Garmin  eTrex 22x

(Before I get into the review, I’d like to give a little background as to why I settled on the Garmin eTrex 22x.) Since last November, I gradually became an avid hiker. So much so that I began pushing my skills by hiking in the deep snow. A few weeks ago in early February, I decided to hike the popular 3 peaks(Pinos, Sawmill and Grouse) in Frazier Park a couple of days after a snow storm had passed. At the time, I was using my iPhone X and the AllTrails app as my GPS. That combination worked well during my previous hikes in ideal weather but that day at Pinos, I experienced extreme weather conditions for the first time. Strong winds, 20-30 degree temperatures, clouds/fog rolling in which led to poor visibility & often times snow up to knee level. About half way through the trek the battery level on my iPhone plummeted from 80% to 10% and powered down!!! Luckily, I took my portable charger so I was able to recharge the battery. Even though I had all the essential survival gear to spend the night if necessary, after the shut down I kept a watchful eye on the phone because that was my only means of navigation. A few times I did lose my sense of direction because the trails were covered in snow and the poor visibility made it difficult to identify your surroundings. Less than a mile from reaching the final peak the harsh weather began coming in so I decided to call it a day and head back. That experience taught me that a smartphone may be used as a handheld GPS but not in extreme weather/temperature conditions. ———————————————— When I began researching handheld GPS devices the things that I looked for were: a budget friendly price, ruggedness, long battery life, water/temperature resistance and the ease of use. The Garmin eTrex 22x has all of these features in spades. However, there is a catch though. In order to get the full performance from the 22x, one should install the FREE (gmaptool USA OSM) topographic maps onto the device. This process does require a little bit of computer work but the free topographic maps are MUCH better compared to the preloaded Garmin maps. (If you have a Mac, HikingGuy has some great resources on how to upload the topo maps along with directions on creating tracks, routes and all the other bells and whistles.) After reading/watching HikingGuy’s helpful tutorials on Garmin devices, my intended use with the eTrex 22x was to create tracks and follow them on my hikes. I tested the 22x this morning near Boney Mountain in Newbury Park with a track I loaded and I am EXTREMELY happy with my purchase. It was so easy to navigate the trail. All I had to do every now and then was check my location and keep following the bright line. As my friend says, “brainless.” I was out there for 4 hours and the battery life still had all 4 strips even after the 8 mile hike. As mentioned earlier, the only negative of the 22x is enhancing the capabilities of device, which will require a bit of tech savvy. I have a Windows PC so I did struggle a bit while figuring out how to upload the better maps and learning how to create routes/track. Once all the tech work is done, you will be left with a very easy to use, durable and well rounded handheld GPS device! ( I can’t wait to put the GPS to the ultimate test next Winter in Mt. Pinos.) -Happy trials to all and see you at the top! :D

I really wanted to like this, but it was way too complicated for me. I am an experienced tech person, but after two hours of trying to figure out how I can display coordinates for my current location, I gave up. I do not intend to pay $200 for a piece of equipment that requires a steep learning curve to master. The engineers at Garmin need to rethink the design so it is non-engineer friendly. Until they do, I will pass on Garmin products,.