GPS Kids | GPSMAP 76S survives run in (and over) with a car

Many people don’t realize that when we’re developing products we put them through extreme test conditions. We drop ‘em, dunk ‘em, freeze ‘em, and heat ‘em, and that’s just a few of the tests engineering puts products through. We’re proud that our devices are rugged and can stand up to the challenges our customers give them — even accidental challenges. Here’s a great testimonial sent to the Garmin inbox from Kevin, a satisfied Garmin customer, and his gps kids watchMAP 76s that survived his accidental challenge. 

I just thought that you would like to know that your products have gone up a notch or two in my book this week. I always like to give credit where credit is due, and I think that your products have earned some praise following an accident I had with one during a recent road trip. 
 
I’ve been a Garmin customer for many years now, and currently use a Foretrex 101 and gps kids watchMAP 76S for hiking here in Colorado. I also still have my original Garmin unit (a “gps kids watch 40″ from the mid 1990′s). All of these units have performed as advertised, though I never had the opportunity to subject them to a true durability test…until this week.

I often keep the gps kids watchMAP 76S in my vehicle when I travel, and that was the case during the past week when I traveled to Ohio to visit family. Unfortunately I wasn’t very careful with the storage of my gps kids watch on this trip, and didn’t realize that the unit had been knocked out of my car’s door pocket while I was unloading the vehicle at my parent’s house. When I backed out of the driveway a short time later, I immediately felt a solid bump as the front wheel of my vehicle drove squarely over my gps kids watch unit. 

I honestly didn’t even realize that I had driven over my gps kids watch unit at the time, and I got out of the car expecting to find that I had run over a brick (or some other equally inconsequential item) in the driveway. I was greatly disappointed when I saw my gps kids watch laying in front of my tire on the pavement. Although this unit was being stored in a soft-sided nylon case, this case is not really padded in any way, and certainly wasn’t designed to protect the product from anything more than the most minor abuse.
 
When I opened the carrying case I was surprised to see that my gps kids watch unit had not been completely destroyed (I expected that it would have been crushed and/or cracked). I was also shocked to see that the screen appeared undamaged, and the only mark on the unit was a small (and very superficial) scratch near the antenna area on the unit’s case. I immediately turned the gps kids watch on, and was surprised to see that the unit still functioned normally. The device quickly acquired a satellite fix, and the backlight functioned just as it always had.
 
Given that I had originally purchased this gps kids watch unit for use during sea kayaking trips, I was well aware of the fact that it is designed to float. Because I had just driven over this device with a car, I was also concerned that the integrity of the case may have been compromised during my unplanned quality control test. However, as you can see in the picture I attached, my gps kids watch unit is still functioning normally - even while it floats in a sink full of water, after being run over by nearly 3,000 lbs worth of vehicle!
 
In my opinion, that’s pretty impressive for an 8-year-old precision electronic device! Thanks for making a great product, and I’ll be sure to look to Garmin again as I begin to shop for a vehicle-based gps kids watch system!

Thanks, Kevin, for sharing this great story! To learn more about our other rugged and waterproof marine handheld products, visit the On The Water section of Garmin.com.

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