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      Equipment Reviews: GARMIN TOPO 24K REGIONAL MAP SETS

This is what THEY say about it:

Outdoor enthusiasts: your adventure is waiting — in vivid detail. TOPO U.S. 24K DVDs brings you the highest level of topographic detail available, with maps comparable to 1:24,000 scale USGS maps. These highly detailed maps on DVD include terrain contours, topo elevations, summits, routable roads and trails, parks, coastlines, rivers, lakes and geographical points — and they also display 3-D terrain shading on compatible devices. With routable roads and trails in metropolitan and rural areas, getting to your destination is easy by creating point-to-point routes on compatible units. With this purchase, you'll receive topographic detail for several states in each region (regions sold sepatately). You'll also receive BaseCamp™ software for managing data on your GPS and computer, playing back routes and tracks, geotagging photos and more. Image
  • Level of Detail is high 1:24,000
  • Public and private land boundaries
  • High-resolution satellite imagery available with subscription
  • Turn-by-turn directions on roads and trails
  • Terrain contours
  • Searchable points of interest
  • Available in DVD and microSD™/SD Card formats
  • Contains detailed hydrographic features, including coastlines, lake and river shorelines, wetlands and perennial and seasonal streams
  • Displays national, state and local parks, forests, conservation areas and wilderness areas.
  • Includes BaseCamp software for managing data on GPS and computer, playing back routes and tracks, geotagging photos and more
  • Also includes Bureau of Land Management township, range and section information, and USGS quad locations




Here Is What WE Say About It

Everything Garmin says and MORE!

I have personally used Garmin software probably since the early 2000's with both lap top and a GPS receiver. I started using Garmin products because after moving to Arizona, just about everyone I Jeeped with had Garmins. With a common platform, we were able to easily share tracks and trail information among our group, a great convenience.

Topo maps are what we use on the trail and for the most part, Garmin Topo 24K can replace both "streets" and topo software in your compatible devices. Now unfortunately, Garmin like most other manufacturers have their software and devices configured so that you cannot use a competitors software on their devices and vice versa. While it's a good business plan for them, it's not the best for consumers as there seems to be some features on one program that aren't available on another. Like I have said many times, GPS software and devices are not all created equal. In the case of Garmin Topo 24K, it has lots going on making it a pretty good choice and the best choice of software from Garmin for the trail.

Topo 24K regional map sets probably started hitting the markets around 2009 and a year or so later regions covering the entire country were available. Regional sets have an MSRP of around $129 for the DVD version so the entire country will set you back several hundred dollars for sure. A far cry from the $99 Topo 100K that Garmin offers that covers the entire country on one DVD? Because the 1:24,000 scale gives you impressive resolution not available on the 1:100,000 version and the roads and trails are 100% routable with turn by turn directions. Besides do you really need maps for the entire country? Most of will limit your off-road adventures to the area you live in. So in my case, Arizona, I can get by with the Southwest (Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico) and West (Washington, Oregon, California, and Nevada) Regions which will cover 95% or more of my back road travel.

On your computer, Topo 24K is used with either MapSouce v 6.16.3 or Garmins newest offering, BaseCamp. MapSource is much more user friendly and has some features I prefer over BaseCamp. BaseCamp is loaded with neat new features and while it takes a while to get used to (not very user friendly), is fun to play with and learn. The day will come that I will totally abandon MapSource but that day isn't here yet. Unlike MapSource, BaseCamp prints out maps with UTMs, a nice feature. But, MapSource has a pretty good users manual, and BaseCamp has no manual. Both will create routes and waypoints so you can plan your trip ahead of time on the "big screen". Then you can send and receive maps, routes, way points and tracks to and from your Garmin handheld GPS. For Nuvi products you can send and receive maps, routes and waypoints. Some Nuvi's have tracks you can download to MapSource or BaseCamp but none of them are able to accept uploaded tracks. Perhaps one day Garmin with make a nice 5" or 7" GPS for your SUV that has all the features of their hand held units.

The look of the maps is pleasing with great color and detail. There are some short comings though, just as there are with their competitors software. Some trails and parts of trails are missing. I've compared Garmin 24K with Garmin 100K side by side and I was shocked to see that some trails were partially or totally missing on the 24K screen that were very clearly shown on the 100K screen. At the same time, the 24K version has shown many trails that don't show up on the 100K version so in my opinion, the 24K version is still the one to buy. The Garmin 24K when compared to both the Delorme Topo and National Geographic Topo wins hands down with 24Ks abilty to accurately route not only roads and streets but also TRAILS! When looking at some popular trails in Arizona, Delorme had missing information but National Geographic compared more favorably than Delorme. Heed this bit of advice no matter what GPS or software you use out on the trail: ALWAYS carry a paper map as a backup!

My biggest complaint with Topo 24K? Nope, its not the price, I am prepared to and will pay a premium price for gear that has features I want and need. 24K fits that bill. I cannot use 24K in my vehicle on a laptop with a GPS receiver/antenna to see and record my trip in real time. It was something you could do with the discontinue nRoute program from Garmin but 24K is not compatible with nRoute.

The bottom line here is overall, Garmin Topo 24K is the BEST offering among all the household names in GPS. Is it perfect? No it isn't. Is it the only program I use, no it isn't but it I could have real time info on my laptop using this program, I just might be compelled not to use the others that I still continue to use. On my Garmin dash top units (yes I actually have two GPS units going at a time in my Jeeps) I have both Topo 24K and Topo 100K installed. Topo 24K is my main go to mapping solution but if in the event a trail disappears on the map or isn't showing, I switch to the 100K to see if by some chance it might have it. Sometimes, not many it does. If not, it's back to the reading glasses and the paper map which is very, very infrequently.

Spend the extra money and buy this one first. You will thank me later :-)

Check out some screen shots below. The first two compare screens of both MapSource and BaseCamp. The rest are screenshots of urban, rural and middle of no-where.



Product Image Want to have YOUR Product Reviewed Here?

If you have a quality product that can be used by the off-road pubic we would be glad to test it, do a fair write up about it and make an honest recommendation about it.

Products that we feel are useful to off-road travel whether it be Jeep related or camping related will not only be posted on our website but we will submit them to one of several magazines for more possible exposure.

Email info@jeepexpeditions.org with detailed information about your product and your interest in working with our organization.


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*The opinions expressed in this product review are the opinions of the writer and are based on the writers tastes and preferences. The writer may have and in most cases invited other people to participate in this review. Despite the review (favorable/unfavorable) you are encouraged to try out any product that you might be interested in.

**Copyrighted images & trademarks for products/items appearing on this website and/or portrayed and reviewed here are the property of their respective owners and are used within for informative and identification purposes only.



 

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Jeep Expeditions is a non-profit corporation registered in the State of Arizona.  

The state recognizes us as a fraternal organization,  we prefer to say we are a club.  Our members and volunteers are dedicated to the exploration of   this great land  for the educational value, historical value,  scenic beauty, the geology, paleontology, the camaraderie of people who share the same interests and to escape the confines of civilization if only for a few days. Our organization and members adhere to the standards of "Tread Lightly" and "Leave No Trace".

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