InReach Satellite communicator

[RapscallionVermilion]

Some of the places we hunt in New Mexico can easily be well over an hour to the nearest phone or cell service by car before even getting off the forest roads. Being gone for several days without communication always causes anxiety at home, and there is the ever real possibility of someone getting seriously hurt in these remote locations. So this year I bought a Garmin InReach Explorer+ and have been testing it out. Very pleased so far. Setting it up and getting it activated was easier than I had anticipated. It has a regular phone number like a cell phone for receiving text messages so my family, my hunting buddy, and his wife all have this number stored on their cell phones now. It has a GEOS SOS button underneath a special cover for true emergencies to initiate communication with rescue. Pairing it to my cell phone through bluetooth (Earthmate app) makes it much simpler to type messages (160 character max). Messages automatically include a link the recipient can follow to show my map location along with latitude and longitude. You are allowed three preset messages ("Got here safely", "Coming home now", "All is well, but these Merriam's sure are wary " , ...) that you can edit prior to a trip and don't cost anything against your monthly allotment and can go to as many people as you like, either through cell phone numbers or email addresses. Tracking points 10 minutes or more apart can be automatically uploaded to a personal web page through garmin.com at no extra cost and friends and family (can be password protected) can know your location even if you don't send a text message. You can also store multiple quick messages through the online interface that you sync to the InReach. These count against your allotment the same as regular messages but can be set up ahead of time for quick sending later by just picking from a list on the InReach. I'm using the Freedom plan which is $25 for the annual fee, then $35/month, minimum one month at a time at your choosing, and 40 regular messages per month, 50 cents per message after that. So not cheap, but the peace of mind and possibly longer remote hunting trips seem worth it to me. The Explorer model is also a fully functioning GPS with stored topo maps. I haven't had it out long enough to comment on battery lifetime, but I plan to pick up an inexpensive USB battery pack. There was some discussion of these on here recently so I thought I would share my impressions so far.

[hobbes]

Thanks for the review. I've considered these for elk season. I've got some questions. You said 1 month at a time. Does that mean I can do the $25 annual then just pay $70 for say August and September then shut down the rest of the year? Do I have to call in or get online at the end of September and shut down service to stop them from charging October or will I set that up to automatically shut off service? Is it per calendar month or 30 days from payment?

[RapscallionVermilion]

I set it up to automatically renew unless I go online and suspend. I don’t know yet how frequently I have to do that. But it also looks like you can prepay a set amount. It is any 30 days, not tied to the calendar. I will use mine April and May, then July while fishing in Colorado, and most likely off the rest of the year unless I draw for big game. Yes, you only pay for the 30 day blocks you want.
I don’t know yet if you can do 45 days and then suspend.

[GLS]

I have been building Amazon points to buy one of these units. The Inreach Plus is only slightly more expensive than the SE model, but with the added feature of your texts sending maps to text recipients. While it can GPS navigate, this is not its forte. Being able to summon help and communicate with others is its strength at a cost far cheaper than a voice satellite phone. I hunt turkey and woodcock in some areas where there is no cell phone reception. The peace of mind it affords outweighs the costs. Gil
PS: it is my understanding that cell phone folks can't initiate a communication; it takes the unit to make the first text, then a dialogue between parties can take place. Is my understanding correct? Gil

[RapscallionVermilion]

I have been building Amazon points to buy one of these units. The Inreach Plus is only slightly more expensive than the SE model, but with the added feature of your texts sending maps to text recipients. While it can GPS navigate, this is not its forte. Being able to summon help and communicate with others is its strength at a cost far cheaper than a voice satellite phone. I hunt turkey and woodcock in some areas where there is no cell phone reception. The peace of mind it affords outweighs the costs. Gil
PS: it is my understanding that cell phone folks can't initiate a communication; it takes the unit to make the first text, then a dialogue between parties can take place. Is my understanding correct? Gil

Gil, yes, the SMS numbers do float, but I don't know yet how long they stay tied to a specific dialog. My plan is to send out a fresh free message to my list at the start of a trip. In another week or so, I will have someone reply to one of my first messages and see what happens. Anyone can send messages to you from the outside without you contacting them first through your Mapshare page if you allow for that when you set it up.

[Hoobilly]

That’s a must have Could save a life or to allow others to contact you in case of emergencies at home.

[Mscomm]

There are alternative data plans for all InReach devices provided by protegear.com

They give you a dedicated email address for 2 way communication, safety features, dead mans switch, additional statistics (incl AGL and more) and more.

https://www.protegear.de/english/dataplans-for-inreach/

[Spurhunter]

Very useful information, thanks for sharing.