Ken,

As to brand, I have played with both. The Garmin case feels more secure to me. I know it is submersibly water tight and have had it underwater many times. The garmin was cheaper... You can find it all over for $119 US and often for $99. So it was a little cheaper. It is smaller.

I happen to have gotten my EE in antennas this last year. Everything in the above posts is true about the antenna. The Magellin has a better (and bigger) one. In the woods it is a little easier to use because of that.

I do kayak in the woods. The little Miami river is often no more than 30 feet across and is completely covered by trees. Most people, however, do not find that their kayaking takes them far into the trees.

For the purpose of determining which island you are approaching, either will work just fine. Hold both of them in your hands in a store, read carefully to make sure the magellin is waterproof (because I do not know) then decide...

The GPS comparison sites on the net are very useful. Remember that you are likely looking just for a basic unit which will tell you how far you are from a known spot and how fast you may be moving. (It's nice against the wind to know that you are making 3 mph of progress!) Map features are not going to be particularly useful.

OH, on waterproofness, the Etrex is said to be hermetically sealed, except for its battery compartment. In fact that compartment has incomplete sealing. In spite of that, I have had it sitting in a puddle of water for hours at a time in the middle of my spray skirt with no adverse effect. This has always been in fresh water, and since salt water may allow the current to short circuit across the batteries quicker, pay more attention if in salt water.

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But even more important... whichever GPS you use, spend a little time with internet sources to find out the GPS coordinates of many of the islands you will visit. Pre-load them in your GPS and mark the coordinates on your chart.

Two of the best internet sites for this are:

http://www.topozone.com/

and

http://www.lostoutdoors.com/newmap.html

Happy paddling and planning.

Rick