches last night at best buy. It was pricey, but seemed well worth it for what I would like to use it for. Yes I want to see my waypoints as well as my location and also have the topo feature.
 
I would also look into the Coros Vertix, I believe it has a battery life of 60 hours while in full GPS mode. I've used the Garmin 920XT for several years with no issues other than having it die on some of my longer runs but will be looking deeper into the Coros once/if this one ever bites the dust.
 
I have a Gramin Fenix 6X saphire, and while I have used the topo maps on it, I haven't explored loading onyx on it. I used about 15% of the features this watch has. Guess i need to look into it more.
 
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