Our Gear - Electronics - Notier's Frontiers

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NAVIGATION

Gone are the days when you need a GPS-dedicated device that is not a phone. Nowadays, we just use apps on our phones such as Google Maps, Maps.me, or OsmAnd+. The only problem is how do you protect your phone from frying in the searing sun or getting drenched in the pouring rain?

Instead of subjecting my nice phone to the elements, I bought a cheap phone that can withstand the weather with ease. The Kyocera Duraforce is the adventurer's phone, and it has been unbreakable.

For just over a hundred bucks, and the addition of all your favorite apps, this is, in my opinion, the best navigation set-up there is. Waterproof, dust-proof, shock-proof, and it really is road-proof. The phone itself can be slow, and the camera is terrible, but that's not what you need it for. For navigation purposes, this phone is perfect.

Of course, you'll need something to keep your phone securely on your motorcycle. I've heard horror stories from fellow riders who have lost their phones due to a crappy phone holder.

So after a bit of trial and error with other products, I bought the Perfect Squeeze, and it has kept my phone sturdily in place over potholes, river crossings, and every Latin American speed bump and every Namibian corrugated road we've been down.

BLUETOOTH HEADSET

Being able to talk to each other while on the road is important, and having music on the road is even more important! We have the ever-so-popular Sena Bluetooth Headsets (SMH10 to be precise), and we love them! Hours on the road have dramatically changed for the better when listening to Jack Johnson, or podcasts and audiobooks. We can communicate with each other, or listen to our own devices separately. In Marisa's case, it is one big epic movie soundtrack as she meanders around the world.

They're not the cheapest part of our setup, but after three years on the road and through the heat, rain, and hail, these Senas still have a long battery life, and are still going strong. Unfortunately, we have had to replace the speakers and the microphone, as the wires leading to them do fray easily after lots of use.

S.O.S. SATELLITE MESSENGER

We have met very few adventure motorcyclists who were serious about traveling and did not have some form of satellite device. These GPS messengers are not used for navigation (we've tried on ours, and it just gives us a straight line like how the crow flies), but are instead used to record your GPS position, send messages to friends and family from anywhere in the world (even from places without cell reception), and most importantly, to send for emergency rescue when needed.

We have the Garmin inReach Explorer+, and we love it. The device has never faltered even in the rain, heat, and cold, and it still has a long battery life. We use it every single day we're on the road to track our location (it sends a ping every 10 minutes), and our plan includes 40 custom messages a month, and unlimited preset messages. The preset messages are perfect for telling our parents each evening that we're safe and settled down for the night. The message also sends out a map detailing our exact location. Needless to say, Marisa's mother loves this device, as it gives her peace of mind.

The Garmin inReach also has an S.O.S. button that you can hit at any time, from any place, and it will send a search and rescue team to you (really just a rescue team since they'll already know your location). They will then bring you to a hospital of your choosing. Now, that's not going to be cheap by any means, and it may put you into debt for the rest of your life, but it might also save your life. Just knowing that button is there makes the journey a little less stressful for us.

One of my favorite things about our Garmin inReach is that it tracks where we go on a digital Google Map. Sometimes I don't even know where we've been that day, so it's great to look back and see all the incredible places we've traveled to, and to draw that line across the map.

Another popular satellite brand is SPOT, which offers cheaper devices that maybe don't do it all, just a few features that you want it to do. For example, if you just want to track your bike, you can get a little GPS device only for that.

CAMERA / VIDEO

Photos

As a middleweight camera, not a DSLR, but not a standard point-and-shoot, the Panasonic Lumix G7 4k Mirrorless Camera has been an amazing piece of hardware that has captured all of the great images that we have taken along the way. I love this camera.

The camera does take video as well (even 4k), and we use it precisely for this sometimes, especially when we want good audio. Paired with a Plug-in Shotgun Microphone, it can professionally capture the sound. We also carry a tripod with us, which has been particularly useful for night shots.

Video

For all our “action" shots, we splurged and bought a GoPro Hero6. It takes amazing footage and is much more reliable than the cheaper $100-range action cameras, two of which we went through before purchasing the GoPro. Plus, it has good stabilization and slow-motion. And the footage it takes is so good, some of our most popular pictures are actually screenshots from a GoPro video! Only thing is, the audio is pretter terrible.

Recently, we splurged again and bought the GoPro Max which is a 360˙ camera. That means it can take spherical footage of everything surrounding it all at once, and will stitch it together for you. On Hero Mode, it also acts as a regular GoPro, but with sound quality that is much better than anything else GoPro has to offer.

DIGITAL STORAGE

To save all our pics and vids, we wanted a solid-state external hard drive that wouldn't get destroyed by all the bumps on the road. It needed to be small, lightweight, and durable. Previously, we had purchased the standard disk drives (not solid-state), and they failed us. You definitely do not want that happening and loosing all of your glorious footage!

So we bought a few Sandisk 1TB Extreme Portable SSD drives, and they've served us flawlessly.

For a smaller, more portable thumb-drive, we each have a Samsung 128 Gig Flash Drive. 128 gigs in something that small is remarkable, and of course, these are indestructible.

We used to have Silicon Power 2T external hard drives, and they died on us within two months! Don't buy those!

EXTRA GIZMOS

Portable Charger

To charge our nicknacks while wild camping, or just while the electricity has gone out (come on, Uganda, get it together), we bought an EasyAcc Portable Charger. It has four USB outlets so we can charge multiple items at once. Yes, these external batteries can be big and heavy, but for any type of off-the-beaten-path camping, or serious international travel, this is a must if you want to be able to use your electronic devices at all times. Plus, this charger actually charges things quickly!

Plug Adapters

If you're just sticking to the US, Canada, and Central America, the US plugs (Type A) will be fine. But once you hit Chile and Argentina, you'll need international plug adapters. Having a European (Type C) plug and a British one (Type G) will get you far, but not everywhere. Mind bogglingly, South Africa decided to have its own unique plug (Type M).

So do your research, and get the right plug adapter for where you're going, because there's nothing worse than spending a long day on the road, crossing a difficult border, and then checking into a hotel that night only to find that you can't plug anything in.

This Ceptics 12Pcs International Set has every single one you'll ever need and is what we use. Ceptic may sound like a crappy brand name, but they have proved to be #1 (not #2)... okay I'll stop with the poo puns...

Extension Cord

At first, this might not seem very important, but there have been countless times that we've gotten to some hotel room, and we really needed to charge our phones but also wanted to check out the map for tomorrow’s drive, or look at the weather forecast, or go through some recent pictures... and of course, the only outlet in the room is way off in the corner where you’d have to sit on the floor to be near it.

This is where an extension cord is invaluable. Even just a 6 foot one does the job nicely for us. We’ve met other travelers on the road who watched us bring out our extension cord, and as if it were made of gold they said, “Ohhh... that’s something we forgot.” It's also nice because it will give you a few extra plugs that you won't need an adapter for.

SOFTWARE

Software is just as important as hardware these days. Here we've given you a list of what programs and apps we use.

Route Planning - iOverlander (works offline, free, possibly the greatest app ever), FreeCampsites.net (great for North America, free)

Navigation - Googe Maps (free, works offline with maps downloaded), OsmAnd+ (free, works offline), Maps.me (free, works offline)

Photograph Editing - Adobe Lightroom (definitely not free), GIMP (for logos and graphics, free)

Video Editing - iMovie (free with Mac products)