Outdoor Tech Strategies

Digital Camera's

I took my Canon G5, 5 mega pixel camera, on a 60 day mountain bike tour down the Continental Divide. Now that I have done that I wouldn't do that again! The G5 takes great pictures, but it was too heavy, too bulky, and the rechargeable battery was a problem.

The camera weights 17-18oz. The weight was too heavy to carry on my waist belt and I did not want to add another pound to by backpack, so I packed in my BOB trailer. That meant my camera was not easily accessible. It was too much of a hassle to unpack it just to take a snap shot, so I didn't. Now I regret that decision.

The camera takes a special rechargeable battery. They last a long time so I took two. The first one lasted about half the trip as I expected. The second lasted 1 week. Somehow the camera got turned on while it was in my camera bag and that drained the battery. Occasionally I was biking in temperatures below 30 degrees and the battery could not produce enough juice to take a picture.

If my camera took AA or AAA batteries, then I could have easily solved the problem by buying some more batteries.

The best camera for a long distance self supporting trip is one that is light weight and compatible and uses regular off the shelf batteries.

Memory Cards

Using a much higher capacity memory card than what is necessary has its uses for the long distance or global trekker.

In my camera I use a 4 gigabyte micro-drive. That would be good for about 1,560 high resolution photos at 5mp. Over 60 days I ended up taking about 500 shots. But the rest of 3.5g has software programs that I copied on to it for later use.

On my trips I use a Garmin 60CSx mapping GPS unit. It holds only a 1,000 way points which means I have to update it on long trips and when I am out in the field.

When I go into town, to re-supply, I will look for a computer at the library or I may go to a hotel that has a guest computer. If it has Windows 2000 (SP2) or XP on it, I can plug in my USB memory card reader with no need for addition drivers.

After my micro dive is plugged into the memory card reader, the computer thinks it is a USB memory key, and I install the GPS software onto the computer. Before my trip I copied the GPS installation CD's onto the micro drive. Then I update my GPS. To date I have not had any problems with the method. (Some libraries prevent the installation of software programs)

Additionally, a mapping GPS unit may use a maximum 300 MB of space for TOPO maps. But if you upgrade to a 1GB or higher memory card, then you can utilize the extra storage space using a memory card reader and transfer camera pictures to it.

The memory card reader I use cost me $0.99, it is an inch long, and it weights .06 oz.

The point that I am making is you don't want to carry a bunch of extra junk, so maximize the resources you already have to take.

Memory Capacity Chart

The Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, GDMBR, also called the Great Divide Route, GDR, Great Divide Trail, GDT, is the mountain bike touring version of the Continental Divide Trail, CDT. Pictures may not be used without consent. The off road ride extends from Banff Canada to Roosville, Montana MT, Idaho ID, Wyoming WY, Colorado CO, to New Mexico NM, Mexico. Long distance mountain bike touring 05/17/2008 Site Map