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My brother and I have manufactured a Hands Free GPS holder. We need your help testing it. If you have a portable/handheld GPS and use your GPS frequently please contact me to become a product tester.
I guess I’m a bit curious. While using mine, I change screens so often that I can’t imagine not holding the unit in my hand. I don’t suppose you would post a pic?
I use mine quite a bit. Rarely do I need both hands though. Sometimes it would be nice. A dash mounted holder would be of more use to me. Maybe you are talking of a dash mount? Handle bar mount? Like HOT TROT asked, would you post a pic? Or maybe email one?
The only time I run out of hands is when opening a cache and signing the log. However, Sunshine has expressed often that I give her too many things to carry (that’s her job) and she’s always fumbling and dropping things. Since we’re both in the same area I’m sure she would like to give it a try. We go out a few times a week and could probably make a decision quickly as to it being a worth while product.
When I get tired of holding my GPS, I use the lanyard. I agree with Hot Trot – could you post a pic to give us a better visualization of what you have?
very willing to try this out as well. contact me if you need more testers.
I like to think I am not lazy, but I get tired of holding my GPS. So out of need came this invention. I know not all handheld GPS users will see a need for it, but I believe a few will.
I will email pics to those who requested them. I couldn’t figure out how to add a pic to this message (can someone tell me how, please and thanks). The website for the holder is up, but not complete. I will try to post some pics there as well. http://www.nohandsgps.com
Add this to your next post in order to get the picture to show up:
I’m waiting for my test unit to come in the mail. but from the web based pic, I already have a few observations.
First, I see that it straps to your body and hangs in front of your chest. This would seem to obstruct your view of the ground. A bad thing when bushwhacking.
Second, it seems really close to your face. People with glasses will no doubt get tired of removing their glasses to see their GPS, thus negating the usefulness of the holder by taking back that free hand.
These are just observations without having the actual unit in hand (on chest) so maybe things are different.
I was kind of hoping this would be a wrist mount of some kind. One with a swivel on it. When walking, you swivel it to so that it’s length follows your forearm. Then, swivel it perpendicular when viewing your GPS.
I hate to say it, but this type of holder just doesn’t interest me at all. Thanks for sharing your product/idea here though.
@tyedyeskyguy wrote:
I’m waiting for my test unit to come in the mail. but from the web based pic, I already have a few observations.
First, I see that it straps to your body and hangs in front of your chest. This would seem to obstruct your view of the ground. A bad thing when bushwhacking.
Second, it seems really close to your face. People with glasses will no doubt get tired of removing their glasses to see their GPS, thus negating the usefulness of the holder by taking back that free hand.
These are just observations without having the actual unit in hand (on chest) so maybe things are different.
I was kind of hoping this would be a wrist mount of some kind. One with a swivel on it. When walking, you swivel it to so that it’s length follows your forearm. Then, swivel it perpendicular when viewing your GPS.
I’d second this. Or, alternately, it could just be strapped to the inside of the forearm and you could bypass the swivel. Of course, it’d need a protective flap to protect the screen in that case. When I used to wear my watch face on the inside of my wrist, for some reason it was brutal on the watch face.
Fellas, you can buy one of these (like I have) if you want a GPS that can be strapped to your wrist:
Foretrex 101Of course you’d lose the color screen, maps, electronic compass and barometer, auto routing, Whereigo games featuring a talking unicorns and animated spooky ghosts, etc. that you’ve become dependent on.
I saw an early prototype of the no hands GPS device in use at the Janboree event and thought it was pretty interesting. Whether it would be practical/useful for geocaching is another story, but getting feedback from geocachers and making improvements seems like a good first step.
I think the ideal no hands GPS would be some sort of glasses that would superimpose GPS information on the actual environment, like a heads up display. It would connect wirelessly (Bluetooth?) to a GPS receiver that you would wear on your belt. Of course it would respond to voice commands (or simply read your mind :)) to make it completely hands free.
Jeremy,
We have a couple of those wrist ones now too… works well as long as the Magellan is in our hand too.. it is quick and accurate for finding gz.
TEI have logged just over 35 miles with the GPS holder. Most of the time I was on rugged trails. When the terrain became rough, I either pulled the GPS unit closer to my body or pushed it out of the way. While doing our testing we did realize the need to be able to raise or lower the holder. This should hopefully help the users who need arms length to see the display.
The glasses issue should not be a problem. I wear glasses and had no problem seeing the display, but that doesn’t mean other won’t.
I like the wrist mounts, but they don’t solve the problem of having the GPS in front of me at all times so I can easily see specific data.
Thanks again for your initial feedback. It will help me narrow down who may or may not be interested in this product.
@Ry and Ny wrote:
@tyedyeskyguy wrote:
I’m waiting for my test unit to come in the mail. but from the web based pic, I already have a few observations.
First, I see that it straps to your body and hangs in front of your chest. This would seem to obstruct your view of the ground. A bad thing when bushwhacking.
Second, it seems really close to your face. People with glasses will no doubt get tired of removing their glasses to see their GPS, thus negating the usefulness of the holder by taking back that free hand.
These are just observations without having the actual unit in hand (on chest) so maybe things are different.
I was kind of hoping this would be a wrist mount of some kind. One with a swivel on it. When walking, you swivel it to so that it’s length follows your forearm. Then, swivel it perpendicular when viewing your GPS.
I’d second this. Or, alternately, it could just be strapped to the inside of the forearm and you could bypass the swivel. Of course, it’d need a protective flap to protect the screen in that case. When I used to wear my watch face on the inside of my wrist, for some reason it was brutal on the watch face.
@jeremy wrote:
I think the ideal no hands GPS would be some sort of glasses that would superimpose GPS information on the actual environment, like a heads up display. It would connect wirelessly (Bluetooth?) to a GPS receiver that you would wear on your belt. Of course it would respond to voice commands (or simply read your mind :)) to make it completely hands free.
Like the DINGO … remember seeing that proto type at my first geo-event: http://www.brooksstevens.com/portfolio/cs_dingo.asp
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