Bushnell V4 Shift Rangefinder/Garmin G8 GPS/Garmin S6 watch

ian-500 · December 14, 2017

I have these 3 coming in to test and the winner gets a spot in the bag. In your opinion, which will I find the most useful?

ian-500 · December 16, 2017

Anyone with some input?

puresurfr · December 16, 2017

I just bought a Garmin S60 and love it....i keep a X2 tour rangefinder in the cart but i rarely reach for it, i guess cause I'm lazy. The G8 is a good one if you ride a cart and have a cart mount but i find it too much work otherwise, glancing at a watch makes the most sense to me ! But if you are serious about your yardages being spot on, the V4 will be the most helpful

ian-500 · December 17, 2017

I just bought a Garmin S60 and love it....i keep a X2 tour rangefinder in the cart but i rarely reach for it, i guess cause I'm lazy. The G8 is a good one if you ride a cart and have a cart mount but i find it too much work otherwise, glancing at a watch makes the most sense to me ! But if you are serious about your yardages being spot on, the V4 will be the most helpful

Thanks.

I've always thought I may prefer using the G8 rather than the other two, as I don't like wearing a watch (ever) and I may get tired of unzipping the rangefinder cover to get the V4 out when needed, but........your experience is the opposite. Interesting. Bring on the testing over xmas/new year.

puresurfr · December 17, 2017

I just bought a Garmin S60 and love it....i keep a X2 tour rangefinder in the cart but i rarely reach for it, i guess cause I'm lazy. The G8 is a good one if you ride a cart and have a cart mount but i find it too much work otherwise, glancing at a watch makes the most sense to me ! But if you are serious about your yardages being spot on, the V4 will be the most helpful

Thanks.
I've always thought I may prefer using the G8 rather than the other two, as I don't like wearing a watch (ever) and I may get tired of unzipping the rangefinder cover to get the V4 out when needed, but........your experience is the opposite. Interesting. Bring on the testing over xmas/new year.

When first wore the watch, it was a S2 and then i switched to a S6 and now the s60. In the beginning the watch was super annoying but now when forget my watch i still on reflex glance at my wrist.

DDG61 · December 17, 2017

I have these 3 coming in to test and the winner gets a spot in the bag. In your opinion, which will I find the most useful?

If your a “details” guy my money is on the V4. Nothing allows the options of a rangefinder.

Maybe control is a better word than options...

Green Valley · December 31, 2017

Shout out to the Garmin S60 users, have you played a course where they did not have your course uploaded on the watch?

cristphoto · December 31, 2017

I have the regular V4 laser and it works great. Fast to lock on any target, accurate, and small enough to easily fit in my pocket during a round. This avoids the inconvenience of putting it back in the case after each reading. I used it all this past year and am still using the original battery.

Sean2 · December 31, 2017

I have a Leupold GX-3i2. I went with Leupold because I heard very good things about their customer service. The first one I had went kaput after three years. I sent it back to Leupold to get it fixed, and they sent me back the latest model at no charge. I have read iffy things about Bushnell's customer service.

I wouldn't mind trying a watch GPS, but I need glasses to read and am not sure I would be able to read the variety of information a watch GPS would provide without my glasses.

North Butte · January 12, 2018

Ask yourself this. Which is more important to you. Knowing the distance to the flag? Or knowing the distance to various other features on the course (middle of green, hazards, etc.)?

If you most often want to know all those other distance or you want to see where you are on a map of the hole then you need a GPS. The choice between watch and handheld is the choice between convenience vs. maximum information access. But none of them will give you the distance to the hole.

If you most often want to know the distance to the flag (and maybe occasionally the distance to a bunker lip or other high-profile feature) then the laser is the way to go. But it won't show you a map and it won't let you plot your way around hazards.

If the answer is "both" then you need to carry both.

B.D.O’C · March 3, 2018

I had the S6 for a few seasons but just unloaded... accurate, but battery life wasn't the best... switching over to a rangefinder... thinking about picking up a V4 Patriot Pack

Pearson10M · March 3, 2018

Sold my Bushnell V3, looking to sell my Garmin G6 handheld, getting a Garmin S20. Hardly overused the Bushnell as i found it time consuming. Drive/Walk to ball, get laser out, laser distance, put laser away, select club, hit, repeat until on green. My G6 was good initially, great view of the total hole, but I always forgot to pull it out of my pocket or when I did, since it was a touch screen, had to reload the screen as it often switched or turn it back on. When I had mounted to my push cart, always forgot to remove it.

I wear a watch, so no issue there. A quick flick of the wrist and I always know what the distance to the hole is and the watch gives me distances to the hazards. Don't need color, lay up info or hole shape, as most score cards have some or all of that info.

If you got the S60 watch, instead of the S6, I'd say the S60, but my guess is you'll end up liking the G8. I think you may be disappointed with the S6 compared to the G8.