Is GPS just a 'Stupid Guy Thing?'

I just received a news letter that asked "Is GPS just a 'Stupid Guy Thing?''

http://www.backcountrynavigator.com/content/gps-just-stupid-guy-thing?utm_source=newsletter


I have to agree GPS is a stupid guy thing. The only women I know who use GPS are the women on the different SAR teams I work with, other than that I can't think of any women outside of SAR that use a GPS. I have several GPS units myself and several GPS/ mapping programs on my computers. I have purchased really nice GPS units for my wife and daughter and they ride around in the very bottom of the pack(if the even make it into the pack).

Well is GPS just a stupid guy thing?

tb69wemt said:

Well is GPS just a stupid guy thing?

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It depends on whether the guy is stupid and what he actually uses it for.

Toy, tool or both? Those who say both really mean 99% toy.

It can help preserve relationships if used judiciously.

Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it

That was me trying to stop myself from getting involved in this thread, but I can't help it.

Speaking as a hiker who also happens to be female, I don't think GPS is a stupid guy thing. I do a fair amount of bushwhacking//off-trail hiking and I know how to use a map and compass and a GPS. I also have a pretty good sense of direction.

I can't speak for why other women might not want to use a GPS when one is needed (and I too thought the plane example in the linked article was pretty silly) but let me make an observation about some men that I AM SURE DOES NOT APPLY TO ANY MALE READERS OF THIS POST.... okay ... here goes: "some" men seem to have control issues. So, whether it is always having control of the TV remote or always being the one to drive, they have to be in charge. I suspect that if I routinely hiked with such a - admittedly hypothetical - man I might "go along to get along" and let him do the route finding / decision making. And if I routinely did that I probably wouldn't get that much experience using a GPS either.

Just my two cents and I'm not saying this shoe fits anyone out there!

(Don't submit this. Don't submit this. Oh, f*@k it)

It might be a gender thing, but it might also be a reflection of how/where they hike.

I know several women who use a GPS. And, they often hike off-trail to remote locations.

So, for me, the question is: are men or women more likely to hike off-trail to remote locations, and then ask - of those who do, is there a gender difference?

It would be interesting to look at gender differences in vehicle GPS use.

tb69wemt said:

Well is GPS just a stupid guy thing?

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Of course it is.

Everybody knows we never stop to ask directions, so how else are we supposed to figger out where we're going when out bushwacking?

Kevin Rooney said:

It would be interesting to look at gender differences in vehicle GPS use.

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Christmas 2005 I received a top of the line Garmin vehicle unit (Street Pilot, 27xx or something), from the wife. Within six months I had loaned it to her so she could go shopping (really). It hasn't been in my car since. She refers to it as "my GPS" as in "I can't seem to get my GPS to work, can you look at it?"

Yes, guys certainly like to be in control. Guys are also more "technically savvy" than women, IMO. My GF uses my GPS often, but she can't seem to see beyond the features that I show her. That doesn’t make her stupid. She just is not "technically savvy". Is it a "Stupid guy thing"?...I don't think so. Many of the hikes done during winter would not be accomplished if we did not have those GPSs. More and more we are summiting and bushwhacking to more obscure peaks and places than ever before, because we have GPSs.

Also, guys’ maybe carrying GPSs, but that doesn’t mean that they know how to use them. Now that makes them "stupid"

One of the women I hike with has (and knows how to use) a GPS. Not really out of necessity, either, since we're usually on marked trails.

For her, I think it's a combination of loving toys, and having an absolute fetish for maps and figuring out where she is.

If you go to the geocaching website, you'll find a lot of women who are expert GPS users

BF said:

Yes, guys certainly like to be in control. Guys are also more "technically savvy" than women, IMO. My GF uses my GPS often, but she can't seem to see beyond the features that I show her. That doesn’t make her stupid. She just is not "technically savvy". Is it a "Stupid guy thing"?...I don't think so. Many of the hikes done during winter would not be accomplished if we did not have those GPSs. More and more we are summiting and bushwhacking to more obscure peaks and places than ever before, because we have GPSs.

Also, guys’ maybe carrying GPSs, but that doesn’t mean that they know how to use them. Now that makes them "stupid"

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BF, those are quite some generalizations you've come up with. I would bet that any place a GPS has been, a map and compass were there first.

I won't touch the "technically savvy" statement, since I'm a map and compass devotee.

This is a stupid post

Mebbe we should start a post entitled 'are stupid posts just a stupid guy thing?'

My wife is very adept at using a map & Compass and a GPS, she owns a Map60CSX and knows how to use it. I feel much better knowing she has her GPS when on winter solo hikes above treeline. When we do long bushwhacks together, we both carry one.

dup post me bad

J.Dub said:

Of course it is.

Everybody knows we never stop to ask directions, so how else are we supposed to figger out where we're going when out bushwacking?

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Nope it's a toy thing for most. A true man would not ask for directions from anyone or anything because we already know. Not me though.

Honestly, maps and compasses have failed more people than GPS's. If the technology came a little sooner, perhaps we could have been spared all those Leonard Nimoy Bermuda Triangle shows.

For most a GPS is a toy. Guys (even men) like toys, women not as much.
Ok, what do I win?

I looked at one once in a shop, to be honest it looked way to complicated, Ill stick to my silva.

I agree w/ BOB!

But it is funny to see guys trying to figure out what women like, so it is actually a great post!!

GPS is allowing those with no map skills to become over confident in their navigational ability.

" Stupid Guy Thing " does exist .

It might not be the GPS at all, but more of the spatial aspect. Especially if women equate GPSs to tiny little maps

My observations (And they are anecdotal) are that more woman (that I know) than not seem to have no interest in maps. This even goes back to my days in military aviation.

I keep a number of maps hung on my walls at work. (Canada, US, Europe & US Trails) plus a slew of state maps in my desk. I enjoy looking at maps-reading maps - Guys are always stopping by to look at them, find a spot, check a route or asking to borrow a map.

Women ( My office is probably 60% Women) don't stop by to look at them and usually do not even acknowledge them - not even a passing glance.. Of the several that have taken a notice, it was only fleeting and usually with a smile... as in "Why do you have maps on your wall, Are you going somewhere?"

Even when younger, most of my former girlfriends did not like to navigate as we drove new places.
I am very fortunate as my wife is very spatially oriented - she does read maps and she read them well. She enjoys navigating when we drive long distances as well as the challenge to find new routes to various places and enjoys using the GPS.