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.

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Initial Thoughts on the Crosscall Core-S4

Byrichard

Not for FB or Twitter


Today I started to play with the Crosscall Core-S4 and my impressions of it so far is that the Facebook and Twitter apps are not optimal for this device. They do not consider that with a small screen you should prioritise text over images. For those reasons I think that FB and Twitter are a reason to avoid this phone. This might actually encourage you to buy this phone.


Good for E-mail, FM radio, Whatsapp etc.


The purpose of a phone is not necessarily to provide you with social media. Sometimes the aim of a phone is to check your e-mails, look for quick information, and communicate via whatsapp and other platforms. In this case the phone is fine. It also has an FM radio, which is nice, for when you want to listen to local, rather than international content.


Environmentally Friendly Packaging.


I like the packaging. It is brown cardboard with a simple diagram of phone phone, black print on brown cardboard. It is functional and environmentally sound. It emphasises that the box can and should be recycled. For some reason I can’t fix one box back into the other.


Dual Sim or Microsd and Sim


You can have either one sim and a microSD card (max 64Go) or you can have two sims running in parallel.


Repairable, by Screwing and Unscrewing


One of the unique selling points of this phone is the image that shows the component parts of this phone. It is adertised as repairable, with screws to loosen and tighten again, rather than glue and suction cups, like with iphones and other devices. It is meant to be durable and this is good for climbing, extreme conditions and more. You could fall in a river with this phone, or use it in the rain, without a decrease in usability.


When I read the manual it says that we cannot change the battery ourselves.


Long Standby


In theory the standby time on this phone is 240 hours, ten days. With many other phones the standby time is hours, especially with a user like me. This one is different. 240hrs of standby, 13-14hrs of talk time, and it has the old familiar keyboard that some of us spent our teens using. Typing on the keyboard is fast and easy. I found that the keys actually felt soft, rather than hard. It feels like phones used to feel.


Why This Phone Rather Than Others


In my experience you can buy expensive flagship phones and be dissapointed by a number of things. Either apps don’t run as well as they should, or they crash. Sometimes the phone is so slippery that you drop it once, get it fixed, drop it again, and get it fixed again, and eventually give up. New iphones and new Android phones are big and fragile, which means that they’re fragile. Fragile phones break and you need to replace front and back covers. If you don’t they may feel much farmer.


With cheap Android phones you may have problems with 3G or other antenna issues, you may get constant app crashes and you may get older versions of Android.


I was tempted by feature phones but they don’t have access to whatsapp and other essential communication tools of this day and age, so unless you call actual phones they are of no value. With KaiOS that problem is resolved. With devices starting at 80 CHF it is worth taking the risk.


Two Steps For It To Be A Viable Primary Phone


For this to be a viable primary phone it would need two things. The first of these is access to Signal. This is an app I use regularly, and if it had it then I could think about dropping the iphone. The second would be a better podcast app, and audible. With these three apps the phone would reduce my need for a second phone.


And Finally


If you want to develop for KaiOS you need knowledge of html, CSS and JavaScript. If you don’t find an app you want then you can write it yourself with a little bit of effort. This is great for those who feel like experimenting with a phone without developing for Android or iOS.

The Garmin Instinct Solar And Activity Tracking

The Garmin Instinct Solar And Activity Tracking

Byrichard

For two days I have played with the Garmin Instinct Solar and I already see a niche for it. If I want to be like every other reviewer I will say, “use the expedition mode for up to 127 days or hours of battery life, but I won’t because I think there is another more interesting niche. Activity tracking, without needing to take off the watch for weeks or months at a time. With Suunto, Apple and other devices you need to remove a watch at least every three or four days to recharge it, which means that you have a gap in heartrate and activity data.



With a watch like the Garmin Instinct Solar you can track your days for 25 days in a row without recharging. In summer, in theory you could wear the watch and it would charge as you’re eating lunch or walking on the beach or sitting at a terrasse in the mountains. I really like the idea of going back to watches that we can wear for weeks, without having to take them off.


I tried using the watch in normal mode yesterday, and wore it overnight, and by the next morning it said that it had six hours of power left so I had to charge it. I tried with the morning sun but it didn’t work, so I tried with the mid morning and afternoon sun and that was better. I had to recharge it from a power socket anyway.


26 Days of Tracking


Today I put the watch into normal mode for a run, and then as I walked I tracked hiking, for a little bit, before switching to just counting steps and charging with the Autumn sun. When I got home it was at 25 days of battery life from 26-27 days. Four weeks of battery life, with the Autumn sun.


What makes this solar watch stand out is it’s price. It costs 298 CHF. Compare that to the Casio hr1000 Solar watch that cost up to 1000CHF a few years ago, and the Garmin Pro Fenix solar that costs about 800 CHF.


Power Hungry GPS


The problem with GPS technology is that it uses a lot of power, so for a solar powered watch to work effectively the solar panels would have to be quite a bit bigger. That’s where a solar powered activity tracker is brilliant. The watch can do a lot more, if you want to charge it every day, but if you don’t, then simply keeping track of your steps will be enough, along with heart rate.


Power Modes


You have expedition mode, for 127hrs of battery life, You then have battery saver where the heart rate monitor and phone connection are turned off for 70hrs. You then have jacket around 40hrs I think and normal that is about 30hrs.


Smartwatch: Up to 24 days/54 days with solar*
Battery Saver Watch Mode: Up to 56 days/Unlimited with solar*
GPS: Up to 30 hours/38 hours with solar**
Max Battery GPS Mode: Up to 70 hours/145 hours with solar**
Expedition GPS Activity: Up to 28 days/68 days with solar*

Garmin Instinct® Solar | Outdoor Solar Powered Smartwatch



Better For The Environment


The Apple Watch needs to be charged every day. The Suunto that I have needs to be charged every second activity, especially after over three years of daily use. The Garmin Instinct Solar, in the right mode could go for three or four weeks without needing to charge, and in the middle of summer, could recharge, at least partially, while you are active.


On Activity Trackers


Most activity trackers last from 5 to seven days between charges, when they are new and this depends on whether you have heart rate and o2 monitoring. With the Garmin Instinct you leap up to 68 days over the summer months. In theory you will have no gaps in data, for months at a time. This means that if you’re trying to save on weight, you could travel without the charging cable for weeks at a time.


Should You Get it?


Yes, if you want to track your activities but are not worried about heart rate and using the watch for notifications. It is one of the cheaper solutions, and from that aspect it stands out. It gives you plenty of functionality that you find on higher end devices, without the price. Add to this that plenty of functionality is accessed via Garmin Connect and you have a good reason to get this alternative solution that costs a third of the price.


If you’re replacing a Suunto Spartan Wrist HR because it’s getting a little old then don’t. The battery life on that device is still better or as good, and the screen is easier to read. After a decade or so of using Suunto I find the menus and navigation more intuitive and rational.


My reason for considering switching from Suunto to Garmin is two fold. The first is that suunto is moving over to android, so it no longer has a unique OS, and that it’s move to more colourful displays means that battery life will suffer. They also no longer offer a web interface for the application, so you are forced to use a mobile phone.


I was also curious to play with the Garmin ecosystem. I like to be familiar with these platforms.


And Finally


And finally the best device is the one that can last as long as the activity you do, whether it’s a two hour daily walk, a two day hike or a longer duration journey. Switching from Suunto to Garmin has a learning curvey. The navigation menu is different. Eventually you understand the logic.


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Idlewild

Byrichard

After having spent the whole night without sleep yesterday my energy levels were low and I decided that I would rest. In doing so I’ve spent quite a bit of time online but I’ve also conclued my reading of http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0553815970?ie=UTF8&tag=perspectraveland&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0553815970” >idlewild<="" a>http://www.assoc-amazon.co.uk/e/ir?t=perspectraveland&l=as2&o=2&a=0553815970” title=”Idlewild”>Idlewild.

I was with a friend and he was looking for post apolaptyic books and was struggling to find anything. I was looking around at random books without any particular goal. After asking for help and getting some books suggested by the staff I decided to take a look at the books in the same section as he had been looking.

It’s always when you’re not looking for something specific that you find it. I saw the book idlewild and I read the back. It seemed like a good book, showed it to the friend. He agreed. He commented “why do you find a book immediatly when I’ve just spent ten minutes looking without finding anything.

Luck I suppose.

The book is about some children who are living in a virtual world, created for their education. It is an immersive virtual reality program which they have grown up in from a young age. One of these people wakes up without memories, confused. Throughout the book he struggles to understand what happened.

I won’t go any more into the details of the book but it’s a good read. It’s one of those books that you start reading and actually finish within a short amount of time. It’s well written and interesting. It’s a look at what may one day be part of our daily lives.

I enjoyed it so I’ll pass the book to that friend and see what he thinks.