Outdoor Activities GPS Tracking

Want to take a break from civilization, disappear all out in the open and be at one with nature? There are numerous outdoor activities available for souls like yours, each unique in their own way in terms of challenges offered and efforts required.Hiking, snowboarding, mountain biking, mountain climbing… the list goes on. Each of them offer the thrill of solitude out in the open, the pleasure of aunity with nature, far from the hustle bustle of modern life. And they have proven really popular with many urban dwellers of late, who crave to experience the wilderness in its purest form and feel an isolation that is almost impossible to attain in their daily suburban lives.

But this presents a challenge. What of safety? The very paradox of an outdoor activity lies in the fact that when we choose to get away from civilization, we only choose to do so after agreeing to a broad set of dangers beforehand. While this is admirable, many who get lost in unknown terrain or encounter unwanted phenomenon on their trips might wish they had a way to call for help or be assisted out of their quandary by the local authorities. This is where GPS tracking comes in. Nowadays many hikers are awakening to this possibility and have begun incorporating it into their outdoor survival kits. How does it help? Let's look at the advantages it offers –

 

  • Most of GPS hiking tracking equipment works independently of cellular coverage. Hence the trackers work even in the farthest regions, freeing you from the regional limitations a mobile carrier might impose on you otherwise.

  • Hiking tracker equipment can be paired with tracking solutions employed by local authorities, thus ensuring that you exist in their database and are able to link up with them in case of any problems and request help immediately.

  • GPS tracking equipment can also come with weather update integration, so that you can stay informed beforehand and make decisions accordingly. A brewing thunderstorm in the next point of your hiking trail may not really be something you want to experience, and this equipment provides you real time information like that.

  • The price of the GPS equipment has come down significantly in recent years, making it affordable to outdoor enthusiasts of all income groups.

  • GPS trackers come with preprogrammed options to send out distress signals or reach out to local authorities or friends in case the hiker needs to.

  • Hiking trackers can be really small and can be designed in conjunction with any of the normal equipment used by hikers, such as watches, shoes, handheld devices etc. This means that the hiker has a wide variety of options to choose from according to his convenience.

  • The pin point accuracy of the GPS tracker equipment means you can be located swiftly within a few feet of your actual location, if needed.

  • Hiking GPS equipment can also be used to load maps of the area, and this can be extremely helpful for hikers and outdoor enthusiasts to use a much more dynamic way of locating themselves than a static paper map. It can also provide you an easier platform to store your route map or itinerary and allow you to proceed with your hike with peace of mind.

 

The Challenges

  • The GPS equipment needs to be rugged and terrain-ready because most of the outdoor activities undertaken by adventure enthusiasts are places of extremes. Depending on the activity, the tracker may need the ability to withstand extreme heat or extreme cold or even low/high atmospheric pressure. Moreover, it always needs to be water proof and not just water resistant.

  • Public safety regulations need to be framed at least on designated outdoor activity areas, and technology solutions need to be developed for the authorities so that they can keep track of all the hikers in the area through GPS trackers logged into their system. This will enable swifter emergency services in case a need arises, and also facilitates a running mode of communication between the hikers and the local authorities.

 

The Solution

  • Most of modern outdoor trackers are designed to withstand extreme conditions, including exposure to water or pressure variations or temperature extremes. This enables the hiker to be tracked down even in the most adverse of conditions.

  • Public infrastructure is being developed to facilitate GPS tracking of hikers, and the proliferation of technology means that anyone with an internet connection can actually track a hiker through the use of a web portal.