Re: [Paddlewise] Garmin and waterproof kayaking gear

From: Nick Schade <nick_at_guillemot-kayaks.com>
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2004 09:21:06 -0500
If you look at the back of the unit 
http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/gallery/MiscPhotos/IMG_1630 on the 
right you will see some green tape. This covers the hole for the 
battery cover latch. This tape is intact. Water getting into the batter 
compartment will wreck the batteries but will not get into the 
electronics unless this green tape fails. It is more likely the tape 
under the black rubber will fail first. The seal to the battery 
compartment is waterproof enough that it is unlikely that there will be 
pressurized water trying to force its way through the green tape.

In previous units like the Etrex and 76 the seal is created by the 
black rubber around the perimeter. It looks like the 60 does not use 
the same seal system between the front and back. It may be better, but 
then again I expected the 76 to be better because it did not try to put 
controls in the perimeter rubber which compromised the ability of the 
Etrex to maintain a good seal.

Waterproof is not conceptually hard. All you need no holes. A GPS does 
not need significant pressure resistance, it just needs to keep water 
out when briefly dunked. This should not be that hard.

On Feb 12, 2004, at 8:10 PM, alex wrote:

>> http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/gallery/MiscPhotos/IMG_1630 shows my
>> Etrex after it died. The black rubber at the top of the picture 
>> creates
>> the seal around the front and back half of the unit. On the upper
>> portion you can see the inside and you can see some grayish spots. 
>> This
>> is where the double-sided tape that forms the seal has separated from
>> the rubber.
>
> Quite informative picture. It really went through the seal (which was
> supposed to be waterproof) , - not through the slots around battery 
> cover.
> Btw, I tried recent suggestion with transparent vinyl drybag (Legend, 
> same
> class as Vista, only without compass) - not too good.  Wrap is bulky,
> doesn't fit into any PFD pocket, and readability of screen isn't beter 
> than
> in Aquapack bag.  Until I get enough dough for a $300 waterproof model,
> looks like drybag (or Aquapack) + silicagel is the way to go.  Just 
> don't
> see any better solution.
>
Nick Schade

Guillemot Kayaks
824 Thompson St
Glastonbury, CT 06033
USA
Ph/Fx: (860) 659-8847
http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/
***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed
here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire
responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author.
Submissions:     PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net
Subscriptions:   PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net
Website:         http://www.paddlewise.net/
***************************************************************************
Received on Fri Feb 13 2004 - 06:36:43 PST

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:31:12 PDT