Hiking distance inaccuracy

[PyaG]

 I love my Fitbit Ionic, but one problem has me baffled. I do quite a bit of hiking and the recorded distances are always off considerably. Yesterday I did a hike in the Smokey Mountains in NC and it recorded 14.3 miles however the correct distance was 11.2 miles. A couple of things to bear in mind, I do not know if they are relevant. I usually hike mountain trails, yesterday was 3122 feet of climbing up and then down, so I'm taking very small steps. Also it is always accurate when I ride my bike and records HR etc. just fine...

I have started taking my bike Garmin with me as it always records distances accurately, I cannot rely on my Ionic..Any ideas suggestions ??

Moderator edit: Clarified subject

[LanuzaFitbit]

Welcome to the Forums @PyaG. That sounds bothersome. 

I will be moving this thread to the Ionic board as I think it is better suited for it.

It is possible that the trees, or a cloudy sky, could interrupt the GPS connection and cause issues like this. Maybe it even confuses the Fitbit and makes it think that you have moved much more than you did. If the Fitbit lost connection and then regain it, it might just fill in the blanks on its own and that could lead to the discrepancy. 

Let me know if this might not be it or if you have any other questions.

[jwebb72]

Are you using GPS to track distance on hikes?

[PyaG]

Yes

[jwebb72]

As strange as it sounds, when in hike/walk/run GPS mode, the Ionic uses steps/stride length/GPS to calculate distance using some weird algorithm. Custom service will deny this but it can be verified by doing a GPS run exercise in a moving car...doesn't record distance without steps and doing a GPS run exercise by just running in place....records distance but at a much lesser distance than calculated steps/stride length. Accurate for me for running and walking, I haven't tried it for hiking. Bike GPS on the Ionic just uses the GPS for distance and for that reason some people just use that for run/walk/hike.

[PyaG · Accepted solution]

Hey, thank you for your input. I figured that it had to be something to do with stride length as when I walk in the local park at normal stride the distance records accurately.

It never occured to me to set the ionic to bike mode when hiking, but that makes complete sense and what I will do on the future.

I truly appreciate your help, thanks again....High on a mountain top in Tennessee

[LanuzaFitbit]

Hello @PyaG and @jwebb72.

@jwebb72 Thanks for coming in to help and share your knowledge on the matter.

@PyaG That is a great picture, thanks for sharing it. Please do keep us posted on how it goes.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

[SweetMustelid]

So, "run" is a literally useless app? 

[SweetMustelid]

My question is: what is the purpose of the Run app if it is not accurate and users should instead use an app called "bike" for running?