BUSHNELL BACKTRACK PERSONAL
LOCATION FIN TEST SERIES BY
LONG-TERM REPORT
INITIAL
REPORT - August 22, 2009 FIELD
REPORT - November 10, 2009 LONG
TERM REPORT - January 10, 2010
TESTER INFORMATION
NAME: |
Brian Hartman
|
EMAIL: |
bhart1426ATyahooDOT
com |
AGE: |
41 |
LOCATION: |
Noblesville, Indiana
|
GENDER: |
M |
HEIGHT: |
5' 9" (1.75 m)
|
WEIGHT: |
145 lb (65.80 kg)
|
I have been hiking and camping for over
20 years and enjoy backpacking solo and with my kids in Scouting. I especially
enjoy fall and winter backpacking and camping. My backpack and gear are older
and weigh 40+ lbs (18 kg). This has limited the distances I have been able to
cover while hiking. My goal over the next several years is to replace my
existing clothing and gear with more suitable and lighter weight alternatives.
INITIAL REPORT
PRODUCT INFORMATION &
SPECIFICATIONS
Manufacturer: Bushnell Year of
Manufacture: 2009 Manufacturer's Website: http://www.bushnell.com/ MSRP: US$ Not
Listed Listed Weight: Not Listed Measured Weight: 3 oz (85 g) Warranty:
One Year
Additional Information: Screen Type: Backlit Grayscale
LCD Battery Type: 2 AAA Battery Life: 20 hours Dimensions: 3 in (H) x
3.5 in (W) x 0.75 in (D) (75 mm x 90 mm x 19 mm) Accuracy: +/- 3 meters (+/-
10 ft) Waypoints: 3 Compass: Self Calibrating Digital Compass Receiver
type: Compact antenna SiRF Star III
Available Colors: Gray/Orange, Green,
Tech Gray, Camo
Bushnell describes the BackTrack as "the world’s
easiest-to-use GPS personal location finder for Peace of Mind, wherever you find
yourself. Getting back at the end of the day is as easy as pushing a button and
following an arrow. Utilizing GPS technology in its most basic format, BackTrack
has only two buttons and stores up to three locations – just mark it and forget
it until it’s time to return. At the end of the day, select your location and
the BackTrack displays direction and distance to travel. Use it to find your car
in a crowded parking lot, your treestand or the trailhead, even to rendezvous
with your group. It’s extremely compact and stows conveniently in your pocket,
pack or purse."
INITIAL IMPRESSIONS
The Bushnell BackTrack arrived in a plastic blister pack in excellent
condition. Included with the BackTrack was an instruction booklet and
lanyard.
Upon removing the BackTrack from its packaging, I immediately
noticed how lightweight and compact it was. It can easily fit in the palm of my
hand. The BackTrack is made of hard plastic with an eyelet for attaching the
lanyard. It feels sturdy and appears to be very well made. I am very happy with
my color selection of Gray/Orange. The contrasting colors look great on this
GPS. The body of the GPS includes a large digital display in the center with two
buttons which are located at the 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock position. These
buttons can be easily pushed using my thumb and index finder. The eyelet for the
lanyard is located at the 6 o'clock position just below the BackTrack Logo while
Bushnell's logo is at the 12 o'clock position. Bushnell has done a great job
designing this GPS in a very small housing and it appears to have a lot of great
features including:
- Compact size with ease to carry lanyard - Large
digital display - Simple two button control - Self calibrating digital
compass - Operates on 2 AAA batteries with manufacturer estimated runtime of
20 hours - Weather resistant; solid construction
Other features
include backlighting so the unit can be used at night, an icon indicating when
the BackTrack has locked onto satellite signals, and an icon for remaining
battery life. The GPS receiver uses SiRF Star III technology for accuracy of +/-
3 meters (+/- 10 ft) according to Bushnell. Distances are indicated in miles
with decimals and convert to yards when you're near your destination. The
BackTrack can display distance in kilometers and meters as well, by holding down
the Mark and Mode buttons. Bushnell states that the BackTrack is weather
resistant.
READING THE INSTRUCTIONS
The instructions for the Bushnell
BackTrack are concise and easy to follow. The 6 page manual includes a 3-step
quick reference guide as well as more detailed instructions on how to operate
the GPS and compass. It also describes the warranty and lists the return address
for warranty claims. While reading the instructions I came across two things of
interest. First of all, the BackTrack will remember the last mode and location
used and return there on power-up. Second, the BackTrack automatically turns off
after 10 minutes if no buttons are pressed during that time.
TRYING IT OUT
The BackTrack is pretty much what I
expected after reading about it on Bushnell's website and watching a web video
of it in action. My first order of business was to insert a new set of
batteries. The battery compartment is located on the back of the GPS. I was able
to access it without any tools by simply rotating the battery cover clockwise
with my fingers. After inserting 2 AAA batteries, I closed the cover and pushed
the power button. The BackTrack immediately powered up and the satellite icon
flashed to let me know it was attempting to get reception. It took approximately
90 seconds for the BackTrack to lock onto a signal, at which point the satellite
icon stopped flashing. Of note, I was inside my house while doing this. Based on
my experience with other GPS units, I expect the BackTrack will 'lock on' much
quicker outdoors. Bushnell also states in their instruction booklet that
satellite lock will take longer the first time the BackTrack is used, but will
be quicker on the next power up.
I
turned the BackTrack off and headed outside for a second test. Once standing in
my front yard I turned the BackTrack on again, and sure enough, it locked on its
satellites within 35 seconds. The BackTrack allows you to enter the location of
of up to three sites, such as your vehicle, campsite, and a point of interest,
and then indicates the direction and distance to those sites. Three icons are
designated to represent these sites: a house, a car and a star. I marked the
front of my house as the first location, using the house icon. Next I headed
around the house towards my backyard, all the while watching the display. The
display was easily visible and the screen resolution was better than I expected,
with large easy-to-read numbers. As it was overcast at the time of this test, I
didn't have any trouble reading the display. It will be interesting to see how
easy it is to read on a sunny day. After reaching my backyard I selected compass
mode, and the center display immediately showed the direction I was facing in
degrees. The compass appeared to be accurate. When functioning as a digital
compass, north is designated as 0 degrees; east is 90 degrees; south is 180
degrees; and west is 270 degrees. This is more accurate than letter
designations, such as W for west and S for south, but it will take me some time
getting used to. When in compass mode, the arrow always points north. Upon
returning to GPS mode and selecting the house icon, the center display showed a
distance of 28 yards to the front of my house, which seemed reasonable. An arrow
showed the direction I needed to travel, in this case directly thru my kitchen
towards the front door.
In addition to the main readout, a battery icon
is in the upper left of the display and shows battery life remaining. To the
right of that is an icon indicating whether the BackTrack has locked onto its
satellites. The On/Off button doubles as a mode select button to choose compass
or location mode. The mark button stores the current location in the BackTrack's
memory under the selected location icon. It also turns on the display backlight
for approximately 20 seconds.
SUMMARY
The BackTrack Personal Locator is
simple and easy-to-use with two buttons, an easy to read screen and the ability
to save up to three locations. Once the locations are marked, just push a button
to navigate back to where you started. In the compass mode, it will indicate the
direction of travel in compass degrees and a reference to magnetic North. Just
follow the arrows.
This concludes my Initial Report for the BackTrack. I
will post a Field Report in approximately two months. Please check back then for
further information. I would like to thank Bushnell and BackpackGearTest.org for
providing me with the opportunity to test the BackTrack GPS.
FIELD REPORT
FIELD LOCATIONS AND CONDITIONS
During the past two months, I have used
the Bushnell BackTrack on nine day hikes and five multi-day backpacking trips.
For the purposes of this report, I will focus on my use of this GPS on the three
trips mentioned below as they best represent how I have used the Bushnell
BackTrack to date.
1. Mounds State Park, Brookville, Indiana: I spent
the better part of the day hiking at Mounds State Park. The weather was cool and
sunny with highs in the mid 60's F (18 C). The trails were well marked and not
too difficult which gave me a perfect chance to become familiar with the
BackTrack and its capabilities.
2. Oldenburg, Indiana: My family and I
spent Labor Day weekend hiking, camping and fishing in the rolling hills and
forests just outside of Oldenburg, Indiana. During this trip we used the
BackTrack to mark our campsite before heading out to hike the surrounding areas.
On day two I decided to mark the locations of three homemade geocaches so that
my kids could try to find them. Afterward I let my kids hide the geocaches so
that I could try to find them using the BackTrack. The weather was mild and
sunny for the first two days with highs in the mid 70s F (24 C). It began
raining during the early morning hours of the third day, so we slept in that
morning and packed up around midday to head home.
3. Hoosier National
Forest, Bloomington, Indiana: My son and I went to Ransburg Boy Scout Camp in
Bloomington, Indiana for a weekend campout. Since the Boy Scout Camp is located
right next to the Hoosier National Forest, I decided to use the BackTrack to
mark our campsite and then try to find a Fire Tower which was located in a
section of the Forest called the Charles Deam Wilderness Area, approximately 8
miles (13 km) away. The BackTrack proved to be incredibly useful on this trip as
I had no maps to reference, simply an aerial photo I printed from Yahoo Maps and
a general location of the Fire Tower based on my research. Again, I lucked out
with the weather as it was warm and sunny with highs in the upper 60's F (20 C).
This was about 15 F (-9 C) higher than the average temperature for this time of
year. The terrain in this area is quite rugged and heavily forested. I spent the
majority of this backpacking trip off-trail.
PERFORMANCE IN THE FIELD
The Bushnell BackTrack performed
wonderfully during my Field Testing. It allowed me to mark important locations
such as my vehicle, campsite and trailhead. It then displayed the direction and
distance to return to those locations, simply and accurately.
For
reference, the BackTrack works as follows: To turn the BackTrack on and off,
hold down the Mode button on the right side of the GPS for approximately 2
seconds. The compass and location modes are selected by pushing the Mode button
and scrolling between the compass and location icons. To Mark a location, simply
hold down the Mark button on the left side of the GPS until the screen clears
and then displays "0".
The first two hikes mentioned above were on well
established trails, and so my main use of the BackTrack was as a final location
marker to return to my campsite. I also used the compass function periodically
to check my bearings and it appeared accurate when compared with the readings on
my Silva compass. A pointer on the perimeter of the display indicates North
while the bearing reading in the center of the display indicates how many
degrees the BackTrack is pointed away from North.
During our family
outing I also used the BackTrack to mark the locations of three homemade
geocaches for my kids to find. Even my eight-year-old had no problems using this
GPS and very quickly located the geocaches.
|
Yahoo map | The first critical
test for the Bushnell BackTrack was returning me to Ransburg after wandering
off-trail for ten hours through the Hoosier National Forest. In reality I was
not wandering but rather searching for a Fire Tower which was located
approximately eight miles Southeast of my campsite. Because my only map was an
aerial photo I printed from Yahoo with no reference points, I was at the mercy
of the GPS to find my way back. Of course I had told several people where I was
going and had a backpack filled with essential survival items as well as a tent
and sleeping bag just in case I ended up out there all night.
After
marking my campsite, I hiked East over rugged terrain and eventually crossed
route 446, where I recorded my second location point. This left my third and
last reference point for the Fire Tower. I turned Southeast into the forest and
trudged for several more hours before finally deciding to ditch my backpack and
continue without it, as I could no longer carry it up and down the steep hills.
This meant I had to use up the last location point on the GPS so that I could
find my backpack later. As it turned out I never found the Fire Tower but made
it safely back to camp that evening thanks to the BackTrack.
In all of my
trips, I found the GPS was accurate, the display was easy to read and the
buttons were intuitive and simple to use. In addition, the BackTrack always
powered up and obtained a satellite signal in under two minutes and it
maintained its signal in heavily forested areas and deep ravines. On my trip to
the Fire Tower, I found myself wishing I could save more locations and change
the icons that referenced those locations. I also wished I had a GPS with
terrain mapping software so that I could easily plot courses around the steep
hills and deep creeks I encountered. I wished it had the ability to leave
"breadcrumbs" so that I could return on the easier path, rather than stumbling
up and down steep hills. However, this is not what the BackTrack is about. The
BackTrack does everything it advertises, nothing more and nothing less. Battery
life is excellent. Although I brought an extra set of AAA batteries on my search
for the Fire Tower, the GPS showed no signs of running down after ten hours of
hiking. I know this because I diligently watched the battery icon and it kept me
informed of battery life during my trip. Another nice feature of the BackTrack
is that it conserves batteries by automatically switching off the backlight
after twenty seconds and shutting off the GPS's power after ten minutes of
inactivity.
SUMMARY
The BackTrack is a well thought out
GPS. Bushnell obviously designed it to serve a specific purpose and it does that
remarkably well.
Please check back here in approximately two months for
my Long Term Report of the Bushnell BackTrack.
LONG-TERM REPORT
LONG-TERM TEST LOCATIONS AND
CONDITIONS
During the past two months I used the
Bushnell BackTrack six times. The first two times were during day hikes in
Cleveland while the other four times were during a backpacking trip in Florida.
The terrain included well established trails as well as off trail
bushwhacking.
1. North Chagrin Park, Willoughby Hills, Ohio: While
visiting family in Cleveland, Ohio I went on two day-hikes. The first was a 3 mi
(5 km) hike while the second was a 6 mi (9 km) geocaching adventure. The park
elevation is 669 ft (204 m). The temperature both days was in the upper 20's F
(-2 C).
2. St Cloud, Florida: Daytime temperatures during this four day
backpacking trip ranged from 60 F (15 C) to 82 F (28 C), with night temperatures
around 50 F (10 C). The first day and early night were rainy and windy, but
after that weather conditions were dry with light breezes. During the following
three days the sky was clear and sunny. The trails were well maintained with
minimal elevation changes.
PERFORMANCE IN THE FIELD
My
biggest challenge during the past two months was finding locations where I could
use the BackTrack to its full potential. It worked great when I hiked off-trail
in remote locations to the extent that it led me safely back to civilization,
but I haven't found much use for it when hiking in familiar places or on well
marked trails. Before setting out to hike in North Chagrin Park, I used the
BackTrack to set the location of our vehicle and the trailhead. As it turned
out, the trails were well marked and our car was one of three in the parking lot
when we returned so the BackTrack didn't get much of a workout. While in
Florida, I used the BackTrack to mark my vehicle's location at the beginning of
the trip. I would have liked to use it more during this outing but the routes I
hiked were circular and so I did not "backtrack" over previous ground.
During all of my testing the BackTrack performed flawlessly. It feels
solid and durable due to its well-thought-out design, although I have yet to
drop it accidently or on purpose. Looping the lanyard around my neck gives me
quick access to the GPS while allowing me to keep my hands free. Once powered
up, it is quick to lock onto a signal and is accurate for the locations I mark.
Cold weather has not affected the battery life or readability of the screen. In
short, it does what it was designed to do very well. With all of that said, I
can't help but think that adding a few additional features would greatly
increase the BackTrack's appeal to the broader market. In particular, I would
really like to see Bushnell add the ability to download waypoints to the
BackTrack. Of course, doing so would most likely increase its cost and
complexity. And that in turn may very well alienate the original market that
Bushnell intended for this product.
SUMMARY
I have enjoyed using the Bushnell
BackTrack during the past five months. It is rugged, offers great battery life
and has proven itself accurate. Although it lacks the features of costlier GPS
units, such as mapping and the ability to record my route, it offers the most
useful features in a small, affordable, easy-to-use package that I don't mind
tossing in with my supplies.
This concludes this test series. Thanks to
Bushnell and BackpackGearTest.org for the opportunity to test this GPS.
This report was created with the BackpackGearTest.org
Report Writer Version 1.5 Copyright 2010. All rights reserved.
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