Multi-tasking ...

Assuming my firewood buyer(s) come through this weekend I'll have the money put together to buy not just a drysuit but possibly also a fish finder.  What I'm wondering about is whether I would be better off with a combo fish finder/GPS or 2 separate units.

Reason I ask is I'm also a hunter and was thinking that if I can buy things that can do double duty between fishing and hunting so much the better.  I've been lusting after a Garmin Rino 655t.  Right now I have a Rino 120 (which might well be going up for sale if I decide to buy the 655t). 

As I see it the Rino 655t has a few advantages.  As a GPS it is WAY superior to the Rino 120 when used in heavy cover (e.g. dark timber while chasing elk).  It's waterproof (according to Garmin it's good IPX-7 which IIRC is 1m at 30 minutes).  It has a camera integrated into it, so it would save me the cost of a Kodak Playsport or whatever.  I could get a cheaper fish finder only unit.  It's another $160 but there are marine charts that can be loaded onto it (straight from Garmin - don't know if there's cheaper sources).  It has NOAA weather radio which would be handy to get alerts of changing weather, especially if away from home for a long weekend of fishing/hunting.

Downsides include that it's 2 units to have on the boat rather than 1.  The screen is smaller than most fish finder/GPS combos (I would assume that if you wanted to you can set the combo to only display one or the other if you wanted a larger view of the GPS info).    Have to pay extra for marine charts, but would have to do that anyway with a GPS combo unit to get decent resolution maps.

What says the collective wisdom on here?

I have separate units and wish I had the combo. It is much less hassle and one less thing to loose.  I mainly use my GPS as a speed indicator when trolling and to see how far I went on a given day.  IMHO, I don't think the GPS maps are that important if you can see the bottom structure on your FF.  If you have the money for the charts and want to stimulate the economy so my retirement investments grow, please do.  If you have a smart phone, there are apps for charts that have been discussed on here before. I just look at a NOAA paper chart to figure out where the structure may be then verify with my FF.  I would save the money from the chart purchase and put it towards a camera.  Anytime you get a device that can do everything, plus take pictures, the pictures usually are of low quality and the camera functionality suffers. But, in the case of the Rino 655t, I may be wrong.  I have never played with one.

Whatever you decide, I am sure you will enjoy the purchase.  New toys are always fun. 

I wish I wasn't so far away from you, I would buy some firewood.  Sooner or later my neighbor is going to start to notice he is missing fence boards.    

Honestly, I only use my GPS on my fish finder combo to keep track of my trolling passes, mark way points to relocate structure and fish.  Haven't really needed much more than that while on the water.  I suppose if I ever went further off shore than a mile, or if fog rolled in on me I'd rely on the mapping a bit more for keeping me aimed in the right direction. 

That Rino 655t looks slick and has some great features for land, but may be a bit of an expensive unit for the water use.

I have separate units and wish I had the combo. It is much less hassle and one less thing to loose.  I mainly use my GPS as a speed indicator when trolling and to see how far I went on a given day. 
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I wish I wasn't so far away from you, I would buy some firewood.  Sooner or later my neighbor is going to start to notice he is missing fence boards.    

Yeah, unfortunately fire wood is one of those things that hard to transport very far and keep it economical. 

Honestly, I only use my GPS on my fish finder combo to keep track of my trolling passes, mark way points to relocate structure and fish.  Haven't really needed much more than that while on the water.  I suppose if I ever went further off shore than a mile, or if fog rolled in on me I'd rely on the mapping a bit more for keeping me aimed in the right direction.   

Good to know some of the experienced folks on here don't think those maps are entirely necessary.  Saves some money for more rods/reels and other miscellaneous fishing stuff.

I mostly use the gps for trolling speed and marking waypoints so I can find the hot spots again.  When fishing the salt the mapping is great tool especially when your offshore a mile or more and the fog rolls in.  So depending on the type of water you plan to fish would dictate on what unit would fit your needs.  I do like knowing how far I have go when fishing rivers.

If you're looking for a basic color unit, Cabela's bargain cave has the Eagle FishEasy 350c on sale now for $129.  Reg price is $199.

If you're looking for a basic color unit, Cabela's bargain cave has the Eagle FishEasy 350c on sale now for $129.  Reg price is $199.

Thanks for the post! I just found my wife the present she can buy me for my B-day.

D-oh! I just looked and saw that it was not the color version of the Eagle Cuda 350 S/Map GPS.