Being a senior citizen, I have never owned a PLB. Though I think it a great idea for the serious hiker/back country traveller, I have gotten along just fine without them. Now that I’m a senior now, and not getting out as much as I’d like, I cannot justify the cost of the unit and subscription.
I the old days, I’d plan an itinerary, and my wife would get a copy. I’d stick to my itinerary. At all points that I knew there was cellular service, I’d call home to let my wife know I was OK. Even two decades ago, I have been surprised at places I got cell service. And I find there are less gaps nowadays. And even when there was not enough signal to get a call out, texts always did. Having reliable and maintained vehicles helped in my case. And being conservative in taking risks when alone helped as well.
I have a now old Garmin eTrex basic GPS unit. I use it in conjunction with my onboard navigation in my 4Runner.
![[Image: daw89446-albums-4running-picture58538-9d...e74c0.jpeg]](https://www.toyota-4runner.org/members/daw89446-albums-4running-picture58538-9da1318e-529e-414f-9f5d-4ce86c5e74c0.jpeg)
![[Image: daw89446-albums-4running-picture58539-70...243d3.jpeg]](https://www.toyota-4runner.org/members/daw89446-albums-4running-picture58539-70fbfb19-52ea-46df-8310-e9db69c243d3.jpeg)
The above two images were taken here, last summer when I took my 90 year old Mom on a day outing. This is where we had lunch, which we brought with us from a sub sandwich shop.
It pairs well with my old Toshiba laptop, running Windows Vista, and National Geographic TOPO! map software with California, Nevada and Utah mapsets. Great for input waypoints, as well as downloading tracks. When on the road and trail, I keep it in this screen. I’ve also used it to guide me in days past when I didn’t have map based navigation units or onboard navigation. I generally print out maps from TOPO!, plus there is a copy of the Nevada and Idaho Benchmark atlases in the seatback pockets.
Nowadays, due to my wife’s disabilities and my having to pay for the sins of my youth and work related injuries, my serious offroading and hiking days are over. The most active off road and on foot I am is during hunting season. And I still give my wife my itinerary. And stick to it.
I the old days, I’d plan an itinerary, and my wife would get a copy. I’d stick to my itinerary. At all points that I knew there was cellular service, I’d call home to let my wife know I was OK. Even two decades ago, I have been surprised at places I got cell service. And I find there are less gaps nowadays. And even when there was not enough signal to get a call out, texts always did. Having reliable and maintained vehicles helped in my case. And being conservative in taking risks when alone helped as well.
I have a now old Garmin eTrex basic GPS unit. I use it in conjunction with my onboard navigation in my 4Runner.
The above two images were taken here, last summer when I took my 90 year old Mom on a day outing. This is where we had lunch, which we brought with us from a sub sandwich shop.
It pairs well with my old Toshiba laptop, running Windows Vista, and National Geographic TOPO! map software with California, Nevada and Utah mapsets. Great for input waypoints, as well as downloading tracks. When on the road and trail, I keep it in this screen. I’ve also used it to guide me in days past when I didn’t have map based navigation units or onboard navigation. I generally print out maps from TOPO!, plus there is a copy of the Nevada and Idaho Benchmark atlases in the seatback pockets.
Nowadays, due to my wife’s disabilities and my having to pay for the sins of my youth and work related injuries, my serious offroading and hiking days are over. The most active off road and on foot I am is during hunting season. And I still give my wife my itinerary. And stick to it.
DAW
~When You Live in Nevada, "just down the road" is anywhere in the line of sight within the curvature of the earth.
~When You Live in Nevada, "just down the road" is anywhere in the line of sight within the curvature of the earth.