Walk and talk - Garmin GPSMAP 66 - not everything works out as it should do

[@jamesss1953]

Received my well awaited 66sr yesterday from GPStraining and read through all the literature/instructions (a few times). Really excellent service from this company. Now rewatching this particular video just now and planning one of my really well known walks for tomorrow (if weather ok). Guidance from you is really good and easy to follow ~ thanks very much. Having used the basecamp prog from Garmin and now the one from your website, I think yours is better. 👍

[@ukgpstraining]

Many thanks for your kind words, they are appreciated.

[@OutandAboutwithTrev]

I love your videos, not just for the information about the GPS's but the locations you go on the other side of the world....looks like an awesome place do head out. Nice mate.

[@ukgpstraining]

Many thanks for your feedback and glad you enjoy the walks. Lots more to come!

[@jamesss1953]

Really good information and ‘advice’. I tend to walk to remote destinations and planned / carry for emergencies. But your advice caught me out on a couple of items ~ so thanks for details of extras to consider carrying 🤔

[@ukgpstraining]

Glad it was helpful, is there anything you carry in your rucksack that I do not?

[@jamesss1953]

@@ukgpstraining I carry my must have meds (daily use) but clean forgot about my ‘puffer’ and thanks to you (+ extra pair of gloves) is now in my bag. In case I need to stay out more than 24h. Back to your question = I carry one of these ~ Katadyn Befree Filter 1L . Bought from Amazon. It is easy to use; simply fill bag with stream water (The collapsible flask packs small to fit into tight spaces ).The drinking end has a filter which removes bacteria, cysts and sediment with its pore size of 0.1 micron. Save’s carrying excessive volumes of water and It’s always with me when I go walking. Also sun glasses (sun and snow protection). A tiny pocket knife. Think that’s all that you may not carry.

[@jamesss1953]

I’ve just set out a number of hikes which until now weren’t possible as the actual path just isn’t there (pos poor use). Now I can with this device. Copy & paste of the gpx files was easy. Cheers

[@daverogerson7766]

Another great video. Just wondering why you did not message about the change of route prior to following the diversion to rejoin the pre-planned one? Glad to see you go prepared with the spare kit....something that others need to take note of. Have had to help other walkers in years gone by. Have donated hats, gloves and first aid bits in the past to ill prepared people venturing out. And dont get me started on the various navigation errors I have seen. Soooo wish people would learn map and compass use!!!!!

[@ukgpstraining]

Dave, you are spot on, great observation and you are spot on with your thoughts. Good practice would have been to send a preset message once I left my 'pre planned route'. i have been thinking about this and i did this all the time up to about 18 months ago, Maybe I am getting over confident, which is always a bad sign. It may be a good video for the future regarding when messages should be sent i.e. good practice as you laid out. As a professional guide I have loaned out my kit far to many times, I could tell a tale or two. That's why I incorporated it into the video, that extra kit takes up so little space and weight and just knowing 'you have a dry hat' really does make the who experience better.

[@FlorinSirbu.]

Great video and vital tips for when the situation requires, thank you. I have noticed you’re using “route” more often than tracks, which reminds me of this one time when I uploaded a GPX route, (no more than 17 miles in length), on my GARMIN 66i from Explore website all was fine and when I was at the beginning of my hike I’ve got this note on my device, “the file was truncated”, and my route was literally shortened automatically by the GPS unit. I think there are hikes that should be uploaded as tracks and vice versa but keeping that in mind the length of either of them should be taking in consideration as well. If planning a multi-day backpacking trip such as West Highland Way,(96 miles), and uploading the file as a GPX route that could potentially interfere with your plans. I might’ve missed something as I am still learning how to use it, yet it can mess up one plans and spell disaster. Kind regards, Florin

[@ukgpstraining]

Many thanks for your message. For day walks I tend always to navigate a route, but for long distance trails or multi day events I tend to navigate a track. You can see on my 'walk and talk' with the GPSMAP 65s I import a .gpx file and edit this down into a daily section - kzbin.info/www/bejne/a2iYm6mteMSCbNk

[@IBwildcat]

Really good video Jon. Great demonstration of replanning on the hoof when things don't quite go to plan but it shows the real power of the unit. I love my GPSMAP66i and its InReach capabilities. Even though I bought it from you way back in 2019 and it has seen lots of use since then, it is still refreshing to watch a video given by an expert. One strange question - my GPSMAP66i has white key backlighting. I thought all the GPSMAP66 range did. Yours seems to have green. Has that changed?

[@ukgpstraining]

Thanks for your kind words and glad you found the video useful. I think it is my camera that makes them look green as they are actually white. Out this weekend with a new camera so fingers crossed that works better and gives better colours in the dark! Time will tell.

[@gradplanner]

Thanks for this info. I've just got into trail riding and I use the 66S and the 830 bike computer mounted on my trail bike. That maybe a bit of overkill but better safe than sorry. Your model is pretty neat. And that's an awesome trail.

[@ukgpstraining]

You are well kitted out, enjoy your trips!

[@steveh9089]

Love your videos and the places you walk. I watch a couple a night but will soon have caught up on them all (which means you need to do more lol)Just realised that I had not subbed but have now, you deserve all the subs you get.

[@ukgpstraining]

My wife chuckled when I read your comment out to her, somebody who watches x 2 of my videos every night. I try and do a 'walk and talk' every month. I slot these around the GPS Training courses I deliver around the country. I have fun doing both the courses, meeting some great people, and also doing the 'walk and talk' series for KZbin.

[@вечная_мерзлота]

I ordered Sr66 and Montana700. Montana is a keeper. replaceable battery is a must. on Sr66 if a cell goes bad - bye bye the whole unit. not a smart move by any gps like that.

[@ukgpstraining]

Thanks for your thoughts, they are appreciated.

[@kayasper6081]

I have several Garmin products, among them the Garmin GPSMAP66i. They all are a real struggle to understand and use, very anti intuitive. The service centre/helpdesk is very limited. Although their products look quite promising, I would not advice buy any of them. I lost lot of time with them, money and frustration, while I could have enjoy actually making trips in nature in stead.

[@ukgpstraining]

Many thanks for your feedback on your experience with Garmin GPS units. I have created these videos to try and get peoples heads around the the navigational experience you get on a Garmin. I personally believe if we can do that it makes the whole thing far more simpler. I am not going to defend Garmin's service centre/ helpdesk. But if they where good and did there job properly I suspect we would not be in business!

[@DARTHDANSAN]

How can you not advise for people to own any of them ??? The inreach mini is awesome global communication in palm your hand and the 66i gets you any where in the world with inreach connection. I have both 66i and mini and glad I have them

[@kayasper6081]

@@DARTHDANSAN Well I have had some bugs in them. Further, a compass that never worked properly (despite several calibrations). While the previous 66st was able to connect to the home wifi, my recent 66i is not. Therefore I also can't download nothing, like the promised birds images. Non of these problems could be solved by Garmin. I am happy for you that your device does function well, I would have loved to be able to say the same.

[@dcentral]

Yes unfortunately Garmin isn’t doing much to revamp the UI and screen resolution on their devices. I hear feed back from more people that they rely on their cellphones these days for navigation in the wild. I still believe in a dedicated GPS unit but Garmin is giving up on innovation because they’re losing a big market to cellphone app GPS?

[@kriswibbenhorstermeister9885]

Does the 66sr not have text or messaging capabilities? I know the 66i has inreach technology, but not sure what sets the 66i apart from the 66sr besides the built in batteries… thanks for the video!

[@ukgpstraining]

You are right, the Garmin GPSMAP 66i has the capability of two-way satellite communication, the 66sr does not.

[@geordiejohn3703]

That was great, very interesting and helpful, thanks for posting 👍🏻

[@ukgpstraining]

Glad you enjoyed it, I enjoyed making it, a little different than past ones I have created.

[@kiethlowry2862]

do you ever do any videos related to geocaching? Recently purchased the garmin 66i with the 2 way sat comms.

[@ukgpstraining]

I have not created a video on Geocaching, but I can add it to m ‘to do’ list for the future.

[@excaliber32]

Hi, great video, I have am oregon 750t and I'm looking for a new garmin unit with the inreach built in. Would the 66i be a good upgrade from mine or do you have another to recommend regards steve

[@ukgpstraining]

Thanks for your kind words about the video. This unit would be ideal for what you are wanting, a top end navigator with two-way satellite communication built in.

[@jaynz247]

Hi great videos thanks! I used to get alerts at 70m and 30m from the next pin while following a prepared route but no longer get these? Any ideas what settings have changed or anything else to explain this so I can rectify it? Thanks!

[@ukgpstraining]

Jay, thanks for our question. If you bought your unit from us or have one of our support packages please do email our tech support team (please include your GPST ref number so they can find you on the system) - [e-mail] - and those guys (far more clever than me) will help you out.

[@danlux4954]

I use the preset messages all the time.

[@ukgpstraining]

Thanks for your comment. To be honest I find it hard to 'manually' type messages into the 66i, so it's presets all the time for me.

[@danlux4954]

@@ukgpstraining my friend connects his InReach to his phone and texts like that.

[@jerrysambrook4480]

If you connect your unit to your phone thru bluetooth, you can use the keyboard to type in messages easier.

[@danlux4954]

@@jerrysambrook4480 my Montana 750 has a bigger screen than my phone

[@jerrysambrook4480]

@@danlux4954 I will probably switch my 66i to a 700i next year. How do you like the camera on the 750?

[@trippy1v349]

Doesn’t the 66i give turn by turn while following a route? You are using the compass to guide you but I’m pretty certain while following a route it gives turn by turn and while following a track you use the compass primarily. Is that wrong?

[@ukgpstraining]

In the uk, you can get the unit to give you turn by turn if you are within a National Park and you are following rights of way. In this video I am within a national park but I use the open access at the start of the walk. I hope this helps, maybe I could do a video on turn by turn, but be warned, not a massive fan of it!

[@impermanenthuman8427]

Does this 66i, without a inreach subscription, still allow you to navigate showing you your exact location on the onscreen maps even when your out of all cell phone reception? In other words if you think you’ll be safe without the inreach sos function and don’t want to pay for that feature on your next hike, can you still use the gps to navigate to get you out of trouble if your map and compass skill wasn’t good enough to not get you lost? I ask because my local garmin consultant wasn’t sure it would still give personal exact location to navigate with relative to the maps screen without a subscription to inreach Thanks

[@ukgpstraining]

Yes, the Garmin GPSMAP 66i does still work as a navigational device with any subscription in place for the inReach. You just get a message every-time it starts up telling you that you have no inreach subscription in not in place, you just need to click OK. Then you just use it like any other GPS unit. I hope this helps.

[@dcentral]

I have a Garmin 64st and I’m trying to understand how much more capability and GPS accuracy will I get from this new unit? Is the upgrade worth it or 64st still holds its weight as a dedicated GPS unit?

[@ukgpstraining]

I personally believe there is a good upgrade from the Garmin GPSMAP 66st to a GPSMAP 66sr. Big benefits - built in battery (35 hours of battery life), larger screen (3 inch rather than 2.4 inch), works alongside a mobile/ tablet so going forward, if you choose to, you can take the PC/ Mac out of the equation. Finally improved accuracy with a multi band GPS unit, which the GPSMAP 66sr is. i hope this helps in some small way.

[@jeg569]

You choose to follow a route rather than a track, is that why you weren’t getting a warning that you were off course? Should this be the default on a Garmin 66?

[@danlux4954]

A track would mean you’ve been there before.

[@ukgpstraining]

If you watch some other of my walk and talks (mainly the GPSMAP 66s and GPSMAP 65s) I do sometimes walk using a track. They give you two very different navigational experiences. Route - You get an audible beep as you go over the top of a waypoint. Therefore a very pro active navigational experience e.g. the GPS is confirming with me I am on the correct route and drawing my attention to it. Therefore if I am doing a day walk where 'I have chosen the route' I much prefer to walk a route. Track - This is far more passive navigational experience i.e. silent, except if you are going 'off course'. Therefore I tend to navigate a track when doing a long distance trail. As usually these are way marked and the GPS navigation is less needed, therefore I am using the GPS more to tell me how far I have walked and how far and how long to the end of that leg etc. But, as you rightly say it will tell me when I have gone off course if I do go wrong. I hope this helps.

[@jeg569]

@@ukgpstraining thank you.

[@jerrysambrook4480]

@Dan Lux. You can create a track in basecamp to follow, and it will alarm you to keep you on course. You do not need to have been there. Also, you can upload someone elses track to use as well.

[@alexblue6991]

I was going to get a GPS till I found out that you also need Internet and computer

[@ukgpstraining]

Thanks for your comment, with the Garmin GPSMAP 65s, 66s, 66sr, 66i and all the Montana range you can plan routes on your mobile/ tablet and transfer them onto your unit - kzbin.info/www/bejne/pXmogKyilsqBb8U

[@garryandrews]

Change the background music Jon on future vids! Too loud and monotonous, great otherwise mate 👍

[@ukgpstraining]

Noted!