Garmin inReach - new toy not a toy

[Basil]

Last year, in early Sept, my wife and I visited Goblin Valley State Park in Utah for a weekend camping trip. I’ve gone there myself solo to do photography. The thing about Goblin State Park is, there is absolutely zero cell phone coverage. The last time I was there alone, I had to drive 15 miles towards Hanksville, UT to even start to get a signal just to let my wife know I had arrived and was ok.

While we were there this last time, we saw a missing person poster at the visitor's center for a man, Howard Stone (64), who had gone missing while solo hiking in one of the nearby slot canyons. Last I checked they never did find him despite a massive man hunt at the time.

Ever since then I’d been thinking about all the times I’ve been hiking in areas with no cell coverage. What would I do if I found myself out there in an emergency situation with no way to contact help? That’s why I decided to purchase a Garmin inReach Mini 2 Satellite / GPS communication device.

This is one of those things that I may only use occasionally to let my family know I’ve arrived at a location or to check in occasionally to let them know I’m ok, etc., but if I ever find myself in an emergency situation, it will be reassuring to have this device - just in case.

 

[NutmegCT]

Congrats on its arrival!

I know zip about those devices, and I had no idea the inReach could send a message via satellite to a cell phone, altho' from a video on its use, it seems it might takes minutes to hours to get a confirmation that your message was delivered. Certainly better than being stuck between two rocks and having no way to let people know what's happening!

Glad to hear you finally have it!

TM

 

[Basil]

Congrats on its arrival!

I know zip about those devices, and I had no idea the inReach could send a message via satellite to a cell phone, altho' from a video on its use, it seems it might takes minutes to hours to get a confirmation that your message was delivered. Certainly better than being stuck between two rocks and having no way to let people know what's happening!

Glad to hear you finally have it!

TM

I have tested it with a friend and, so far he has been able to receive and reply very quickly. The device itself doesn't give you any indication (confirmation) that the end recipient has received the message unless they reply to you. However, it does give an indication that the message has been successfully sent through the satellite and to the Garmin servers. That, so far, in my limited testing seems to happen within 2 or 3 seconds. I've sent some test messages to a friend and he confirmed that he has received them within a few seconds. Of course in the testing, I have had a clear view of the sky. Depending or where you are and how much "cover" there is, I can see where it could conceivably take sometime to acquire a satellite. This device would probably struggle if you were deep in the rain forrest.

PS: One of the cool features is, when you send a message, the text or email the recipient gets will have a link that, when they click it, will take them to a map that shows your exact location.

 

[Gliderman8]

Do you think it prudent to carry a spare battery?

 

[Basil]

The device has a communications app you can install on the iPhone (or other smart phone) which makes sending messages more like using a standard text message app. Here is one of the tests I sent to my friend, Mike. Not that it shows the exactly location from where I sent the message (in the Costco parking lot). You can even tell what parking space I was in.

Do you think it prudent to carry a spare battery?

It's not a battery you can change, but I could carry a power pack to recharge it if I was going to be out for an extended period.