I've not personally been on any calls triggered by an inReach, as I'm still very new to the team, but talking to my teammates on the local SAR team, they seem to have a positive view of the IERCC, which is Garmin's response center, in terms of the information provided and responsiveness while mounting a rescue, which is also reflected in most of them carrying inReaches themselves when on personal trips.Originally Posted by Dog Guy
This has been great information and discussion, thanks guys!
Just to put my personal situation into context…
The use case here in the short term is for my wife, not me. She will be camping in our Rv out of cell range, so previously she has driving into town to basically send me an “I’m fine” text. If, for $10/month and $400 up front, she doesn’t have to make that drive, then great. Also knowing that if there is a problem she can hit a panic button is good as well. So I don’t think we need any sort of tracking etc, since she isn’t really moving around and with this device in hand will be doing even LESS moving around! She *may* do some light hiking in the area but again it strikes me that an “I’m right here now and I need help” is of use while a “here’s all the places I have been” isn’t necessarily helpful in that moment.
Eventually it’ll be a “nice to have” for both of us together and her and our kids in future trips, but the above is the immediate need.
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Bumping this to hopefully get a "current state of" discussion going.
my recent abandonment in the woods on faulty snowmobile was one of the highlights of my adult life (in retrospect) but had both machines broken down it could have been more serious with the entire family involved.
Trying to figure out the thing that's short of "buy sat phone", if possible.
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Thanks for bringing this back up. I bought one on Black Friday but haven’t done anything with it, but I’m hoping to get some camping/fishing trips in soon, and I’m planning a summer trip to Colorado
I have a Garmin Inreach Mini that I bought in preparation for an extended solo camping trip last year. Never had to use the SOS feature, but the two-way texting via Bluetooth connection with my cell was easy and welcomed by the wife.
Depends on how pressing the matter is. If you're willing to wait, satellite connectivity using standard smartphones is coming, likely within a year or two; T-Mobile's current roadmap is to have text connectivity via StarLink by the end of the year, with voice and data rolling out in the next few. AT&T has similar plans on the books, though at a somewhat slower rollout.
Some further reading of smartphone/satellite integration:
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...mobile-phones/
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...phone-service/
https://spectrum.ieee.org/satellite-cellphone-starlink
Otherwise, the old standbys still are quite viable, whether it be satellite communicators like a SPOT, inReach, ZOLEO, Bivy Stick, etc., or the more classic PLBs, and can still provide redundancy. Beyond that, depending on where you are, ham radio can also provide an excellent way of communication, depending on repeater coverage and how deep you want to get into other features such as APRS.
re: waiting-
Looks like we may have spring break too late next year for snowmobiling so for that particular activity I may be ok waiting on the phone tech.
re: standbys-
we have an inReach Mini that we can re-activate any time. it's a bit tedious from what I recall but I suppose in a stranding situation you don't really have anything else to do anyway so what's the hurry.
re: mini texting via bluetooth-
what prompted all of this was a reversal for us, wife camping remotely and me back home worrying. so I've never been on the inreach side of the comms. she reported being annoyed by the whole thing but there may be more going on there...
Overall sounds like maybe "sit tight, keep what you have" would be the best approach.
I need to brush up on the InReach Mini. If I were going out on a snowmobile tomorrow it's what I'd activate and take but I confess that I have no idea how to actually work it at this point, nor who I would text in the situation we were in two weeks ago.
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I'm using the mini, and keep the subscription running all year long. The delay to start/stop the service is acceptable when going on planned trips, but not in the case of natural disaster. Where I am, we're always at the mercy of earthquake/tsunami/hurricane/flash flooding. Heck, I went to Japan last month, and we had a 5.3 magnitude earthquake shake the hotel pretty good. I did have the mini with me.
Preprogramming messages and squaring up your contact list is the bare minimum as far as setting it up. As is doing some testing to see how good connection is with regards to overhead cover, and weather.
I do wish I bought the bigger unit that would make texting from the device easier. It's kind of a pain with just the up/down keys and the simple display, and I imagine pretty difficult if you're injured, or in the extreme cold. I keep it in my car pack, along with a battery pack, and a weatherproof handheld HAM radio.
The Garmin Earthmate app is one of the best parts of the in reach product.
Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.
Pistol-Forum coming through again for me. I have been wanting to do more solo hiking for fun and conditioning purposes, but my wife has been a little concerned about it (we have some amazing trails in my area but it can be very remote). She normally goes with me on the weekends but I have a more flexible work schedule now and would like to take advantage of it this summer. I was just beginning to look into these devices when this thread was bumped.
Is the Inreach Mini 2 still the way to go until smartphone connectivity becomes a thing? ~$400 shipped to me via Amazon by tomorrow seems a great option with an affordable subscription. Are there better devices available by now? Just curious what you guys would buy today if it were you.
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