Finally upgraded my equipment!

Started by Ozzy, May 26, 2017, 07:12:44 PM

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Ozzy

So late last year my team won an award at my company and we were all given gift cards. I had chosen Best Buy but I found out I don't really shop there and it's been sitting in my money jar until I realized a few weeks ago I could get eBay gift cards with the Best Buy one. Anyways, I upgraded my old army assault pack to a Camelbak HAWG, upgraded my old Garmin Fortrex to a Garmin Rino 755t, and upgraded a few other smaller items.

After using the HAWG for a few training activities I'm happy I made the switch, the narrower profile and the padded back and straps definitely makes traveling with it a bit more comfortable. Also getting gear out of it seems to be easier then when I remember trying to get things out of the army assault pack.

I know I probably shouldn't have bought the Rino 755, but since I'm moving down to Georgia in a few months and I'm planning on doing a lot more hiking/camping in areas I'm not familiar with, I figured this would be a worth-while investment in case something does happen when I'm out. The 755 is a very nice GPS unit that also includes a camera and a FRS/GMRS radio. I've used it a few times so far on a few of my shorter walks and it has worked like a charm. I'm looking to use it in a few weeks when I go hiking up near Kaaterskill falls and see how it performs.

Anyways, I just felt like posting this, I haven't seen any posts recently on these two gems. I'll review the 755t after the next SAREx we have and I get to use it on the mission.
Ozyilmaz, MSgt, CAP
C/Lt. Colonel (Ret.)
NYWG Encampment 07, 08, 09, 10, 17
CTWG Encampment 09, 11, 16
NER Cadet Leadership School 10
GAWG Encampment 18, 19
FLWG Winter Encampment 19

Spam

Ozzy, the unit I formerly commanded has used Rinos for a decade now; they/we did a comparative eval between several handheld GPS units, which took six months and several SAR/DREXs and missions. We use the older RINOs and find that using the FMS datalink between units has been fantastic. The GTL and assistant GTL can use one on each end of the line, and with a simple keying of the mike every few minutes, the RINOs log a data point and squirt it to the other unit(s), leaving a bread crumb plot of both ends of the search line (overlaid on the topo map, and downloadable to our laptop for post mission logging and 3D visualization of the search area coverage).

We've been doing this for nearly a decade now. Highly recommended. The real benefits are when your team has more than one...

If you're still looking at visiting ATL at the end of the month, lets get you hooked up with LTC Berry or one of the other 5 or 6 GTLs in that unit to view it. (I don't count myself any more as one of their GTL/GBDs, being a Wing "staph infection", although my dependents still drill there weekly).

Cheers
Spam


Ozzy

Well that's amazing! I didn't know your (old) squadron was using them too, it definitely seems a little more worth it now. I talked a little with Lt. Banning but there doesn't seem to be any activities going on that weekend (yet), he did say he would let me know if that changes but I'll definitely be in ATL from June 29th to the 2nd.
Ozyilmaz, MSgt, CAP
C/Lt. Colonel (Ret.)
NYWG Encampment 07, 08, 09, 10, 17
CTWG Encampment 09, 11, 16
NER Cadet Leadership School 10
GAWG Encampment 18, 19
FLWG Winter Encampment 19