Being lost in the middle of nowhere or in the middle of New York City is not much fun. People have always been looking for better ways to keep track of where they are, where they have been, and where they are going. Even little Hansel and Gretal left breadcrumbs as they wandered to help them get back home. Granted, the breadcrumbs were eaten by pesky animals almost as soon as they were dropped, but the children had the right idea. When venturing out to places that are unfamiliar, there is a great sense of security with knowing exactly where you are; explorers have been using landmarks, maps, and charts for millennia to stay safe.
We have come a long way since the days of breadcrumb trails and mysterious pirate treasure maps. We ve got GPS on our side now, and walking through the wilderness or hiking through deserted mountains is no sweat with a handheld GPS unit. There are endless reasons to love these gadgets, and the top ten are listed here:

Reason #10: Even though handheld units sometimes don t come with all of the fancy features that larger units like marine devices do, that s ok, because who needs to know the location of buoys when you are geocaching in the Amazon? Handheld ones are simple enough for Tarzan to use.

Reason #9: Handheld units can be cheap, and are available in models that cost below one hundred bucks, a small price to pay for always being able …