When most of us think of GPS tracking watches one of two images pop into our mind. The first is that of a child locator that fits on the wrist of child. The second is that of a watch on the arm of an athlete (usually a long distance runner). Both of these watches are essentially the same, but used in very different ways.

The first watch is used almost entirely to track and keep tabs on a child. A concerned parent will outfit their child with a GPS tracking watch just in case the worst were to happen to their child. They feel that it gives them the peace of mind that they need to send their child off to school, or to the park, or to the mall. They often feel that this locating device is exactly what they will want if an abduction or kidnapping were to occur.

Normally watches like this help the parent take back some power that they felt has been stolen from them in our society of parental isolation. They cannot trust their neighbors to keep an eye on their children with them because we are so distanced from those that live around us, especially in suburbia. At a mall with a thousand people in it, your child could become entirely lost and could not see a single familiar face. People might walk by your child without even know that they are lost or in need of assistance.

A child locator watch is exactly what parents need in this circumstance. If they have an internet enabled phone, they can check their provider’s website and find the location of their child to within a few meters. Or, if the watch has a two way communication feature, the parent can call the child’s watch and communicate with their child – letting them know that everything is going to be okay and that they don’t need to worry. They then can get the information from the child that they need to locate them, ending the issue and empowering the parent.

Fitness GPS tracking watches work a little differently than a child GPS tracking watch. Most fitness watches are simply data loggers, gathering and storing information on the watch’s computer to be analyized at a later time. All you need to do with one of these watches is put it on your wrist, strap on your heart monitor (if you model supports one), turn your watch on, and head out on your run.

These watches will do all the work for you, recording your speed, elevation, and heart rate for you to see. They even will record your actual location so that you can integrate it with some mapping software back on your PC. Sometimes this software comes with your watch and sometimes you can use free software like Google Earth, it simply depends on the make and model of your watch.

These watches are good for fitness applications and while they can be used for other things (like analyzing you heart rate when you drive) they are pretty much only good for that.

As you can see, both types of GPS tracking watches provide the same essential GPS tracking function but do so for different purposes. A child GPS tracking watch is logs GPS information and then sends it out for the parent to see. A fitness GPS tracking watch, on the other hand, simply logs information for you to download later. Both have their place in, and both are used differently.