Do you trust OnX

[Colby3]

The reason I ask this question is because of what I've found from our last years hunt. My son in law kept track of his steps/ millage on his FitBit watch on all our hunts. I kept track of our miles thru OnX tracks. We had 8 hunts. This is the the comparison between OnX and his FitBit and the difference.

day 1) OnX track 7.2 FitBit 9.8 2.6 diff

day 2) OnX track 4 FitBit 5.22 1.22 diff

day 3} OnX track 3.3 FitBit 4.38 1.08 diff

day 4} OnX track 7.7 Fit Bit 10.06 2.36 diff

day 5} OnX track 6.4 FitBit 10.04 3.64 diff

day 6 } OnX track 8.3 FitBit 13.53 5.23 diff

day 7} OnX track 8.1 FitBit 10.2 2.1 diff

Day 8} OnX track 8.1 FitBit 11.13 3.3 diff

I even laid a path over the OnX tracks and they were pretty close between the two. Going forward I'm thinking of adding about 20-30% to my planned hunt paths on OnX. Is there a more accurate way to figure hunt path miles?

 

[mtmuley]

What is a FitBit watch? mtmuley

 

[TheJason]

I’d be more reluctant to trust the Fitbit than the OnX.

 

[INMT]

I find OnX to be reliable. Is your sons “step” tracking just for your hunting trip or his whole day? I have a friend who uses his apple health for mileage tracking and it’s always higher than my OnX because it tracks his movements for the day, not just a specific trip.

 

[kwyeewyk]

If you start a track in onx and sit still, you'll see that the track thinks you're moving due to GPS error. If you consistently remember to pause your track and restart every time you stop and start it will be more accurate. I always forget to restart though so I just leave it on all day and know there's some extra mileage. My wife compared fitbit and apple, says she thinks apple is more accurate for actual steps and it tells her fewer steps than fitbit, which is more likely to call other movements steps.

 

[Straight Arrow]

ONX has been reliable for tracking distances during our backpack treks and long hikes.
During seven day, eighty mile trek through Thorofare, ONX track mileages were very close to what I had plotted on map and researched, expecially for distances between designated campsites.
Most importantly, ONX marked my location six miles, two thousand feet above the Missouri in the Gates Wilderness so that Two Bear Air could fly directly to me from Kalispell and snatch my sorry arse off the mountain when I broke my knee! So I am a real fan of Two Bear Air and ONX!

 

[kansasdad]

Is OnX measuring “as the crow flies”, while the Fitbit measures steps/elevation gained/lost?

 

[44hunter45]

Step counter vs satnav path. Apples and oranges. If you can't program your stride length and take perfectly consistent strides, FitBit or iPhone health is going to be wrong.
Even the iPhone has some GPS element to it's measurement, not FitBit.

 

[Straight Arrow]

Is OnX measuring “as the crow flies”, while the Fitbit measures steps/elevation gained/lost?

No, not when tracking as it records and displays every movement, even as one deviates and leaves a main trail to explore a meadow or water feature. Sometimes my track displays include circles and "drunken" weaving routes. But the satellite sees how far I've travelled and where the heck I went.

 

[Potsie]

So, I gotta ask… what’s the point?

Is there a mandatory minimum of miles that must be walked, tracked, and logged before you get a shot opportunity at an elk?

If the OnX would have been the exact same as your Fitbit, would you have stopped walking 3.6 miles sooner?

OnX is, at its base, a mapping software. Does it accomplish that? Yup. Then I have no reason to not trust that aspect of it.

 

[SAJ-99]

For two years I compared my Garmin to my Onx and there a consistent difference, but not as much as you are showing. Onx tracks tended to be about 3-5% higher. It may have been because of difference in the number of times the communication was made (for example every 5min vs every 10min) or maybe the angle of the climb being accounted for. I finally decided I didn’t care enough to really research it. Some smarter than me had some theories that explained it.

 

[SAJ-99]

So, I gotta ask… what’s the point?

Is there a mandatory minimum of miles that must be walked, tracked, and logged before you get a shot opportunity at an elk?

If the OnX would have been the exact same as your Fitbit, would you have stopped walking 3.6 miles sooner?

OnX is, at its base, a mapping software. Does it accomplish that? Yup. Then I have no reason to not trust that aspect of it.

At the end of the day, you are 100% right. Some people are just curious and want to know 'why'...often to a fault. But no judgement please...

 

[Potsie]

At the end of the day, you are 100% right. Some people are just curious and want to know 'why'...often to a fault. But no judgement please...

Hey, it’s the off season. Time to pick the pepper from the fly chit.

 

[Djfan]

ONX is mostly reliable. I have had a couple of times when the two track I was hoping to follow didn't exist, or was on private land that was gated.

For the most part it's all good.

 

[Gr8bawana]

I do believe the fitbit tracks steps and Onx actual GPS tracking.
I can see where sometimes I'm curious as to how far we've walked during a hunt but I see no reason to need to know the EXACT number of miles.

 

[madtom]

Go walk a known mile (four laps around a track, etc) and see which one is closer to correct.