Garmin For Cold Weather
 

I ride and run in often temperatures of -30C and my Garmins always die. They are good devices as in normal temperatures work really well and keep going for hours. Just in the or anything below -15C they are not good. and need a baby blanket to keep working.

Anyone know of any Garmins that work well in the really COLD weather for a few hours? thanks

I have ridden 10 miles in -20 degrees weather and couldn't imagine going far enough to need a garmin.

Have you tried hooking them up to a charger on the bike? Which device do you have? The problem is they use lipo batteries and anything lipo is going to have run time issues

First off, brr.

Secondly, have you considered putting your device in a pocket, possibly interior, or up a sleeve? Pull it out to start, stop, and look at it, when you need to. I believe the GPS signal will penetrate most (dry) fabrics.

does it die from cold or a low battery?

Most stuff is using lithium-ion batteries that are only going to be good down to around -20°C (-4°F). And the thing you have to be sure not to do is charge them until they get above 0°C (32°F). That can be permanently bad on the battery.

https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/...%20the%20anode.

I can only suggest that if you only need to record your ride, then keep it inside your clothing where it can get some body heat. If you need to actually see data while riding I don't know. Maybe a pocket you can take it in and out of, but external pockets get pretty cold too.

Yup, my ~3 yr old Garmin 520 (that been used and recharged 100's of time) dies much more quickly (<2 hr runtime) in the cold (<30 F) than it does at 70 F (~5 hr runtime). On COLD rides longer than 2 hrs. I need to pack an external battery that goes in a top tube bag mounted behind the stem, and a short usb cable goes to the Garmin when it gets low.

As someone said above, you don't want to charge it when the device is cold. I'm pretty sure you can start charging it at the beginning of the ride and it will be safe for the 520 because all the power will be coming from the external battery. Only problem is a lot of chargers turn off if the load is too low, which it would be at the beginning of the ride.

You could use a Garmin handheld like an Etrex, GPSMAP 64, ect. They use AA batteries and if you use Lithium they work good in the cold. Energizer lithium batteries are rated for -40 to 140 F -40 to 60 C

Another option is to use voice mapping (Google maps) and then put some headphones into your ears

Alternatively run it off external power like a battery bank heldd in your pocket or even better a dynamo