A neat quick article from Garmin

[Datsun Man2]

For those still considering some item for their Overland Vehicle, I would recommend taking a look at this article from Garmin. They do mention their Tread Series GPS along with some of the Satellite Communicators they offer. It even mentions the simple benefits of them. Personally I like a dedicated GPS vs the fancy Infotainment Systems you get on some vehicles and from the aftermarket and having to take time to setup a tablet of sorts. I also prefer a simple Satellite Communicator over Starlink for the fact I'm trying to get away from the grid. If I'm trying to get off grip, why would I bring Internet? I can check that stuff for when I get back to civilization.

Here is the link to that article I speak of.

What is overlanding? How can you overland with Garmin? - Garmin Blog

Prepare for your next overlanding journey today with Garmin off-road navigators, GPS handhelds and satellite communicators.

www.garmin.com

 

[deserteagle56]

There is nothing "simple" about the Garmin Tread navigators...and Garmin designed them that way. As you say, when in the outback, why bring internet - or cell service with you?

I - and one of my overlanding buddies - both bought a Garmin Tread Overlander with the built-in InReach. Mine is an 8", my buddy bought the 10". Both of us are long-time Garmin GPS users and have several of them, various models. We both agree on the following pluses:
1) The screens are marvelous. Very bright, very sharp and clear. My old eyes LOVE the screen.
2) The included maps are the best Garmin has ever put on a GPS unit. For once most trails and two-tracks and MVUMs show up on the screen.

The minuses are many!
1) Having the vehicle speed as one of four fields on the map page - and that can't be changed. Why would anyone poking along on a trail care what speed they are traveling? The vehicle's speedometer isn't good enough?
2) The heading can only show West, North, South, etc. Can't specify degrees of heading the way you can on any of the handheld GPS units. Degrees of heading is essential to anyone working Search and Rescue.

Degrees heading on a Garmin Montana. Can't have this on a Tread!


3) By far the most egregious thing about the Tread series is that they are designed to work paired with a smart phone. And using Garmin's "Tread" app - and through Garmin's "cloud". It tells you that right in the owners manual. Apparently Garmin engineers never travel where there is no cell signal. The Tread won't work the way the older Garmin units did - create a track or other GPX file on a laptop or tablet or whatever, connect the GPS unit to the laptop via USB and transfer the GPX file to the GPS unit. You can use a Tread with no cell signal available - but you have to make sure you have all the GPX data loaded while you are in cell range. There is a workaround - you can create a GPX file on a laptop or other device, load that onto a microSD card, insert that card into the Tread, and import it. The Tread WILL NOT work with Garmin's Basecamp or most other GPS apps. And here's the worst part - when I first downloaded the Tread app onto my smart phone it worked just like it was supposed to once I "paired" the phone and the Tread. That lasted less than a month. Now, the phone and the Tread still pair - if I'm in cell range I still get weather, etc., from the phone. But the Tread app on the phone refuses to share data with the Tread GPS unit so none of the GPX data that is on the "cloud" will transfer to the Tread GPS. And from what I read on line, we are not the only ones having this Tread app - Tread GPS data sharing problem.

The Tread would be an excellent GPS unit if it worked like the older Garmin Montana units...send and receive GPX data via a USB cord or "share wirelessly". Create a waypoint or track on the GPS unit, name it, and save it into a folder so that it is easily accessible for future use. No, Garmin had to complicate matters and try to make everything work through Bluetooth and the "cloud".

But the Tread screen and maps are excellent:

 

[Datsun Man2]

Some things to keep in mind with the tread GPS since I have both a Tread Overland and now a Tread Overland 2. When it comes to sharing GPX files I found it easy to make sure you can get the file from whoever and put it right on your explorer account. With the explorer account it will sync to your tread account as well. Once those two are synced on your phone alone you can sync it right to your Tread device real easy. Of course this is only good if you're able to get said GPX file while still in an area where you do have clear cell and data.

Why would you care about the vehicle speed while traveling even on the trail? Why isn't the speedometer good enough? To answer that one think about if you put bigger tires on your vehicle. Did you do anything to try correct the speedometer for that? If not that's a great reason why it's speedometer on your GPS can be helpful.

As for the heading? As long as I'm going north south east west or even Northeast southeast northwest or Southwest, I'm good. I don't need to know the exact degree. I'm not that picky.

No one thing I will say between the Tread Overland vs Tread Overland 2, I prefer the Tread Overland 2 due to the InReach function. What I mean is how the InReach device is not part of the gps. Why is that? Because if I get to where I want to go for camp and I decide I might want to stay there for a little bit and go explore nearby areas on foot, I don't want to lug around the big GPS well I'm on foot. And reality I'd rather have something like the Garmin InReach MINI. When you think about it it makes sense. Now if you're one who doesn't want to go explore on foot far from camp, then I can understand not worrying about that particular bit.

 

[deserteagle56]

Why would you care about the vehicle speed while traveling even on the trail? Why isn't the speedometer good enough? To answer that one think about if you put bigger tires on your vehicle. Did you do anything to try correct the speedometer for that? If not that's a great reason why it's speedometer on your GPS can be helpful.

I can certainly agree that having GPS speed on the screen when traveling on the highway can be helpful. I can also certainly say I've NEVER cared about the speedometer reading/GPS speed reading when traveling some trail or dirt road or two-track. I drive according to conditions when off pavement; I could care less what the speedometer or GPS unit shows as my travel speed. So if my speedometer reading doesn't agree with my GPS speed when I'm out on some trail because my tires are a different size, why would I care? There's no speed limit, no cops!

I'm not saying having the vehicle speed as a monitorable parameter on the GPS unit is a bad thing. I'm saying have it as a selectable parameter so I can have it on my screen if I need it. That's the way my other Garmin GPS units have it. There's probably 50 different parameters that Garmin Montana and Tread GPS units can display on the screen and when I'm off-highway I can think of several I'd rather have on the screen than vehicle speed.