Your Garmin, Your Story ...

We're constantly amazed at the positive feedback we get from people who use our products for just about anything you can imagine. Their stories range from geocaching to surviving life-threatening situations.

Scroll below to read about testimonials for this product and don't forget to check out the amazing testimonials and human interest stories on our Garmin Blog!

View testimonials on Garmin Blog

 

"GPS 12 tough addition to Marine Corps gear"

I am an active duty Marine Infantry Officer. Before my present assignment, I was a Heavy Machine Gun Platoon Commander with 2nd Battalion 4th Marines, 5th Marine Regiment in Camp Pendleton, California. While out on a large training exercise, I was using my Garmin® GPS 12 for navigation of my 34-man platoon which were mounted on Hummers. I was doing some map work on the hood of my vehicle while the platoon was fueling up. We remounted our Hummers and began to move. I started to look around for my GPS, when I noticed it was on the hood of the vehicle. By this time we were doing about 45 MPH. By the time I realized where my GPS was, it was to late. My vehicle was just cresting the peak of a large hill. My GPS 12 slid off the hood while doing 45 MPH and crashed onto the asphalt. I was the first vehicle in the column, so several vehicles were following me. The GPS crashed to the ground and split into two parts. I went to the bottom of the hill, stopped the vehicle, and ran back to pick up my GPS. I was sure it was broken forever. I reconnected some wires and used electrical tape to put the two halfs back together. I was sure it would not work. To my surprise, when I turned it on, it worked. Then I thought it would not be accurate. Wrong again. It gave me an MGRS grid just as fast and as accurate as it did when I first purchased it. I want to tell you that I have been impressed with your gear since I first used my GPS 12 two years ago during a Combined Arms Exercise in the desert at 29 Palms, California. I have used my Garmin to navigate on land and on water. It is truely a superior piece of navigational gear. I would highly reccommend it to anybody in my line of work or anybody who plays in the outdoors.

Thanks for making a quality product that is dependable.

Capt. J. C. H., USMC

"GPS 12 hastens hot meal for lost hunter"

Garmin,

Today I was turkey hunting on new land that I had never hunted on before, and I got so turned around and lost that I thought I was going to be a rescue. I pulled out my Garmin GPS 12, which had the truck marked as waypoint 15 and did the GOTO 15 deal. The arrow was pointing the exact opposite direction I was going. I actually thought I was right and the Garmin was wrong. Then, 30 minutes later, I gave in and followed the arrow, taking me right back to the truck. I have no idea how the Native Americans made it around when I can get lost in a 5X5-mile stretch. Thank you so much. Being lost is a bad feeling, even with a good tool that you doubt. I have learned a valuable lesson. Trust the Garmin!

Thank you,

T. P.
Lost Turkey Hunter

PS: I did not get any turkeys but there is always next time. I did get a hot meal that my wife fixed.

"GPS 12 survives fall from tree stand"

Dear Garmin,

Just wanted to thank you for designing the GPS 12 so rugged. I was setting up my tree stand for the up coming deer hunt and set my GPS 12 on a branch next to my tree to get a good lock on my stand location. As I was setting it up, I turned away to get another part for the stand when the ladder stand came tumbling down landing right on the GPS and sent it flying. My heart stopped as I picked it up and noticed that the display was blank and a big impact scrape right across the antenna end of the GPS. I figured that this was the end of the line for my GPS 12. I pressed the power button and the unit fired right up. After a couple of seconds of acquiring satellite data, my GPS 12 was up and running again. I marked my stand and proceeded to get myself lost in the woods to make sure the unit still worked. I used the Goto function to find the heading to my stand which. according to the GPS 12. was .34 miles away. I headed in the direction the GPS 12 pointed me and in no time I was standing right next to my stand again.

Thanks again for building such a rugged piece of equipment. I still have a great working GPS with battle scars on it from a tough day in the woods.

D. G.

"Used GPS 12 to mark location of hidden canoe"

Recently, I was returning home from a week's vacation with my wife and son in Pennsylvania. It was around 11:00 at night and we were driving on a heavily traveled interstate between New York and Pennsylvania. On our roof was a fiberlite canoe I borrowed from a friend in New York. Suddenly, one of the four foam blocks separating the canoe from the roof of the car broke in two and started a chain reaction, causing two other blocks to fly off. After surveying the situation carefully, I realized that without the missing blocks, there was no way to safely reattach the canoe. Here I was on the side of an interstate over 70 miles from home with a huge fiberglass canoe at 10:45 at night. At wit's end, I remembered I had my trusty GPS 12 in the glove compartment. While my wife retrieved the GPS and powered it on, I dragged the canoe as far into the woods as possible, so people passing by couldn't see it. I marked a waypoint and continued home. The next day after work, I borrowed a van from a friend and headed back. Using the "GoTo" feature, I was able to return to the exact spot I was the previous evening in total darkness.

Thanks, Garmin. Your unit paid for itself in one day and saved a friendship. Without it, there is no way I would have been able to return to that exact spot 40 or 50 yards into the woods. Now if it only could have masked how silly I must have looked pulling a canoe out of the woods when I went back!

R.H.

"No wrong turns, no wasted steps, thanks to GPS 12"

I just wanted to tell you how much more I enjoy hunting now that I carry a GPS 12. I have a bone disease that makes it difficult for me to walk, depending on the terrain, weather, and how long I've been out.

I used to have to pay a great deal of attention to where I was, especially when I was out of state and hunting locations I'd never walked before. But now, using the GPS 12, I simply enter waypoints, such as parking areas or hard-to-find bridges, and forget about the rest. I let my bird dog do what she does best, and I just worry about getting clear shots at grouse or woodcock. When I sense that my legs won't handle too much more walking, I turn on the GPS and hunt all the way back to the car, knowing that I'm not wasting precious steps going the wrong way. Before the GPS, there were times I barely made it back to the car because I had gotten turned around and taken way too long to get back to the parking area.

Every time I take someone hunting with me that has never used a GPS, they get a funny look on their face when I set the unit on my tailgate to grab satellites while I get my dog ready for hunting. They wonder why I need such a "fancy gadget" for hunting. But once they see what this little thing can do and find out how reasonably priced they are, they immediately decide that they'll soon own one too.

Thanks for getting me back to my car, by the shortest trek possible, time and time again!

M.B.

"Marine Corps counts on the GPS 12"

I would like to start by saying thank you for the prompt service of my recently returned GPS 12. A timely turnaround is always appreciated. I am in the Marine Corps and your product is the one we count on while in the field. We used it finding our position for a center of a 81mm mortar platoon, which is very important. We also used it for calling in firing support. This GPS has worked so well that marines in other platoons in my company are using your GPS. They would rather use yours than the one coming from the armory. We have used it overseas with the same results. It's too bad that the marines are not issued this GPS. It's more user-friendly and quicker in getting a position.

W.M.

"GPS 12 at home on offshore boat"

I purchased my GPS 12 about five years ago for use with my 18-foot runabout. We had planned a bunch of lake trips and I felt it would be safer to have one along with chartplotting, etc. Before we were able to go on these trips, I was promoted and was given a substantial raise. This allowed us to get a bigger boat, a 22-foot Wellcraft SCARAB. This is a pretty serious offshore boat. Since then we have entered "poker runs," gone from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, Long Island Sound, etc. That little Garmin has been bounced around a little (crashing through waves at 50+ mph), gone through countless batteries, even been dropped in 5 feet of water. It still works and looks like new. I bought it with limited use in mind, more as a backup than anything, but it has been one helpful piece of boating hardware! I won't leave port without it! The only complaint I have is that every once in awhile it makes me look a little foolish. I trust my instincts, thinking that the unit has finally gone off it's nut, and it turns out I am wrong! Thanks for making a great product for a great price.

M. H.

"GPS 12 helps locate and mark villages in Peru"

I am a dental student at the University of Connecticu, and I just got back from a dental trip to Peru, where I used my Garmin GPS 12. We were going to villages along the Amazon River to extract decayed teeth. The government in Peru does not know the exact positions of many of these villages. The local organization APECA (Association for the preservation, education, and conservation of the Amazon) wanted to record the exact positions of each of the villages so that other medical or government people could find their way there in the future. The day that we arrived, I was shown a satellite map with UTM coordinates of the region we were going to be in, and I knew roughly how to get to the villages. When we arrived in the villages, I would take an average position at the dock on the Amazon. These positions will be submitted to the government to be officially recorded on a map so that more people can get to these villages. For some of the villages, we would have to ask the local people in the dugout canoes on the river how to get to them. Going home each evening was great because the GPS 12 would give us our exact time of arrival. We were able to calculate that the river was moving at about four miles per hour. The head of APECA was given a Garmin marine GPS, and since the instruction book was in English, I switched the GPS to Spanish mode and, through a translator, showed him how to use it so that he will be able to record the exact positions of any future villages he goes to. I was so excited to actually use my GPS for something other than hiking in the USA.

K.M

"Surfing the wind with the GPS 12"

Not sure if you know this, but windsurfers use the GPS 12 while sailing because it will give the max speed and distance traveled. We put them into backpacks or into the many hard plastic cases that are out there now. It is interesting to find out that you just went 41.7 mph on a windsurfer and put on 18 miles ... cool.

Ron, the Water Rocket

"GPS 12 finishes fishing tourney in good standing"

During a Bass Anglers Sportsman Society Invitational Tournament on Lake Okechobee, Florida, my brand X GPS didn't get along with the pounding a bass boat can deliver in choppy water. It quit after the first half day of practice. Facing the remaining two and a half days of practice and three days of competition on one of the country's largest lakes without a GPS was not a possibility. At 5 a.m., I went to a 24-hour Wal-Mart and purchased the only Garmin GPS remaining in the store (no surprise that they had a few of brand X still available). By 7 a.m., I had launched my boat, figured out the new receiver, and loaded about a dozen waypoints from my maps. That little GPS 12 did a fantastic job. You can figure it out in an hour or so, and you can navigate in a hurry. I lost little or no practice time and used the plotter screen with track log extensively to work my area and catch a limit of bass on the first day of the tournament. That spot was 23 miles across open water. Garmin, Skeeter Boats, and Yamaha Outboards put me on that spot in less than 20 minutes, then guided my every turn through the rim canal and the many boat trails that can be found in the vast fields of vegetation that Okechobee offers. Thanks Garmin.

J.A.

"Wouldn't trade his GPS 12"

I've used a Magellan 3000XL and a Magellan 315 belonging to friends. I wouldn't trade my Garmin GPS 12 for either one. The GPS 12 is accurate, easy to use, and lightweight. I can't say enough about it. On two recent hunting trips, my wife was amazed by how it got us to hunting spots, to our kills and back again. She is a believer now. I'm going to get her one so I can have mine back. Two friends also have this GPS and feel the same. It's a great product and I don't know how I ever got along without it.

P.C.

"This kid really knows his GPS"

Your product is very easy to use, yet a powerful professional tool. One day while I was working, my 9-year-old son convinced my wife to take him and some friends for a hike in a state park. The park has only primative foot paths and their maps are poor. The area is the site of orienteering meets because of its large undeveloped nature. This trip was made in the middle of the work week outside of the normal busy summer season.

Two things made my wife agree to go: her cellular phone and the Garmin GPS 12. She was quite afraid of getting lost, but my son told her he knew how to work my GPS. She called me to confirm that and I told her to go and enjoy the hike. I think my exact words were, "Take a hike!" My son used the unit and marked the car location and proceeded to lead everyone on a great adventure. Without the Garmin GPS12, I would not have let them go without me. My son also gave my brother instructions on how to use his new Garmin GPS 12 after my brother received the unit as a gift. Your GPS product has opened a new world for my son. He loves maps and compasses, but especially loves the GPS 12. He even explains Selective Availability to anyone who will listen. I simply can't say enough about the great products that Garmin manufactures. You are the best.

N.Z.

"GPS 12 takes a licking"

Using my GPS 12 as a geological field tool to locate roadside sampling locations in Western Australia, I would place the unit on the car top while making notes sitting in the car. One day I drove off with the unit still on the top of the car. Along a bend in the road, with the car moving at 80 km/hr, the unit slid off, bounced on the road, and landed in some bushes. When I recovered the unit, the plastic case had partly broken open, but the unit was still working! Garmin matches Timex!

G.D.

"GPS 12 marked the spot"

Recently our family enjoyed a snowmobile outing in Northern Michigan. We stopped for lunch at one of our favorite stops and the waitress saw me experimenting with my recently purchased GPS 12. She asked, "Does that thing work very well?" Little did she or myself know how well it would work and help save the day.

After lunch we were heading back to camp when my wife had problems with the sled she was riding. It broke down beyond repair on the trail. So the only thing I knew to do was mark our position on the GPS and return for it later with a truck and trailer. The challenge was it could not be towed and we were about 10 trail miles from the trail head.

We doubled up and rode out about 1.8 miles to a gas company access road. I followed that road out to a main road and marked that position as well. After returning to the rest of the family, we rode back to camp. My 15-year-old son got the trailer hooked up and off we went.

We used the GPS 12 to guide us back to the area where I marked the main road. One important lesson I learned: you can't second-guess the reading and win. The unit will make you look like a fool. So we followed the screen on the GPS 12 to the gas company access road and then followed it to the trail and the sled. I know we would still be looking for it had it not been for the miracles of modern technology and some faith in the Man upstairs.

D.M.

"Safe and sound trip with GPS 12"

This week I took my family on a 9.5-hour, 180-mile trip to Mystic, CT from Newburgh, NY. We left on a Monday and returned on Thursday. My family consists of my wife and four daughters, ages 9, 6, 4 and 2. I have a 27-foot Searay and felt the boat was seaworthy for taking the family on the Long Island Sound. My brother John and his wife and daughter accompanied us in his boat (23-foot Larson).

John and I both used a Garmin GPS12 handheld GPS receiver to plot our routes using current charts of the Long Island Sound. It took nearly five hours to research the latitude and longitude of all the buoys we planned to encounter for each route during our journey. We entered waypoints for two routes: a direct route for good weather and a more northerly route for bad weather.

I've been a boater for years and this would be my first experience boating without having a forward visual reference for steering the boat. I knew I had to rely on the GPS 12 for navigation while in the Long Island Sound. Our furthest waypoint-to-waypoint distance was 54 miles. Using an active route and the highway diagram, we navigated to each waypoint flawlessly. We made it to Mystic and had a great time. The return trip was just as easy to navigate.

The purpose for telling you all this was to let you know how grateful I am to have had such a remarkable device without which we would never have been able to attempt the trip. The safety of my family wore heavily on my mind and the success of the trip would determine whether or not we would ever attempt another. My heartfelt thanks to everyone at Garmin for making events like this not just an experience for me, but a memorable and enjoyable trip for all my children.

R.C.

"GPS 12 aids forest rescue"

I am a fire captain with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Not everyone realizes that we are also in the rescue business. I have had a hard time getting the attention of helicopters that have been called in to pick up injured parties because our position is almost always obscured by trees. The first time I used my Garmin GPS 12 to give my coordinates to dispatch the guide in the helo, I heard the copter coming closer and closer. It came to hover directly above my position as the pilot came on the air to inquire as to my whereabouts. I replied very simply, "look down." The mountain biker had massive injuries, including skull and spine fractures. But thanks to my Garmin GPS and a Coast Guard helo with hoist, the young fellow was admitted off the pad and into Stanford hospital in a remarkably short amount of time. Other than no memory prior to the accident, I understand he is doing well.

D.R.

"GPS 12 gets injured biker back to car"

It was two Sundays ago when my wife Maddy and I decided to go mountain biking in a new park area. I have been trying to teach her how to remove the tires from all the bikes we own and how to get them on top of the car. She could not understand why I wanted her to not only know, but also be able to do it by herself. After all, we always went together and I could always do it for her. I like helping people, but want them to have the knowledge and ability to do things on their own. So we were at odds, but I am stubborn.

Maddy was just getting to the point where she could do her own bike, but she had trouble lifting it up onto the car. We went anyway and I helped her get it on the car as I usually do. I used my Garmin GPS 12 to mark a waypoint for where we parked and started biking, noticing all the damage left by the storm Floyd. Paths were washed out, even bridges. This was the first time in this biking area, but you could tell that the damage was very recent. Ruts were cut into paths and a pile of rocks were on the side where the water runs off. Maddy decided we had a good ride and started back to the car. I rode ahead to see what was coming. I saw a path that I thought came out from where we started, even though we started along a different path. I rode back to find Maddy because I had lost sight of her. I saw her and then my front tire went flat as I was doing 27 mph. The tire fell off the rim and the brake flipped into the spokes. I flew and hit a pile of rocks, breaking my helmet. I hurt, and Maddy pointed out that my left shoulder was looking somewhat different. Sure enough, a dislocation. I got up and started dragging my bike to the car with my right hand, but I started blacking out. I kept upright, but could not see betweeen the pain and the sweat. I handed Maddy the Garmin and explained the "GoTo" feature. She did it and hit "page". She followed the arrow to the car, and I followed her voice. It took about 20 minutes to walk that mile. Maddy got the bikes on the car after I ripped the brake off the rim of my bike so she could get it mounted on the car.

I believe if I didn't have my GPS 12 and hadn't learned how to use it, it would have taken Maddy an hour or two to find the car, bring it to me, and then get back on our way to the ER. Thanks Garmin.

J.W.