Jaqhama
Race Dog
- Joined
- May 7, 2006
- Messages
- 619
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- Sydney Australia
- Bike
- Kawasaki Super Sherpa
Everyone I know with an adventure bike is talking about GPS Units these days.
A mate of mine asked me the other day when I'm going to get one?
I said..."I'm not!"
He looked quite surprised and asked why not?
"Because I can read a map mate, and I can use a compass, and the sun comes up in the East and sets in the West, and most nights there are stars in the sky...WTF do I need a GPS unit? "
"In case you get lost?"
"I don't get lost FFS, it's why I have a map and a compass!"
I have to admit I am kinda disdainful of blokes who rush out and buy a GPS unit as soon as they get a dual sport bike.
We never had them when I started riding and I've never seen the need for one myself.
Maybe if I was riding across the trackless wastes of the Sahara Desert it might be a good investment, but not in NSW, Australia.
All of our wilderness areas were mapped out long ago, even the minor trails thru the bush.
I am assuming it's pretty much the same in ZA?
I know riders who use GPS in bloody Europe and America.
I just don't get it myself.
Am I missing something here?
I do know know plenty of riders who cannot use a compass to save their life. (Possibly literally).
I also meet plenty of people who never know what direction they're facing or travelling in...baffles me I admit. I can always tell North from South and East from West.
The same goes for using the stars to navigate a direction by, most people today are hopeless at it.
My biggest dislike of GPS is that it is an electronic piece of equipment and therefore can go wrong or break.
A lot of you guys and gals obviously ride frequently in the bush, what do you reckon about it?
Movie: The Mountain Men: Brian Keith and Charlton Heston to a tenderfoot..."Lost, lost?" Brian Keith rubs chin thoughtfully. "I ain't never been lost! Been a mite confused for a couple of months but I ain't never been lost!"
A mate of mine asked me the other day when I'm going to get one?
I said..."I'm not!"
He looked quite surprised and asked why not?
"Because I can read a map mate, and I can use a compass, and the sun comes up in the East and sets in the West, and most nights there are stars in the sky...WTF do I need a GPS unit? "
"In case you get lost?"
"I don't get lost FFS, it's why I have a map and a compass!"
I have to admit I am kinda disdainful of blokes who rush out and buy a GPS unit as soon as they get a dual sport bike.
We never had them when I started riding and I've never seen the need for one myself.
Maybe if I was riding across the trackless wastes of the Sahara Desert it might be a good investment, but not in NSW, Australia.
All of our wilderness areas were mapped out long ago, even the minor trails thru the bush.
I am assuming it's pretty much the same in ZA?
I know riders who use GPS in bloody Europe and America.
I just don't get it myself.
Am I missing something here?
I do know know plenty of riders who cannot use a compass to save their life. (Possibly literally).
I also meet plenty of people who never know what direction they're facing or travelling in...baffles me I admit. I can always tell North from South and East from West.
The same goes for using the stars to navigate a direction by, most people today are hopeless at it.
My biggest dislike of GPS is that it is an electronic piece of equipment and therefore can go wrong or break.
A lot of you guys and gals obviously ride frequently in the bush, what do you reckon about it?
Movie: The Mountain Men: Brian Keith and Charlton Heston to a tenderfoot..."Lost, lost?" Brian Keith rubs chin thoughtfully. "I ain't never been lost! Been a mite confused for a couple of months but I ain't never been lost!"
