Anyone use a Garmin Rino GPS/FRS/GMRS

[Jim Harris]

Any of you tradgangers use the Garmin Rino GPS/FRS/GMRS? I am considering buying a pair of them. How did they work for you? Does the peer to peer feature to locate another Rino user work Well? How far does the radio transmit/recieve in the mountains. In general what do you guys think of them? Thanks, Jim.

[stickflngr]

I lost mine but my cousin has 2 130's and my hunting pard has the 110 and they are awsome!!!!  I dont think the radio is any better or worse than the rest but its really cool when youre bud keys up and you know exactly where hes at.

Im taking my oldest son(22) on his first elk hunting trip in a new area and am borrowing my cousins 130's
so I dont lose him. Personely I think they are better than sliced bread...........

[Mike Orton]

Hello Jim,

I have a Garmin rino 530.  Gosh the thing will do about everything up to washing your back in a cool mountain stream....but there in just might lie the problem for me.   Being half simple, err,,,the politcally correct term I understand to be "technologically challenged", it's not an easy unit to operate.  It just does so many different things that my simple mind forgets how to operate it.

I bought an aftermarket instructional DVD and put forth some effort toward improving my learning curve but admittedly I'm not too confident yet.  That Cammenga Compass and Topo map I still carry is very reassuring....

Specifically I have not had the ability to use the peer to peer feature, although I will be giving that feature a try out in 3 weeks during an Idaho elk hunt.  A buddy has recently bought one so we can play with it together now.  It doesn't work real well unless you know somebody who's got another rino to play with you.....

Looks to be a fine unit though and many accesories are available through @bay.  I believe once a guy masters the operation technique it could be the cutting edge navigation equipt.

[Black Gold]

I hunted with a set of 110's once...all options worked great...harder to find now i believe...or at leat at the price we got them for....We paid $99 each....think they are much higher now!

[the Ferret]

Wingnut and Rusty use them elk hunting (Rusty tends to wander and get lost a lot) and they swear by them. Cheapest I've seen then is about $400 bucks each though. I f I found them for $99 ea I'd buy a box of them.You can't even get a Garmin Etrex GPS (basic model)for $99.

[Jim Harris]

Thanks for the replys guys. I am probably going with the Rino 120. I found them for about $220.00 searching internet sites. I'll post about them after I have used them awhile. Thanks, Jim.

[dannyvp]

I have a 530 and love it.

[Chris Surtees]

All I can say is well worth the money. Buying the instructional DVD is a must IMO. These things do so much that just reading the manuel was not enough for me.

The peer to peer works great. I was in the Mountains of North Georiga training and we were getting away where from 3 to 7 miles out of our systems. On flat land we have great success out 12 miles and pretty good success to 15 and a little beyond.

Also go in for the map quest dvd's a great tool. I have no experience with any other mapping systems so I can only speak for map quest.

There are some new upgraded rino's coming out that have the more sensitive satillie tracking antenna's that might be worth looking into.

[ConnieW]

there are quite a few 120s on that auction site for good prices.

Mike

[NW]

Couple of huntin buddies and I have the 530's.
Worth every penny.

[Cherokee Scout]

We bought a set of those the first year they came out. We were very unhappy with them. The range was very poor. Maybe they have improved, ours were a waste of money.