PMCI - October 2014

Garmin Fenix
The Fenix has been around for
a while now but Garmin are
releasing a military version all
in black with a few upgrades. I
have had the Fenix for around
three months now and I can say
that I am converted it’s a GPS
and a watch all thrown in to one
which saves me a hell of a lot of
space, time and batteries.
The watch is charged up
by USB from the mains or a laptop and a full charge
in watch mode can last up to 4 weeks when used in
conjunction with the GPS at times for things like
grid references it knocks it down to around 2 weeks
depending on how you use it but saying that all you
do is put it on charge over night at the end of the
week and its charged again ready to go.
The functions of the watch do take abit of getting
your head around and the logic if not used to this type
of device can get you a bit worked up but once you
have got it then your set up. It has different ways of
displaying the time and date to suit preference and
you can set it up in different modes i.e. Mountaineering
and so on. You will need to have a play around
with to find out which one best suits your needs but
Mountaineering is the one I have put it on as it allows
me to be able to have a one button press to get the
grid up on screen. It has the normal stop watch function
time and date and compass, the best bit though
is the GPS if like me you have had a watch and a
decent one at that and a gps in your pocket of grab
bag well this combines the two in one and the gps
is very quick and very accurate. You can turn it on
and off while leaving the watch function still active.
When the GPS is on I have no problems in obtaining
a gps signal while inside a B6 armoured vehicle
and not with my are up against the windscreen it
gets while just sat in the car normally and it finds the satellites
very quickly. You can set up which gps screens you want to
see just like you do on a handheld and which order you want
to see them in then it’s a simple case of just pressing the up or
down buttons on the right hand side of the watch which makes
it very simple indeed. I have mine set up for Afghanistan with
the MGRS Grid system and the right datum’s and the screen
is big enough unless you wear jam jars to be able to read it off
the screen very well.
Maps can be found on the internet for the Fenix but I would
advise to do some of your own testing first and load the maps
on one by one as it can slow the watch down to a crawl and
the more way points you put the worse it gets but just for a
normal map say of Kabul of Kandahar will be just fine and you
will get the roads up on the screen, it’s not a TomTom by any
stretch of the imagination but it’s not supposed to be but you
do get basic maps on it and way points but who needs that out
there in this roll I don’t know, it’s the grid reference to hand
or wrist in this case that matters and it will get you as close a
grid reference then any GPS out there on the market. I good
kit bag buy this watch you will not go wrong with it. For more
info see Garmin’s website and for prices shop around abit I got
mine for a very good price.
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