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In Depth Product Reviews
You probably stumbled upon here looking for a review of a sports gadget. If you’re trying to decide which unit to buy – check out my in-depth reviews section. Some reviews are over 60 pages long when printed out, with hundreds of photos! I aim to leave no stone unturned.
2
Read My Sports Gadget Recommendations.
Here’s my most recent GPS watch guide here, and cycling GPS computers here. Plus there are smart trainers here, all in these guides cover almost every category of sports gadgets out there. Looking for the equipment I use day-to-day? I also just put together my complete ‘Gear I Use’ equipment list, from swim to bike to run and everything in between (plus a few extra things). And to compliment that, here’s The Girl’s (my wife’s) list. Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!
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Have some fun in the travel section.
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My Photography Gear: The Cameras/Drones/Action Cams I Use Daily
The most common question I receive outside of the “what’s the best GPS watch for me” variant, are photography-esq based. So in efforts to combat the amount of emails I need to sort through on a daily basis, I’ve complied this “My Photography Gear” post for your curious minds (including drones & action cams!)! It’s a nice break from the day-to-day sports-tech talk, and I hope you get something out of it!
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The Swim/Bike/Run Gear I Use List
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I’d be interested in seeing a picture of your rubberband setup.
Also, can it be plugged-in while on the go? IOW, say you’re out running a long run and you realize that your battery is about go out…can you whip out the little charger and then plug it in at that point?
I have the 305 Quick Release zip tied to my stem. I could use a couple of rubber bands to secure the batter pack to the side, or underneath, the stem as well! Ironman Canada here I come!
Beautiful! I was trying to figure out how to use the Forerunner 305 on our trip to Iceland. You have provided the answer.
Awesome.
I did that and it works great. Kind of a hassle at times, but it does work.
I used the Energizer brand cell phone recharger made for a Blackberry.
I haven’t had much time lately so just wanted to let you know I’ll catch up on the posts later.
Nice I’ve seen this done a couple of times for a ‘on the go trail version’ check out Steve Ansell’s blog link to mountain-man-steve.blogspot.com
A friend of mine recently did a 95-mile race in just under 20 hours. He used his own Garmin 305 for the first half and borrowed a second one from a friend for the second half.
Of course, your solution is much, much sexier.
Oh very cool! This would help me maintain a pace for BR-the whole race!
Can you include a picture of the whole rubber banded contraption on your wrist? I just want to see how you manage that.
Thanks!
FWIW – This seems to be another factor in favor of the 305 over the 405. Even though it has a USB cable charger, I don’t think you can charge the device while it’s in use.
It certainly would be more cumbersome even if you could, what with the clamshell style charger that it uses.
GENIOUS! I need one of those. Note becuase I go long but becuase I forget to charge it, or plan to do it at work and forget the charger, or plug it into the laptop and leave it but unknown to me the laptop when to sleep and somehow that turns the Garmin on and even though it was plugged in all night it is dead for a morning workout.
ps..40+ in a 25! How did you not get pulled over? I was “yelled at” through a window of a cop car once. Me and two other guys going paceline style doing 37’ish down a small grade through a small town’s 30mph zone. He wanted everyone to slow down and be safe, how nice of him…we did until he turned. Then it was back to hammering away.
This looks great. One question though, how do you charge the device without the dock? Or how do you attach the FR305 to its mount with the dock. What am I missing?
Hi Uri-
(RE: Using the dock)
I still use the charging dock for charging, and simply just attach it to my computer/wall. Just easily disconnect it from the Duracell charger.
Hi Brian
(RE: Charging while in use)
Yup, you can indeed charge while in use, it’s pretty cool. I’ve done this a few times on long flights even with my laptop and it still recording the flight. Any USB connection will work, and since the mini-charger thing is just a USB connection, it still alows you to charge it. Cool stuff! So yup, even if you realize half-way through, you can plug it in to get a bit more juice.
I’ll try and post some pics in the next day or so of my setup.
Awesome. I had this bookmarked in my stack to read after vacation, and I’m glad I did. That’s a pretty cool little gizmo. If you’re carrying a hand-held water bottle holder, the battery pack could probably fit into the zipper pocket.
I guess those of us with 101s just have to carry spare AAs :-)
Very nice! However, I read somewhere that the charger only works with non-rechargeable Duracell batteries. Is this correct? It would be great if we could use rechargeable batteries… Have you tested this? / What kind of batteries do you use?
Hi Felix-
I’ve just used generic AA’s, nothing special. I haven’t heard of any issues with rechargeables. Typically the reason folks don’t recommend rechargeables is that certain types don’t do well in colder weather conditions, and also have a different battery profile with respect to how they handle lower power at the end of the life of the battery.
Thanks Rainmaker.
It’s really fantastic !!!!
Ray – Would this work for the 310?
Jim
link to buyextras.com
Hey Jim-
Hmm…in theory it would work. I do know from testing that a continous charge will be honored and you can go forever on it (tried it during a long long boat ride). So, given the adapter, it should work.
If you try it out – let me know how it works out! Would love to hear.
Hi rainmaker,
tx for this great idea. Sometimes the most obvious thing are not on the head up display, so tx for putting it up!
piet
IMHO this is one of the advantages of units like the Polar RS800CX that utilize a separate GPS pod.
The separate GPS pod that takes simple AA batteries makes it easy to utilize long lasting lithium batteries (I have heard they last about 30 hours) and replace them during the run if necessary.
Hello,
Since you’re charging the unit on it’s base I’m assuming you won’t be able to utilize the Hear Rate Monitor while running?
Mine is 3 years old and the battery is lasting only one hour now. So I need to get a new battery? I don’t think mine EVER lasted 10 hours!
The docs for the 305 state that the data storage capacity is “1000 laps”. If the default value for a “lap” is one mile, the implication is that I can track 1000 miles and that’s it. In your posting about tracking for 36 hours — how did you overcome the “1000 lap” limitation?
I want to use my 305 during a 1500 mile motorcycle ride (1500 miles in 24 hours). Could I record the entire ride simply by changing a lap to, say, 10 or 50 miles?
Hi Douglas-
Yup, I just leave autolap off, which means no laps are created automatically. Otherwise the unit will be beeping almost constantly on an airplane if you’re flying at 600MPH. ;) I learned that one the hard way once.
Enjoy!
hey. would that technique work with a motoactv? someone asked the question on the motoactv review page (stellar work, btw), but couldnt find an answer.
thanks
stan
Did you ever get an answer to this question about the Motoactv? Seems like an amazing gizmo. But 6 hours of life isn’t going to cut it for me and is probably a nonstarter.
Very cool solution. I second Stanislas ANDRE’s question on “Does this work on the MotoActv” and if you are able to test, what kind of recharge time / run time does it add? Thanks much and LOVE the great reviews.
Does anyone know if the 310 XT will record data while charging? With the normal charger clip on i can’t get to the mode button to get into the menus.
Has anyone had success with using extra batteries on a race with the 310?
Thanks
Anders
Yes, it does. Though, you have limitations as you described. They key is starting it first, and then you can add a charger and it’ll charge and keep it charged.
I did this for a long multi-day boat ride…worked well!
Hi.
I have a 310xt which seems to last only 11 – 12 hours. Is there anything wrong with it or do I have to change any settings in it ? Just a little question, can you use the watch to track the activity while its plugged in to this charger ?
I think I have found a USB Female to Mini USB Female Adapter, is that all I would need with this charge pack to use it with 310XT? Here is a link
link to amazon.com
Thanks
Yup, you can leave it tracking while plugged in (I’ve done it a few times on super-long boat rides). The only trick is that you’ll need to start the activity before plugging in. And of course, your access to the buttons are a bit limited. But it works fine.
Thanks.
I actually already have a torch that takes one AA battery and can be used to recharge a mobile phone. I will get a USB Female to 5 pin USB Mini Female adaptor and give it a shot.
Just out of curiosity, is your body fat really around 5% ? I was told anything below 8% is unhealthy ?
I just found out about another little charger which is similar to the Duracell one but the good news is it has a USB output port so don’t require any additional converters.
Thought I’ll share it here.
link to amazon.co.uk
This is awesome! I found out the hard way that this unit will only capture full data for 3.5 hours when getting GPS every second. I’ve done 100 miles in 6 hours when in the mode that captures every 3 seconds. Do you know how long it will go in that mode? I’m planning a 150 mile ride and want to make sure it will capture all my data. I expect to be done in 10 hours. Thoughts?
Would the following adapter work to charge the 310xt on the go?
link to amazon.com
Yup, for this charger, that’s exactly what you want. Enjoy!
Or you could get a different charger that allows you to use the USB cord that came with your device, like this Duracell one on Amazon Or this one that takes a couple AA batteries.
Hi Ray,
Do you know if this Duracell device works with the Garmin 620?
I’ve also heard of people using the Power Monkey Discovery portable charger (not the Garmin branded type) – here is the link: link to powertraveller.com
Have you had any experience with the Power Monkey Discovery? And if so, do you know if it’s compatible with the Garmin 620?
Will this or any other portable charger work with the 910XT?
Yup, the 910XT yes, but not the 920XT.
did you get a scar?