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Anybody have a Garmin InReach or InReach 2 or similar sat device? Login/Join 
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Picture of ruger357
posted
I'd like for my daughter to have one during her travels. Is that the go to model or is there something better? I hear battery life isn't so good.


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Posts: 8042 | Location: Hoover, AL | Registered: November 06, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Check out hikingguy.com or look up his YouTube channel. This guy is really on top of all the products out there.



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Posts: 2891 | Location: Tucson Sector | Registered: March 25, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
eh-TEE-oh-clez
Picture of Aeteocles
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I have the InReach. Older, but still good.

Yes, it's the go to model.

Battery life should be a non-issue because it's rechargeable. It certainly has enough juice for a day or two at a time. At this point, most people carry a power bank with them when they go camping or travel--people still keep their phones charged to take photos, listen to music, access maps or notes, and people now also recharge their headlamps and flashlights from a power bank.
 
Posts: 13067 | Location: Orange County, California | Registered: May 19, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of signewt
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quote:
Originally posted by signewt:
My son gave me & his brother each a slightly used Mini InReach several years ago. Seemed like a good idea.

I read up on it; watched a bunch of youtubes, got read enthused.

The 2nd time I reached out to Garmin tech service I suffered conflicting unknowns overload. Neither of us actually did get them 'up & running'.

I keep intending to get it functional.
 
Posts: 9879 | Location: sunny Orygun | Registered: September 27, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
blame canada
Picture of AKSuperDually
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I was one of the first resellers for SPOT. It failed me twice, once in 2014 a solar event cause it to fail for 4 days in a row, my family panicked and sent someone several hundred miles to search for me. The next time, I was in a motorcycle accident in NW territories. My riding partner and I both went down at the same time, as did the next 3 riders who came along a while later. 2 SPOT's none worked.

BOTH times, people with inreach were able to keep using them when the SPOT wouldn't work.

Up North, the InReach is definitely the way to go. I purchased one (the explorer+) after that motorcycle accident, and have been using it all across Alaska every since. I believe it's been 6 years, could be 5. I did a 28 day hunting trip with my daughter a few years ago and talked to my wife, near constantly with the InReach. We were about 50 miles or so from the nearest cell tower on that trip. We interacted with a few "full-timers" who lived out there in remote cabins and mine camps, every one of them communicated with a garmin inreach.

Every pilot I know, every commercial fisherman I know...and a bunch of everyday outdoorsmen I know...all trust an inreach. I'm using one right now, communicating with my wife through a combination of Starlink and the inreach.

As for models, I've wanted to check out a mini. I use my phone to interact with the inreach 90% of the time, so the smaller package and longer battery life have an appeal.


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"The trouble with our Liberal friends...is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so." Ronald Reagan, 1964
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Posts: 14008 | Location: On the mouth of the great Kenai River | Registered: June 24, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
No More
Mr. Nice Guy
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I take an InReach with me solo motorcycle camping so that my wife can keep track of me, and when I camp in really out of the way places I can contact help if it should be needed. The website can be used to show position on a map for folks at home to follow along.

While the communication functions have been flawless for me, the onboard gps map function still confounds me. There is a way to go to their website before leaving home and put in a route to follow, or to download a track after coming home. And the route is supposed to be able to be displayed on the little screen. I can't really get all that to work easily and quickly. The bottom line is it is not, for me, an alternative to a navigation unit to guide me to a destination.

Garmin has their own jargon, too. It is its own universe. So it does take some time to learn. Don't just power it up and hit the road the first time.
 
Posts: 9856 | Location: On the mountain off the grid | Registered: February 25, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Network Janitor
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I use a InReach mini 2 when on the motorcycle. Location updates and 2 way have always worked. I also have a Zumo XT and can use that to send messages.

As others stated once on the Garmin platforms they do integrate nicely.

Battery life on the mini 2 seems to be about 3 days if not more. Carry a Sherpa PD100 to keep additional charges when off grid.




A few Sigs and some others
 
Posts: 2224 | Location: Waukesha, WI | Registered: February 04, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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