I'll be straight up. I've insisted on having a watch with maps for years now but now I've come to a realization today that I've NEVER used them on a run.
Maps are seen as vital piece of tech but in all my years of having that feature I've never had to need.
What am I missing guys? Perhaps the breadcrumb mapping feature like on Instinct 2 really all you need?
Posted Dec 30, 2022, 9:18 PM UTC
Running in the city I frequent use the auto generate a course that is a certain length I want to do and then I just push it to the watch so I can run a random route and not always do the same thing.
How do you do the auto generate course of a length?
I have android so not sure if it's different on iOS but in the app on the phone under training & planning select course. At the top you will see create course. Select activity type. Then select automatic. Name the course, set distance and direction. Zoom in on map and tap starting location. Wait for it to generate a route. You can select to recreate of add a point you want to go by and then hit done. Lastly hit the 3 dots in top right and send to device.
You can also do this directly on the watch! From the run activity you can go to Navigation > Round-Trip Course then enter how long you want the route to be and the watch will make the course for you. It's great if you don't have your phone on you and can't decide where you want to run.
How does that work for you on the watch? I’ve tried it but each time the maps take ages to get generated and often are of poor quality (like half length of what I actually asked for). More often than not I revert back to generating them on my phone and pushing to watch.
They've enabled trail running for me; one of the most import functions of the watch.
I dont use them on a daily basis but I load the course for nearly every ultra I do. It's especially helpful when some navigation is necessary due to lack of course markings. I will also do the same thing for a lot of the big hikes in the mountains I do. It's helpful since there's no cell service in these areas as it allows me to always be aware of my location. Even lets me know when im off course. It's also saved my ass a few times I've gotten off trail due to poor markings. They're certainly not for everyone but there's plenty of people who will find benefit in them. Personally I would not purchase a gps watch without topo maps and good navigation anymore.
I don't use them because my vision isn't good enough to use them, even with glasses. If I'm on a run where I need maps, I bring my phone.
They're a big help to me. Sometimes I'll veg out while running, and then realize I don't know how to get back home. Maps to the rescue!
Its nice to have in case of an emergency. But for the most part, I will bring out my cellphone if I need to check my bearing or to know which road to take
I have never used them except while hiking trails.
I've only used maps when I've had to download a GPX file of a race course. Otherwise, I don't look at them. I've always associated them with draining the battery, so never look at the map on my watch.
I use maps on 90% of my runs because I do an insane amount of travel and run 6 days/week in places I am often unfamiliar with.
For example, between December 1-February 28 this winter I've run in or will run in: Warsaw, Krakow, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Tiberias, Nazareth, Haifa, Acre, Grand Rapids, Bonita Springs, Athens, Santorini, Crete, Rhodes, Belgrade, the Peloponnese, around Cyprus, Thessaloniki, Malta, Barcelona, Maspalomas, and Copenhagen.
I used to have a Forerunner 245 and found the breadcrumb style maps to be difficult to use. Full feature maps and multi-band GPS were my main reason for moving to the Forerunner 955 this year. I use the maps in high contrast mode to make them easier to read while running. I typically will lay out my courses for the coming week the week prior and upload them to the watch, deleting them after I finish with them. I most often design my own based on Garmin's popularity routing option.
For people who rarely travel and tend to run the same courses all the time, maps are unnecessary.
Sometimes and only when hiking.
I hike, hunt, and backpack.
I always have maps on my phone, and on long trips or unfamiliar areas I often have a paper map as a backup.
The breadcrumbs on my watch have been more than sufficient, especially when paired with a planned course or marked waypoints in Explore and the tracback feature.
If my phone breaks and I lose my pack with the map, they'll get me back where I started. My phone is the primary navigation device though.
I use my watch for multi-day backpacking trips. The main reason I got an Epix 2 was for the better resolution maps. I use my phone only as a backup, which saves the battery.
super important. I map trail runs thats out in the mountains, without the fenix, I would be super lost.
Definitely super useful for hiking and backpacking. Sometimes missing a turn or going off trail can add significant distance. Maps can be the difference between a fun day out and a dangerous day away from home.
After having maps, I probably wouldn't go back to a watch without them. I realize I could just use my phone in most cases, but if I do have my phone with me it's usually tucked away in my belt where pulling it out is more cumbersome then looking at a watch.
Great for hiking, especially when I'm able to see all the trails on the screen. Saved me a few times from getting lost.
Really helpful when running/biking new routes, especially when I'm not familiar with the area. Having road names on the screen saved me from getting lost after taking a few wrong turns.
The round trip routing feature is really cool when I need to get in a short run but I don't know where I want to go. It's cool to let the watch make a course for me on the fly.
Great for making quick detours. Every once in a while I'll have a course planned out and find that the road/trail is unusable (usually due to construction) about half way through. I can just take a quick glance at the map and find a quick detour to get myself back on track.
Take a walk in the woods one day and get lost , you’ll appreciate maps on your device.
I think the hiking aspect has been covered pretty well. For cycling it's great because the maps layers give better context which street you need to turn when there's more than one option (yes I'm one of those maniacs that use their watches for navigation on the bike)
But most of all for running I love it because I can just run into any unfamiliar forest and when I'm starting to get tired I just ask my watch to find me a route that brings me back, or to another waypoint (e.g. sometimes I take the train to run back to my house again).
I could do those things without the maps of course and navigate on a breadcrumb trail, but the maps give me the confidence to just blunder on for as long as I like as my watch can always bring me home.
Having said that, I live in western Europe. No dangerous wildlife or cliff faces for miles. When I'm in actual wilderness I am more prepared.
As a hiker, maps on the device are important when hiking on routes that I'm not familiar with - especially if it's an area where the path isn't that clear, and/or where the path forks a lot. Being able to just look at my watch and know that I need to keep left at this fork and right at the next one is much easier than pulling out a phone or other device to do the same thing.
For trails that I'm familiar with, I agree with your comments - I never really use the maps.
I think you've hit the nail on the head there with your 2nd paragraph. My trail runs are all familiar to me. When I do venture to somewhere new (rarely) its generally a long loop I'm doing.
For hiking maps on a watch would be essential I'd imagine.