How to follow breadcrumbs?
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Forgive the naive question. I was given a Suunto 9 Baro a couple years ago, and am finally trying to figure out how to navigate with it. My simplistic perspective is that I want it to work like an old, classic Garmin eTrex handheld GPS. I want to start an activity (hiking; mountain biking), have it record breadcrumbs… and then should I get lost or simply return on an unmarked, off-trail route (back the way I came), tell the watch to route me back along the breadcrumbs. I’ve tried a few times and can’t seem to get it to work like that. In fact, after doing an activity like hiking, it seems to save my breadcrumbs - but they’re not offered back to me as a route on the watch - it’s like they disappear perhaps only available on an app on a different device?
I’m aware of the Navigation mode, but it doesn’t seem to have breadcrumbs - only current position. And I’m aware of Hike and Mountain Bike activity modes, which say they have breadcrumbs but I’m not sure the watch could direct me back along those breadcrumbs (e.g. with a big arrow pointing in the compass direction from which I came). Is this possible?
No offense, but I’m not a millennial and don’t want to be told to use an app on my phone to sync with my watch during a hike. I generally don’t want to gamify my outdoors activities, which I realize might be futile(?). And I don’t want to pre-plan a route on my ipad or computer and have to download that route ahead of time, just to be able to follow it out or back. I just want to lay down breadcrumbs live while out there, and know how to have it guide me back… or perhaps even guide me to coordinates that I type into the phone, the way GPS units used to work :-). Thanks for any tips.
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@Map_Compass
Shortly :
If you are hiking, you have your current activity breadcrumb in the navigation screen.
As long as you continue this activity on the watch (still recording) you won’t be lost and will be able to follow back the breadcrumb (just with your eyes, not routing).
If you stop it and save it, now way to route back without an app on smartphone. -
@Map_Compass said in How to follow breadcrumbs?:
perhaps even guide me to coordinates that I type into the phone
Suunto is ostensibly working on adding POI (“projected waypoint” in Garminese) entry to the app but is keeping schtum about whether that will include coordinate entry. See here for the current state of knowledge.
In case the POIs arrive with only tap-on-map POI entry and you are amenable to hauling out the phone/firing up the app in at least that one circumstance, it might be worth letting the app download the map tiles for your hiking area beforehand. Which would open up other possibilities for back-tracking … altho’ either would require syncing.
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@Map_Compass said in How to follow breadcrumbs?:
I want to start an activity (hiking; mountain biking), have it record breadcrumbs… and then should I get lost or simply return on an unmarked, off-trail route (back the way I came), tell the watch to route me back along the breadcrumbs. I’ve tried a few times and can’t seem to get it to work like that. In fact, after doing an activity like hiking, it seems to save my breadcrumbs - but they’re not offered back to me as a route on the watch
While on the screen with your recorded route go to options and tap “find back”
https://www.suunto.com/Support/Product-support/suunto_9/suunto_9/features/find-back/ -
@kabzior That’s a straight line back to your start point, not the OP’s requested “route … back along the breadcrumbs”.
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@Fenr1r Right. So I guess this should be it:
While in this display you can swipe up or press the lower button to open your navigation options. From the navigation options, you can, for example, select a different route or POI, check your current location coordinates, as well as end navigation by selecting Breadcrumb.
https://www.suunto.com/Support/Product-support/spartan_sport_whr_baro/spartan_sport_whr_baro/features/recording-an-exercise/ -
Not really. The “display” in that manual bit refers to an already activated POI(/Find Back) or Route Navigation display. The OP wasn’t using the latter and activating the former doesn’t get him/her back along those breadcrumbs. Exiting Navigation takes the OP back to the Exercise’s Breadcrumb display where this all began. @Mff73, not untypically, nailed it.
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@Fenr1r ok, sorry about that. So - there is no “navigate me back to starting point using the route I got here” option?
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@kabzior No worries. However, Pedantry/Terminology Alert:
There’s no “navigate me back to starting point using the trail I made getting here” option, no. Not on the watch alone, as in the OP’s scenario*. You do it by eye on the Breadcrumb screen, keeping the recording going, as above.
(“Routes” are the things you copy onto the watch ahead of time, and then activate in Navigation with the Exercise [or without]. The S9 will have probably have no trouble detecting you turn around and navigating you back on one of those.)
*EDIT: Using SA may give you more options, of course. I don’t partake, so you’ll know more than I.
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Thanks @mff73 and @Fenr1r . When I get stuck trying to do things the old way, it helps to have an informed person say with certainty that no, it’s not possible. A bit of a shame, though, since what I described is core GPS functionality from the days when they were actually used for live (not pre-planned) navigation, particularly off trail or above treeline where it’s quite easy to lose one’s visual bearings.
One reason this limitation (the process of saving a breadcrumb trail also disappears it from the watch) bothers me is that it gives the impression that the breadcrumbs aren’t being saved to non-volatile memory as one travels. If the watch glitches, hiccups, unintentionally resets, i’m guessing the breadcrumbs in an exercise mode are lost? Also a concern if one is doing a multi-day event (without recharge option) or multi-day search & rescue… I’d want to save/commit each day’s breadcrumbs to watch memory and be able to recall them - while turning activity mode off at night or sleeping to save battery.
But hey, I don’t want to sound like a total luddite. Of course I typically have a phone with me, so if it was a real emergency or urgent situation, I could use the app to pass breadcrumbs one way and routes back the other way. In fact, I’ve used the app twice since my original post above, and it’s nice. >>> But can I use the app on multiple devices? At home I’d prefer to normally sync with an ipad for the large screen. But on the trail, I’d want to sync with a phone. Is this possible?
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I’m surprised to read this. Ambit had also the option “Track Back” (tracing back your breadcrumbs). Suunto 9 doesn’t have that?
Suunto 9 Baro Titanium & Ambit 3 Peak
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@Oktan Yeah and navigate routes from the logbook (if it happend to end your activity before using track back)
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@Oktan no.
Suunto 9 is different in features. It is not just a superset of Ambits. -
@andrasveres You mean the Ambit have this, right?
@Egika OK, but i think its should cover what the Ambit did as a base, and add new features/possibilities on top of that.
Suunto 9 Baro Titanium & Ambit 3 Peak
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@Oktan Yes, at least Ambit3, not entirely sure about previous Ambits.
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@Oktan That’s why I wrote it here. Ambit is still in the portfolio - so if you need this function you can get it.
