CAPGear

GPS

I want to take a minute to talk about one of my big pet peeves in CAP.  Ground Team Leaders who don't have a GPS.

I've heard every excuse in the book:

• They're expensive (Not True)
• "I don't need it I have a map" (Okay, I'll get back to you in 30 minutes when you've calculated your position)
• They eat batteries (Most have at least a 15 hour battery life)

I'm going to show you the 3 different GPS models I think are nice including one that you can find for less than $100.00.

Garmin eTrex® H - Suggested Retail Price $106.24
First up, the cheap unit.  Now this isn't the CHEAPEST model, but I would never buy the cheapest anything - you need cheap and reliable.

This GPS has a "High Sensitivity Antenna" which is ideal for CAP operations.  It decreases the "time to first fix" (TTFF) by a significant amount (varies based on conditions). It is also waterproof (with a IPX rating of 7, which in English means you can drop it in the water and leave it there for up to 30 minutes). Now, I must say that this GPS does not have base maps of any kind.  Does that really matter?  Not so much, in most cases you're not actually navigating with the GPS, most times your stopping - getting a fix on your position - navigating on a map - and moving on your route. That's what makes this unit perfect, you can also (for you more techy types) connect this GPS to your PC and get a moving map that way.  This unit will also record your "track" with up to 10,000 waypoints and 10 saved tracks - when you get hom you can overlay your route on a map - it's fun.  All in all, this is a great unit for CAP operations.

Now for the not so cheap units.

Garmin Rhino® 530HCx - Suggested Retail Price $535.70
This is the shiny new version of the unit I own.  It's complete overkill for CAP operations but it's really cool.  It's biggest feature is the ability to locate "your buddies" using the integrated FRS radio to transmit your position to other Rhinos within range.  This is very cool, however, it means that all of your "buddies" have to drop at least a couple hundred bucks on a GPS.  I'm not sure every member of a ground team is going to do that - anyway we have the ISR radios (or electronic yelling as I like to call them - mostly due to the fact that yelling has the same effective range) and you should never really be out of visual range.  The 530HCx has tons of map features, even turn by turn driving directions.  The big upgrade compared to my lowly 530 is the High Sensitivity Antenna (HSA), and the SD card slot for loading maps.  I have to say, I think having the HSA would be nice - it takes my 530 a while to acquire the GPS signals, also as a Mac user it's kind of a pain to load maps, so the SD card slot would help. The 530HCx is also IPX7 rated, however after several years of great service, my 530 has started to come apart, the entire upper part of the unit (which houses the antennas) has started to come unglued from the plastic housing.  I am planning to send it to Garmin once the ops tempo in Illinois slows down for the winter (I'll keep you posted on the warranty experience).  Overall, I think the 530HCx would be a great unit for those who are a bit more tech savy - oh ans for people who want maps.

Bushnell ONIX400CR - Suggested Retail Price $499.00
This unit is by far and away the coolest handheld GPS I've seen in a long time. First of all it's a great GPS it uses the SiRF GPS Chip Set which greatly reduces TTFF, it has a very nice color screen, and allows you to view georeferenced satellite photography (a stored photo of your position - obviously not a real time photo).  However, the best feature of all - in my opinion - has to be the ability of this unit to receive XM Satellite Weather aka XMWX.  It will overlay a slightly delayed version of the current Doppler radar over your current position - this is a great tool for Ground Teams.  Imagine being able to see the weather as it closes in on you - this would allow you to make safety related decisions much more quickly.  While it's not a necessary tool, it sure would be helpful.  It does require a subscription to the XM service but if you're already pay $500 for a GPS you can probably afford the subscription.  I can guaranty that if my Garmin cannot be repaired - I will be purchasing this unit right away.

My Essentials...

I thought I would start things out by writing about the 5 items I never leave for a mission without - no matter what the tasking is.

Here they are - I'll break each one down:

• The Suunto A-30 Compass
• The Leatherman Charge Titanium TTi Multi-Tool
• The Surefire 6P Flashlight
• The "Rite in the Rain" All Weather Tactical Click Pen
• The "Rite in the Rain" Tactical Pocket Notebook

I wouldn't leave my house for a mission without these items and here's why.

The Suunto A-30 Compass:
You always have to know which way you're heading.  This compass is great because it has may favorite feature of any compass - the dial shows a marking for every degree.  It's also very durable and has some simple protractor functions.  Not to mention the "Snap-Lanyard" comes in very hand, I typically have the lanyard attached to my gear so I won t lose this kinda pricey compass.

The Leatherman Charge Titanium TTi Multi-Tool:
This has to be a no-brainer.  This is the mother of all multi-tools.  It has everything and is basically indestructible.  My favorite feature has to be the blades on the outside - it's always such a pain to have to open a multi-toll just to get the knife, the people at Leatherman have really outdone themselves here.

The Surefire 6P Flashlight:
Ask anyone I volunteer with and they'll tell you, I'm a bit of a flashlight whore - I have TONS of them, and this is the one I choose to carry all the time.  It's not the best one I have but it's the most versatile.  It is bright enough for just about everything we do and it could live through hell and come back fully functional.  The batteries aren't too expensive and they last a reasonable amount of time.  It has all the accessories needed for our missions including a number of different colored lenses.  Not to mention it's (or at least it used to be) standard issue for the FBI.

The "Rite in the Rain" Tactical Pocket Notebook and the "Rite in the Rain" All Weather Tactical Click Pen:
Okay, have you ever been taking notes at a mission briefing on a beautiful day, no one is expecting rain, you've got all the details you need and you roll out.  By mid afternoon it looks like monsoon season and your notes are running all over the mush pile you have in you hands - aka your notepad.  It's happened to me for sure.  Until I was bumbling around my local Army Navy Surplus Store and found these hot items.  This is a "I don't go ANYWHERE without this" kind of item for me.  I use them in my business and my volunteer gig.  It's well worth the extra green backs.

Inspiration...

So I've been in CAP (Civil Air Patrol for anyone stumbling on this by accident) for about 3 years now and it has been a roller coaster ride of ups and downs.  One of my biggest frustrations with the organization is the "Tribal Knowledgebase" that doesn't get disseminated to the NUBS until they've been drinking the Kool-Aid for a while.  This is especially costly frustrating for those of us who are Ground Operators.  I don't want to rant about this for too long because that's not the purpose of this site.  We're here to share our Tribal Knowledge - specifically when it comes to the equipment we've used and love - for both Air Crews, and Ground Teams.

We've assembled a panel of experts:

Scott Murphy - Ground Team Gear and Electronics
Rod Rakic - Aircrew Gear, Ground Team Gear, and Electronics
Bob Williams - ICS Gear, Ground Team Gear, and Electronics

We're all from Illinois, we all spent some time at Katrina (Or as Bob likes to call it "The Big One").

What we are:
Active members of CAP who respond frequently when called, who have learned a few lessons the $$$$ hard way.

What we're not:
The absolute end all experts when it comes to this stuff.  We're just a few guys who have some knowledge to share.  If you have issue with something we say - i.e. you think we've got it wrong and you have a better way - speak up.

Okay, now for the inspiration part:

http://kitup.typepad.com/kitup/

This site rocks - if you like what they do, you'll love what we do.

Here goes nothing...