A GPS for your key chain - US$ 80

G'day Willie

That is a great idea....sometimes a simple walk can lead to the most unexpected results...for example.. I swore I was never going to confess to this stupidity of mine...but your gadget spotting has changed my mind

thus year wife and I went for a days cannoing hike up a Kimberley gorge...simple up and back...fully prepared with all the usual requirements except seeing as it was up and back a gorge with no intention of leaving it there was no need for navigational gear..gps etc..just usual water, tucker and first aid....so I lightned the back pack down to the essentials as above....and being on water...simple footware suitable for minmimal walking and getting wet of course....plastic things!

all went as planned..lovely day etc..ideallic return journey until we chose to come to shore at our what we thought was our entry point ..with the cruiser "just" up the embankment a little..well guess what......the bloody thing wasnt there because we werent where we thought we were!......I know sounds stupid, dumb and like a greenhorn first time in the bush......simple fact was
(1) I misread the landmark I chose when we left .... 2 very similar boabs
(2) I should have had a second or third backward glance to check to get another perpespective from another angle after a little distance when we first departed ..normal procedure I know...but for whatever reasonI did not!
(3) arrived back later than planned and was nearly dark

In summary we couldnt agree whether or not we had over shot or undershot our vehicle (It was up the embankment out of sight of us down below). We chose to walk up top across the bloody spinifex in very unsuitable footware seeking a vantage point to try and orientate ourselves..in the half dark

Having reached a suitable high point she wanted to walk upstream and me down stream both of us adamant that we were right the other being wrong!...needless to say that caused an issue between us a little! ....as about the only sensible thing we did that evening (yes evening by then) was we stayed together but even that golden rule was severley tested each insisting the other was wrong.

The long and the short of it was the moon came up..luckliy nearly full moon..... we went up and down in both directions at times each time a little further than our previous turn back point ...we lost track of distances walked which served to worsen the situation and our judgement........yes we found the damn thing about 10 pm that night just before we were going to make a bush camp and sleep cold, hungry and irritable and me very angry with myself......busted footware from rock climbing....spinifex scratches from top to toe

How serious was it potentially?...in our case not a lot really I guess.......well we would have been damn cold that night.......(we would have had to cuddle up then!) water was never an issue...down the gorge again to fill up......we did have an arrangement in place with a contact of a "24 hour no return" please think things have gone pear shaped for us...we would have been hungy..tough that wont kill you for a while..daylight meant we would have got back in the cannoe and paddled up and down seeking our tracks on the bank from the previous day..eventually we would have sorted ourselves out on our own but the next day wiser and a little sheepish!

What did I have on me that was the most useful (potentially) that I could have used? ..a personal EPIRB but there was NO WAY I was going to activate that!...it was never that serious ...maybe after a few days I might have re considered it...if no one turned up and the cruiser was still "missing"

What did I have on me that was the most useless??..the 'cruisers car keys!!! what was missing YOUR GADGET !! on the key ring

maybe someone will know where they can be purchased in Australia...or bulk purchase some!

cheers and have a great xmas

bungarra

Looks just like the prototype I saw recently in the "Surgical inplants to help stupidity" society news letter , plan is to implant a similar device into the forehead of all children born after Dec 31 2010 , would of course allow 2 way tracking and have Ipod and phone capabillity , ;) lol.

"the freight was more than the price of the unit"

Wait for the Hema version, price will then be more than the freight and you wil be able to justify the purchase:)

Merry Christmas Wiilie

Cheers
Greg

Something much better but not as small is the Uniden 501, heaps more features and breadcrumb tracking , great for boating and bushwalking.. and parachuting, gyrocopter, whatever........ best piece of gear i have bought.. get them new from as low as $120 new on Ebay.. Michael



Merry Xmas to all. Michael.

I found it at an Australian mail order site.
Site Link

It is bigger than I thought - 3.5" diam. Still, it would be a handy thing to affix to my gold detector harness.


DESCRIPTION
GPS key ring -Portable Retail Price: $130.00
The Pocket GPS Locator. This is the simplest portable GPS locating device available, ideal for finding your car after shopping, returning to a favorite spot on the beach, or returning to camp. Simply push a button to mark your current location and the device points the way back. Nearly the size of a drink coaster, the compact receiver fits easily on a keychain, in a pocket, or in a purse. Unlike typical GPS units that are highly complex, this one only has two buttons: one for power, another for setting your starting point and two other destinations. It uses an advanced GPS receiver chipset that provides a high degree of accuracy--within five yards--in urban canyons or heavily forested environments thanks to its superior Time To First Fix for locating and locking onto satellite signals. It counts down the distance (in yards, miles, meters, or kilometers) as you approach your starting point and its self-calibrating digital compass displays your heading in degrees and indicates direction with an easy-to-read arrow. Weather resistant. Includes lanyard. Two AAA batteries (required) provide up to 20 hours of operation. 3 1/2" Diam. x 1/2" D. (6 oz.)an Australian mail order site here

What about this one Willie..



It may suit your brother, Hahahahahaha

Cheers and have a good one

Richard

Willie, Tha idae of following the arrow till you get to where you came from reminds me of the Mr Bean Holiday movie, just walk in a straight line, over benches, through biuldings etc..... funny huh!! Michael