Garmin RV 895 GPS – Our First GPS in 8 Years
I have to admit that I haven’t used a dedicated GPS system such as a Garmin in the last 8 years of RV travel. I’ll share a little of the backstory as to why. I traveled thousands of road mile during my professional telecom days. I always embrace technology and saw dedicated GPS systems as a great addition to my travel making it easier to arrive at my destination without fighting paper maps along the way. But I got frustrated trying to use in our RV travels with bad routing. I was contacted by TechnoRV and asked why our iLoveRVlife channel had no GPS Navigation systems. I explained our past experience as to why they were ditched. They stated much had changed over the last 8 years and suggest we try the Garmin RV 895 GPS. I was sent a unit to try and to my surprise, it works very well. But there’s more to share.
Why I Gave Up on GPS Navigation Systems
The complaint I had (as well with many others) with GPS navigation systems is they may send me along a route that may not always be the best – such as sketchy neighborhoods, dirt roads, or weird roundabout routes. Not wanting to give up using a dedicate GPS navigation system, I tried several manufacturers and models during the first 2 years of our RV travel. I was constantly frustrated with routes wanting to take us off the Interstate into busy city streets and worse, bad routes on the last several miles as we traveled to campgrounds in rural areas.
Traveling with a long 5th wheel pulled by an F-350 dually Super Duty, getting in tight spots, narrow roads, or worse a road not conducive for big rig RVs was not only frustrating, but dangerous. Looking at maps before we travel, the fix was to alter the suggested route by setting way points to force the GPS to create routes around problem areas. Garmin had a piece of software for a PC to aid in changing routes, but it was cumbersome and very difficult to use. So after 2 years of fighting the navigation systems, I threw them in a drawer and used paper maps for the details and a smart phone general routing.
Positive Features of the Garmin RV 895 GPS
In 8 years, much has changed with these dedicated GPS navigation systems, and that held true for the Garmin RV 895. First impression was the large 8 inch touch screen and easy to access apps and routing features. There was a number of accessories included for mounting to the windshield and a ball mount for systems such as Bulletproof. The magnetic connection for the mount made it easy to store the unit after travel. The 12V DC power cable was long enough to move the unit to any dash location. Below is a short list of features we’ve found useful for our RV travels.
Garmin RV 895 GPS Features and Apps
- 8” touch navigation screen
- Custom RV routing to meet the dimensions of our truck and 5th wheel combination
- Road warnings
- Real time speed limits and speed limit warnings
- Railroad warning notification
- Real time route overview
- Real time traffic information
- Campground locations
- Trendy places to visit
- Local spots at each exit
- Integrates with Garmin Dash Cam to record eye witness proof.
- Garmin Drive Smartphone App – Providing live traffic information, weather, and more.
Using the Garmin RV 895 GPS
Before I placed the unit in the truck it only took a few minutes to set the unit up to match our travel configuration and create our first route. Our first route took us south on Interstate I-75 to the Daytona Beach, FL area. We’ve traveled this route often and wanted to see if the Garmin RV 895 would offer the best options for road selection. The route was perfect and more so it suggested the I-295 bypass vs taking I-10 through downtown Jacksonville to I-95 which isn’t very friendly for RVs.
Our next trip took us from Daytona through Georgia, South Carolina to the mountains at Bryson City, NC. Again the Garmin 895 RV provided a very good route to follow except for the last mile to the campground. We verified the last mile of the route with Google Maps and it provided the same road. Calling the campground in advance we were warned not to follow the last mile directions and they gave us an alternative to use which proved to be more conducive for our large 5th wheel.
We have continued to use the Garmin 895 as we travel and over all the experience has been positive. We took the steps to create a route to bypass Atlanta and use nothing but state roads. This took time, more so learning the features to create way points to force the GPS away from the suggested shortest drive using Interstate roads. We found it much easier to make these route changes using the GPS touch screen and not relying on a cumbersome external software app. I’m confident this process will shorten as we become more familiar with the various apps.
The Garmin Drive Smartphone App was an added welcomed benefit. Using the app allowed the Garmin RV 895 GPS to connect to our smart phone via Bluetooth and use cellular WiFi for app data. We were able to get real time traffic and weather information.
Conclusion
Overall, we found using the Garmin RV 895 GPS for our travels to be a positive experience. Something to remember with RV route planning and the use of any technology. A GPS navigation systems, its software, and the algorithms to used create routes may not always work in the best interest in the way we travel. It’s still up to us, the operator of the moving vehicle to verify what is best and safest routes to take. A GPS in just one of the tools to use and routes are merely a suggestion.
We are still in the process of learning all the apps and will become more confident in their use over the next several months. We also have plans to install a Garmin Dash Cam 57 in our F-350 and look forward to integrating its functions with the GPS. We’ll provide an update on our use within the next 6 months as we continue to use in our RV travels.
Out thanks to TechnoRV for providing the Garmin RV 895 GPS for our evaluation. We have provided helpful links below the video if you are interested in purchasing this GPS for your RV travels.

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