As there seemed to be some interest on this topic in the other thread, I thought it would be good for a few more people to air their views, to establish a general concensus on the permitted use (or not) of Global Positioning Systems for Polaris.

So, In the red corner we have the luddites, and in the blue corner we have the techies...

Nothing to do with Mr Ludd - they are no use - take too long to use. Has any past winner used one? Are the controls/checkpoints set out using them? Carry them by all means, the added weight and hassle will slow you down.

Erm yes we do use them to check the controls but I find streetmaps is better for final checks.
My experience is that there are still dicrepancies between the map and a GPS, you are better off with a map and a cycle computer to check off the distances, or should we ban them too? (only joking)
Looks like I could be having some fun on the start line.

In the lakes, I had the gps on my bike and IanB had the map - he hated having to give his new toy to me, but there wasn't the room on his handlebars... It was quite nice actually because we were both able to help out with navigation using complimentary methods, rather than one jsut following the other. The GPS was helpful in one or two locations, but of course the superlight bike and kit that we both had was vastly more helpful and cost a lot more money. If the thing is going to be of any real use you have to spend time after you've planned your route cobbling the checkpoints and waypoints together on the device. So, with pros and cons, it becomes a choice rather than a neccessity.

got me self new toy(gps) got most things working,just 1 thing pissing me off!how or what numbers do you put in the last 2 digits.
i've putting in zero's-but wow no wear near,is it me or wot!!