Thoughts On The Garmin Etrex Solar
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Thoughts On The Garmin Etrex Solar

Byrichard

I quite like Garmin devices. I like that my Garmin Instinct Solar can run forever in summer, and less time in winter. I like that the Garmin Etrex SE can last for days or even weeks with my type of use. I also love the idea of the Garmin Etrex Solar. They make the claim that you “Get unlimited battery life when used in sunny 75,000 lux conditions or up to 200 hours with no solar charging.”


This means that if you get the bike mount for summer bike rides you don’t have to worry about battery life. It also means that you can go for your daily walk, run or bike ride, without ever worrying about charging. Of course you need to keep it facing the sun, so that it charges.


The great thing about the Garmin Etrex family, especially the SE and the Etrex Solar is that they have battery charges that last for days or even weeks, when running off of batteries, and with the Etrex SE you can swap batteries and within seconds be on your way again.


One drawback of the Etrex GPS is that it’s fine for tracking the route, when you know where you’re going, but not if you need to navigate with it. The map is “cities only” which means you don’t see rivers, contour lines or anything else. For that you need the Explore app on your phone but phones can be unreliable due to battery life. A map and compass are a low tech alternative.


The last option is to find a GPS track of the route you want to walk and download it to the device. This can be fiddly, even for someone as geeky as me.


The Garmin Etrex Solar is 279 CHF whereas the Garmin Etrex SE is 179 CHF. If you get four rechargeable AA batteries then you can keep two in the device at all times, and two spare, ready to replace the first pair. The cost of rechargeable AA batteries is still less than the Etrex Solar price difference. I am not clear on whether you can replace the Etrex Solar batteries.

Reverting to a Single Watch

Reverting to a Single Watch

Byrichard

Today I asked Google Bard whether I should wear two watches at a time and it told me not to. Specifically it told me not to wear a Garmin watch, and a Suunto watch at the same time as they may interferer with each other and more. Before the Apple Watch I only wore one watch at time. I wore the Suunto Spartan watch. When I got the Apple Watch I started to wear two watches at a time because they feed two different databases and the data is not shared from one to the other.

That Was Before

Recently, I noticed that Sports Tracker plays very nicely with the Apple Watch so it tempted me to play with Suunto again, but Suunto does not play nicely with the Apple Fitness App. Neither the Apple Watch nor the Garmin watch play nicely with each other. The result is that if you want data from Suunto, and Garmin, and Apple, you need to wear three watches, for the three apps. Since I have two wrists I can feed two services at once. We are forced either to wear two or three watches, or give up on collecting data for one service.

What Bard Thinks

When asked whether I should wear a Suunto and a Garmin Google Bard feels that I should pick just one and stick with it. If I ask it how many people wear two watches it tells me:

“There is no definitive answer to this question, as it is difficult to track how many people wear two watches. However, anecdotally, it seems that the number of people who wear two watches is increasing.”

If you are considering wearing two watches, I recommend trying it out and seeing how you feel. There is no harm in experimenting, and you may find that you like it more than you thought you would.

Why Limit Myself

I am not wearing two watches because I like wearing two watches. I am wearing two watches because Garmin and Apple want to force me to wear their devices in order to get data so that I can use their apps. With Sports Tracker, and the Apple watch I can track what I do via the Suunto App and via the Suunto App, I can update Sports tracker and Apple, but not the fitness App.

Data Clashes

The other reason for which I want to reduce the number of watches I wear, down to one, is that Suunto and Apple Fitness data clash, so after a one and a half hour walk the Apple Fitness app says that I have burned one to two hundred calories rather than the 500+ that both fitness trackers agree with. I look eccentric for nothing if I wear the Suunto watch and the Apple watch together.

Bard’s Opinion

As I wrote this blog post I asked Google Bard a number of questions. In so doing I learned that it discourages you from wearing two different brand watches at the same time due to possible interference and more. If you want advice about which to pick though, it will provide you with what makes them different from each other. Google Bard will provide you with a side by side comparison of the key feature differences between two or more watches.

And Finally

The Suunto 5 Peak will become my primary watch. The Garmin Etrex SE can track my walks and hikes, and the Garmin Explore device can track my bike rides. It’s amusing that in all of this thought and consideration I don’t think of Strava, where all of this data is collected anyway. I lost interest in Strava years ago, when I read about venture capitalists investing millions, because at that point the site stopped being on a human level.

Wearing one watch at a time is fine.

The Unquantified Self and the Garmin Etrex SE
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The Unquantified Self and the Garmin Etrex SE

Byrichard

Since boyhood I have liked watches. There was a period when I wore none, but eventually I got the habit back and now I regularly wear two watches. I don’t wear two watches because I like to wear two watches. I wear two watches because Apple sends to one database and Garmin sends to another, and there is some functionality that is dedicated to one platform. If you want Apple functionality you have to wear an Apple Watch, and if you want Garmin features you need to wear a Garmin watch.

The Etrex SE Solution

The Garmin Etrex SE is different from the Garmin Etrex 32X because it’s a cheaper, simpler model with a built in ability to communicate with iPhones and other mobile phones. The advantage of this is that you can track your daily walks, cycling, flying and other sports for up to 160 hours non-stop before you need to recharge or swap the batteries.

An AA Advantage

The other advantage of the Garmin Etrex family, but especially the Etrex SE is that it requires two AA batteries that can be swapped within seconds, but last for 150 hours or more.

By accident I left the device on overnight and it tracked for 19 hours and still had plenty of battery remaining for that day’s walk. With this device you can track walks, bike rides, and more for days at a time.

In contrast the Edge Explore can track for three or four hours before needing a recharge if it is in normal mode, but many more hours if it is in battery saver mode.

The Garmin instinct can track for a day or two at a time, before needing to be recharged, but to charge you need an external battery and time. With the Etrex SE you need a few seconds to swap batteries.

Geocaching Built In

If you enjoy geocaching then this is a great device because it pairs with your geocaching account and makes it easy for you to see surrounding objects and their location. It allows you to mark and navigate to geocaches of interest, with ease.

Up To Date Weather

Although it can take a few seconds to load you can also get live weather conditions with the device. This is based on weather service information, not a built in barometer.

GPS Precision

When walking I noticed that GPS – All GNSS accuracy bounced between 3-4 meters. That’s good enough to detect if you’re swapping back and forth from side of the road to the other. I played with that level of accuracy with another GPS.

Wrist Freedom

As the title suggested one of the advantages of the SE is that it’s a small, portable GPS that you turn on, track yourself, and turn off. It automatically transfers the walk, run, bike ride, flight, car drive and other activities to the Explore and the Garmin Connect apps, so you have the convenience of GPS watches, without needing a free wrist to use it.

Sports Aware

With the Garmin Etrex 32 you can easily track an activity but when you get home and sync the device to your computer you need to tell it what sport you were doing. You also need to physically either remove the SD card and sync, or you have to plug the GPS into the computer and sync that way. With the SE you can tell the GPS, either at the start of the activity, or when you save, that you’re walking, hiking, running, skiing, driving, using an ATV, flying and more. You don’t need to connect to Garmin Connect and manually tell it what you were doing.

Instant Charge

I write this more as a joke, than a serious advantage. With this GPS if you notice the battery is low, you don’t need to plug it into a wall, and wait for hours. Simply remove the back, swap the batteries and get on with your adventure.

Garmin Explore

When I looked at a comparison of the 32, the 22 and the SE I noticed one big difference between the three. The SE has no built in maps but it does have Garmin Explore, and Garmin Explore has good maps. This means that although the Etrex SE is limited due to its lack of maps, it does punch way above its weight and price, by pairing with the Explore App. You can draw your route whilst charging your phone, and then it syncs to your devices, for you to navigate with ease.

Limitations

  • It has no memory card slot, so you can’t expand to keep track of more activities or maps.

  • it is quite big and bulky. It does fit into a pocket but like a Cuckoo bird it will kick out its neighbours. You could place it in the side pocket of your hiking bag, or the top pocket, depending on preference.

  • No Maps built in. For navigation and maps you need to use your mobile phone. Location information is shared between the phone and GPS live, so you do have maps, but this requires you to use mobile phone battery life. With the Garmin Etrex 32x and other models you have maps built in.

  • GPS or All GNSS services. With this device you can’t tell it “I want to use Galileo, and no other GNSS. You can only choose between GPS, and “all GNSS” which I think is a limitation. I would like more freedom to choose.

  • Pairing is limited. If you want to track heart rate, temperature, cadence and other data then you can’t. It tracks your location, speed and altitude but not much else.

And Finally

If you want a GPS for navigation then this is not the gps for you, unless you’re navigating to geocache locations. This is one of the cheapest GPS devices you can get. It’s cheaper than a lot of watches, handheld GPS and more. The device itself is limited, in terms of maps, but if you pair it with the Explore app, then it becomes a powerful option, for navigating and more.

I am surprised that the device has so few reviews. I spent less than a minute drawing a walking route with the Explore app and I could sync it to the Garmin Instinct watch and Etrex SE within seconds. It’s smooth, fast, and intuitive.

The Garmin Etrex SE, although, very simple, demonstrates the future of GPS navigation devices, taking full advantage of Android, iOS and excellent battery life.

Garmin Instinct Solar Low Battery
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Garmin Instinct Solar Low Battery

Byrichard

Yesterday just as I was telling the Garmin Instinct to start tracking I noticed that I had 20 or less percent of battery left so I considered turning around, to swap to another device. I didn’t, and I just went for a 12km walk. During the walk I was more focused on keeping the watch face facing into the sun, to keep the sun powering the watch and it worked.


I really expected the watch to die. I had about 20 percent battery and that is what is used during a usual walk. I think that the strong sun, as well as me actively trying to keep my wrist facing into the sun helped give the watch enough power not to die.


First time


Usually I always keep my devices charged. As soon as I see them dip to 30 percent I usually charge them. In this case though, I didn’t, so I really depended on the sun to keep the device powered, and it worked.


The Alternate Plan


The alternative that I considered was to take off the watch, strap it to the back and have it count steps, rather than track the activity with the GPS and more. I know that in this mode the battery can last for weeks, when the sun is shining, as it is doing at the moment. With Solar watches, in theory, you never need to charge, them, especially if you use them as a step counter and nothing else.


Just Enough Power


I believe that the watch, with the sun we had yesterday, generates just enough power to keep itself running whilst tracking, with little left over, if anything for actual charging. It went from eight hours down to three hours but I suspect it would have died, if the weather had been overcast and if I had not kept the watch facing the sun.


I don’t recommend letting the battery get so low, I just carried out an experiment, since the opportunity presented itself. I was also tracking with the Apple watch on the other wrist so I would not have lost the track. It would just have taken more effort to keep things up to date.


And Finally


I need to get back to doing more interesting things. I’m walking around in circles, so although I track everything I do, it isn’t interesting to look at on a map, because these are walks I do regularly.

Appalachian Trail Progress Via Garmin And Walk The Distance

Appalachian Trail Progress Via Garmin And Walk The Distance

Byrichard

Recently I started the Appalachian Trail Challenge on Garmin Connect and every sstep I take counts towards the goal. The goal is to walk 3,500km, which is around 4.9 million steps. I have walked 652 km out of 3,500 so I have completed about 18 percent of the challenge. I am almost a fifth done.


More Than A Year


According to the pacer app I have taken 4.6 million steps in the last year, 2.6 million in the last six months. My average steps per day is around 15,146. According to this data it will take me just over a year to complete the AT at the current pace. As I look at this data the effort and goal seem futile. It means a year of wearing a Garmin watch, rather than other brands. A year of loyalty.


Forgotten Apple Watch


Yesterday for the first time in a while I forgot to wear my apple watch so the first walk of the day was counted by the phone, rather than the watch. The step count wasn’t affected.


Walk The Distance


https://www.walkthedistanceapp.com/
While writing this blog post I decided to look for other ways to track walking distances and I came across Walk The Distance. This application tracks your distance walked and displays it on a map of whichever thru-hike you choose.
I chose the Pacific Crest trail for a change. I’ve used it for a few minutes. I like that it shows the distance you have travelled on a map, rather than just theoretically. I like this because if I’m reading about someone walking the AT, the PCT, the Camino De Santiago or other walks I usually hear place names, and some are familiar, but I have no idea of where they are in time and space. With this app I do.
With the Garmin challenge you walk 4.9 million steps and the only moment you see anything is when you complete the challenge. With the Walk the Distance App you see it permanently, if you’re obsessive, or daily if you’re not.
https://www.walkthedistanceapp.com/about-us


And Finally


Taking half a year to walk from Point A to point B is not possible for everyone so by tracking walking progress with apps people are given the opportunity to go on a journey while continuing their daily lives. This gives people the opportunity to experience something new, by proxy.

80/20 Running into Practice
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80/20 Running into Practice

Byrichard

I have been putting the 80/20 running rule into practice. The principal is simple. Instead of running to your max you run at a comfortable pace for most of your running instead. Instead of pushing yourself to be fast, you push yourself to have endurance. You train at a pace that is 80 percent or less of your maximum, to perform better when you race.


Train for Endurance, Not Speed


The concept is rational. You could train to your max but by doing so you tire yourself emotionally, physically and mentally. Instead of improving you hit a wall. The 80 percent rule builds on the idea that by training consistently at a lower intensity 80 percent of the time you build stamina and endurance.


With the Garmin program by Greg I find myself having to slow down, rather than speed up. I find that I need to run at a pace that is easy, rather than strenuous. With other coaches they say “do 150-200 steps for 30 seconds, then do glides etc.” Others say “Run this distance” and “Now run that distance”.


I prefer the coaching I have now. “Run at this pace for that duration” It isn’t about distance, and it isn’t about duration so much as it is about pace. I have to consciously tell myself to slow down, to take it easy. It isn’t that far from running pace. I know I can run faster. I need the discipline to slow down.


I am avoiding speed because I want to keep my knees from hurting. I want to strengthen them gradually, by training at a lower intensity, to give them the time to adapt and toughen up. This isn’t about speed. This is about being able to run sustainably for longer distances, without discomfort. Today I felt that I am getting to that goal. I felt that I could run for longer.


A Dog Chase


I actually stopped running because a dog, that was not kept on a lead, showed interest in me, and then charged me. I left the road and it followed, so I stopped in a field. For an instant I was convinced that I would be bitten today. It felt that way. I thought it had finally happened again.


Normally I would avoid a car, especially one that stops there, because usually dogs jump out and tend to charge. I didn’t turn around and change route. My habit of turning around and choosing another route, is justified after what happened. I hate that I keep being attacked. No, the dog didn’t bite me, but it did run after me. Dogs do that. That’s why I walked with hiking sticks before. That’s why on one route I picked up a big branch.


Dogs scare me. They threaten me several times a year. If I had continued running it would have bit me. I had to stop, so that it would stop. I am tired of overcoming my fear of dogs on every walk. I am even more tired of having my fears confirmed by these attacks, several times a day. I class a dog that threatens or runs after me as an attack.


Next time I will walk the other way. I will not walk towards a car that is stopping. Once again my fear is justified.

Garmin Expedition Challenges
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Garmin Expedition Challenges

Byrichard

Garmin have had challenges for years. Most of them have been about distance, or vertical climbing. Now they have new Expedition challenges. Each expedition is named after an expedition or adventure by the same name.


List of Garmin expedition challenges
List of Garmin expedition challenges


The Camino De Santiago challenge is a challenge to walk 784 kilometres. The Denali challenge is to climb 6190m. There are two Mont Blanc Challenges. The Mont Blanc challenge is to climb 4808 metres whilst the Mont Blanc Circular (Tour Du Mont Blanc is to walk 160 kilometres.


Due to my character I have chosen to take on the Appalachian Trail challenge. It’s 3500 kilometres of walking, approximately 4.9 million steps. So far I have completed just 17.5 kilometres of that challenge. I have walked four million four hundred and twenty three thousand steps in the last year with an average of twelve thousand six hundred per day.


In theory the challenge will take me more than a year to complete, if it wants me to walk and run the distance. If I can cycle part of it then I will complete this goal within the year.


Climbing and Stepping


At the time of writing this blog post it is possible to take on one climbing challenge at the same time as taking on one stepping challenge. Both progress bars are shown together. With climbing the progress is shown in metres, and for distance it is shown in kilometres.


Pacer Challenges


If you want to try these challenges without paying for a Garmin device Pacer has offered such challenges for years now. You pay 29 CHF per year, and you can try the Camino De Santiago and other challenges. These are based on walking distance rather than height gain.


With Garmin you get a progress bar but with pacer you get your progress shown on a map, alongside everyone else trying the same challenge at the same time. You see how you overtake or keep up with them.


A Month to Completion


I would complete most of the walking challenges within a month, except for the AT and the Camino. The climbing challenges would take me a few weeks at the moment, but if I hike in the mountains in summer then I can reach those goals within three or four hikes, depending on goals.


Frustrations


These challenges count floors climbed and steps taken, rather than distance. This means that you need to walk or run for your efforts to count. Cycling will not count. In a few weeks or months we could find that they add cycling and other challenges, as people work their way through what is already around.


Another frustration is that you can’t save the progress in one challenge, to complete another challenge, before resuming the last. The Camino and AT will take two months to over a year to complete. This means that other challenges will not be possible for that extended amount of time.


Privacy


Due to these challenges being step based, or floor climbing based, you can preserve your privacy. There is no need to track with a GPS because steps are enough. Whether you have a 96 CHF Forerunner 45S (because it’s white and less popular) or a 1200 CHF Fenix or other you’re equal.

Of Casio, Suunto, Garmin and Apple

Of Casio, Suunto, Garmin and Apple

Byrichard

These four brands create watches. Casio creates rugged watches with batteries that last for a decade or more, and pair with mobile phones to track walks and more. Suunto and Garmin have fitness/sports trackers that measure activities, whether sailing, climbing, running, walking, cycling, scuba diving or more. Apple in contrast creates fragile, mediocre watches that cost as much as mid to high range watches and yet their battery lasts for one day, if you’re lucky. I even heard that Apple watches with 4g last half a day between charges. Charging a watch twice a day is unacceptable.


The article that triggered this reaction says that the Apple Watch encourages people to spend more on smartwatches, as if this was a good thing. It isn’t. These are throwaway products. The type of people that would buy an apple watch plan to change it every two years.


If you pay 800 USD for a watch I’d expect to keep it for a decade or more, not two watch generations, two years.


I might have bought two or three devices recently and the one that I am happiest with is one of the cheapest options. The Garmin Forerunner 45s. For 100 CHF you have a GPS sports tracker that tracks your runs, walks, bike rides and more. The battery does last for three or four workouts before needing a charge but it gives you all the functionality you need, for a fraction of the price, and it’s small.


I don’t want the Apple Watch to be dominant, because I see it as a crap product, and I feel that such a product pulls down the rest of the market. I slid away from Suunto because of WearOS and I gravitate towards Garmin because it still has proprietary software for the moment. I don’t want a smart watch. I want a sports tracker. I also want it to be affordable.

A Week and a Half With The Garmin 45S

A Week and a Half With The Garmin 45S

Byrichard

I have spent a week and a half with the Garmin 45S and it doe what I expect the Garmin to do, but with more regular charges. The battery is rated to last for a week working as a watch and up to 13 hours working as a sports tracker. You can track your workouts with GPS, GPS and Galileo or GPS and Glonass.


This watch is designed for running, rather than walking or other sports, so it provides running data that is easy to read, whilst running. At the end of the run it provides you with useful data, as you’d expect from such a tracker.


It does track walks but it does not track hiking. If you buy this watch as a hiker then you will meet that limitation. Another limitation is that it does not count how many floors you go up, or down, so if you’re working on keeping a streak then you will lose it.


GPS satellite acquisition seems slower than with the Garmin instinct but I have not timed both to see whether this is an impression or a reality. It could simply be that the display is different.


After a week and a half of wearing this watch I only miss one thing that the Garmin Instinct has. Floor climb counting. If the Garmin 45s has that feature then I would quite happily swap out the instinct for the 45s. It’s simple, it’s light, it’s cheap and it seems dependable. The feature that has me sticking with the Garmin forerunner 45s is that it measures VO2 max with every workout.


The reason I want to run and cycle more, is to see that my fitness is growing, not declining, and with walking fitness apps like to make us feel that we are losing fitness, whereas with running and cycling the opposite is true.


Casio VS Forerunner 45s


For about 100-150 CHF you can either by a forerunner for as little as 99 CHF or a casio for between 100-150 CHF but the casio will map a workout via the phone and count steps internally, without measuring HR, despite the app having vo2max. If you’re getting a fitness tracker for a child, or beginner I would go for the Forerunner 45s because it’s cheap, and delivers on what you want from a fitness tracker.


And Finally


The natural instinct is to go towards the higher spec, newer devices. The reality is that if we’re running, and walking for half an hour to an hour and a half a day the 45s will do what we want it to for half the price, and two thirds the weight. It is a small watch that fits smaller wrists. With the Suunto Spartan Wrist HR you say “I’m sporty, with the Apple Watches you say “I’m an apple drone”, with the garmin instinct you say “I am sporty” and with the Garmin 45s you say “My watch fits under my shirt sleeve at work.”


In conclusion, for the price of a fitness tracker you can get a running/walking watch that tracks your sports and displays that information on the device, as well as on the Garmin Connect app and website. Although this is a cheap watch, compared to others, it delivers more than fitness trackers. Remember, the cheaper the device you buy and play with, the sooner you can swap it for something better later on.


I would use the 45s for daily walks and runs, and for bike rides and proper hikes I would use the instinct Solar.