Learn to use a compass.

From what I can see on the Garmin site the systems use satellite, cell tower and HD Digital Traffic data to determine position. If the GPS sats go down for real I think they would go down last.
Only something with an inertial navigation capability is going to work and that will have ever increasing error.

Us old school folks might just have an advantage, having learned navigation before digital babysitters.

If you know your location and your know roughly where you want to go, a 3 axis motion sensor could be accurate enough to keep you on the right track. Even without GPS signal I would like to have a unit tell me the shortest route so it is easier to navigate especially at night.

Map & compass is still the best and most reliable method...GPS is nice...but I never count on them. First and foremost, map and compass skills are number one....and no batteries required.

Map & compass is still the best and most reliable method...GPS is nice...but I never count on them. First and foremost, map and compass skills are number one....and no batteries required.

Yes, but a GPS without signal will tell you where the nearest gas station is, lodging, service station.

This is not a GPS VS map argument thread. I would like to have my gps function without sattelites by inserting my position, my destination and it calculations shortest path and using built int motion sensors and compass to give a general idea which road I'm on

GPS requires the satellites to find out where you are. Garmin has 20-odd in its systems. They also require regular twitching to keep them in perfect harmony. If the satellites suddenly can't get through to find you, they can't tell you where to go.

If they only lost operator control but still had power, over hours and days they'd be okay but eventually you start getting significant drifts where they misread where you are because they're out of synch. That's where those commercials that show somebody driving into a storefront or through a farm field would come into play.

WAAS and the U.S. Coast Guard's DGPS refinement systems aren't capable of locating the user without satellites; they're not independent operations, they just fine tune the location.

Cell phone tracking/mobile positioning uses cell towers but is a hit or miss LBS between various providers. It doesn't always require that a phone is on or has enough bars for a call, but unless there are three towers and the phone is of the right generation, you can end up with pretty broad search areas.

It might be close enough for a map-included ap to pick up your location and pop up nearby locations, but it's going to be the equivalent of popping up Google and typing in "Starbucks" and either your city or your road and getting the fifty million little teardrop markers. You pick the one that's closest, whereas if the engine has your address, it'll tell you for sure which is closest. That might be sufficient for what you're talking about, but it's not something a stand-alone Garmin device would do - it needs the cellular system.

Without the cell tower system being powered, that won't work. HAM radio repeaters require power, too, so the methods of triangulation using them may or may not be null and void, too. HAM radios and antennas will work, sky bounce will work, but without repeaters distance becomes a problem and with some models of radio, there will also be increased canyon effects. If the atmosphere at varying levels is gunked up (happens seasonally and on multi-year cycles as it is), skipping gets iffy, too. You can send comms, but using time to get distance and location needs major math correction.
It goes back to why we're without GPS satellites.

In some stand-alone GPS models you can pre-load routes, and you can save them and the restaurant and rest stops, hotels, parks, or whatever else you'd like to pull up. Basically you end up with a Google style map you can scoot along with your finger, but without the satellites it would require you to know about where you are so you can get to the applicable section. That might be the better option for you if you're worried about the satellites but anticipate a very "normal" way of going about business even without them.

never owned one but have had two compasses and lots of maps for 35 years never had a problem ...Logger1

never owned one but have had two compasses and lots of maps for 35 years never had a problem ...Logger1

Yes but a charged gps can provide a bit of light in the dark. Detailed maps of all of North America wouldn't fit into your pocket. On a dark moonless night you may have a hard time navigating unmarked roads. My back road map package even shows logging roads, trails pipelines and you name it battery on the handheld gamin 62s is good for 16 hours of use

Map & compass is still the best and most reliable method...GPS is nice...but I never count on them. First and foremost, map and compass skills are number one....and no batteries required.

Yes, but a GPS without signal will tell you where the nearest gas station is, lodging, service station.

This is not a GPS VS map argument thread. I would like to have my gps function without sattelites by inserting my position, my destination and it calculations shortest path and using built int motion sensors and compass to give a general idea which road I'm on

I can do that with mine...I have a Tom Tom One XL.
It lets me "set' my current location, and can then calculate a route depending on my settings...fastest way, shortest KM's etc.
I'm not sure if all GPS units do this.

GPS only works with satellites. It may make a best guess based on your last known position but, that is all, a best guess. If you want light, carry a flashlight, Learn to use a compass. There are some excellent books on the subject. Part of what we do as preppers is to make do without. As someone said, even with no electricity GPS will work for some time, but not forever. My bug out bag has both GPS and a good compass. Keep your options open.

Check out the app 'Back Country Navagator' for smart phones. You can download area Topo maps, road maps from open mapper and use it as a mobile atlas or GPS

I'm a total newby with the GPS gear, but see it possibly as the fastest way to plot out an uncharted acreage (several hundred acres). To do this all on foot in this terrain would take way too long, including travel to and fro.
...Hoping y'all could set me straight about the best way to proceed. Currently i don't own a cellphone/smartphone or GPS, and i'd prefer to buy only one unit to accomplish mapping out a trail system with highlighting specific points for specific potential use,....gardens, building,etc.
I speculate that i could best do this with a "Trail Tech GPS " on a UTV, with a navigator/plotter at my side while climbing over the terrain....having downloaded the location map from gu-gle on my laptop. Is that the way to go, or could i do this on a modern cellphone?
Mike, i just saw and visited your provided link and will explore it further. It seems to cover the intermittent celltower connection.
So, it looks like i have to buy a smart phone? which do you suggest with this function in mind. ( i would not use it frequently as a phone in regular time, but a few times a month and for remote/emergencies.
Also, if i plot out my area in this way, does that somehow become publicly trackable or recorded by gu-gle?
thanks, ...villager

Cell coverage in the shield country can be patchy at best unless near a town with a tower
In the spirit of a survivalist go low tech, a map and compass has always worked for me
A local county map should be all you need. No muss no breakdowns

Cell coverage in the shield country can be patchy at best unless near a town with a tower
In the spirit of a survivalist go low tech, a map and compass has always worked for me
A local county map should be all you need. No muss no breakdowns

Hi Mule Skinner,...absolutely appreciate the spirit of survivalist, and i will have to do that learning curve concurrently.
However, what i'm after in a short space of time when the snow is gone again,... is to actually plot a comprehensive map of a large acreage with only 2 boundary roads , only one visible logging trail on it and the waterways/beaverponds on the local map...over a few weekends.
I want to mark all significant features, and potential sites for different purposes ; named, staked verification, and numbered so that use-considerations and changes can be shared online with all shareholders, and making it easy for anyone to find each one, independently....with map in hand.
My understanding is that this can best be done, creating several new , accurate curved paths and all, with GPS , supported by Celltower proximity, if i understood Prepswithpets ? (There are only 2 towers currently within range.)

Coonskin off to you if you can do this manually. How long would this take you on that basis ?
As i said, i'm totally green in this area, and open to anything which would help clarify what's possible .