Sat phones, Inreach or spot Pros and cons

[Hunt247]

Just wondering what others experiences with these units are. I personally used a spot while on a sheep hunt and it seemed to work good other then you don't really know if the person on the other end is getting the Were Ok message. I have never had to use it to call for help.

A friend of mine has a In reach and he used it last fall to send me messages it seemed to work really well but communicating by text can be confusing sometimes and if the last message someone sent before the power in the unit died it might not be s good thing.

In my buddies situation his wife was a having a panic attack because she didn't hear from him in a day and a half. This was probably more her problem then than the units fault.

Sat phones seem to be the ultimate way to go but obviously the most expensive way to go. I have little experience with them but would like to hear others thoughts.

[Bear Chaser]

Spots been flawless for me in the areas we have travelled. I am considering an InReach. I would really prefer if they came with replaceable AA batteries like the Spots.

[604ksmith]

I had a Spot for 2 years and was satisfied with the service, however I know it failed to send messages. Maybe 5-10% of the time, which doesn't sound like a lot, but I primarily hunt alone and my family live far away and worriers.

In the last year I've now switched to an InReach Explorer and think it is quite superior. Not only have I had 100% success with my messages so far (I'm sure it will fail eventually, but at least I'll know), but getting return messages offer peace of mind that outweigh the higher cost of the unit. Beyond messages, the InReach is really useful as a GPS (primary or backup GPS) and when paired with your smartphone (iPhone 6 for me) the maps look great and are much easier to use than my Garmin's of past.

I have no experience with Sat phones, although I hear they have a tendency to drop calls as well.

In an emergency situation I would much prefer to be able to press one button and send an auto-saved quick text message to multiple contacts that also provides my GPS coordinates and map than try to call and explain my situation to whoever it is I'm contacting.

[Wagonmaster]

I bought an InReach SE this past September. Used it for hunting season only turning it on for short periods of time while texting and receiving replies. Also had it on from time to time to practice using the various functions. Didn't use the tracking function as there is no need for people at home to follow my every movement. Never had a problem connecting with the satellites. When synced to an iPhone, it is the same as normal texting. I fully charged it when I bought it and it is still at 80%.

[RiverOtter]

Get a device that run the Iridium satellite system, Global Star sucks.

Not up to speed on satellite phones, but I do know it takes more/better signal strength to talk than text. If a text experiences a delay, it'll go out as soon as it gets enough service. Voice will be a dropped call.

Regardless, 2-way communication is priceless in an emergency.

Me and the guys I hunt/hike with have had great service with our In-Reach SE's, but research for yourself and decide what suits you best.

[RiverOtter]

Should add, when I first looked into the SE's I was disappointed that they didn't accept AA's, but after using it on a sheep hunt for 2 weeks without a charge, 40% battery remaining, I have no complaints with the built in lithium battery.

Set it up with the screen dimmed down, cookie crumb bullchit turned off and powering on as needed and manually checking for messages and your battery with easily outlast your trip.

[Bear Brawler]

I have had great results with my Inreach SE. On my sheep hunts and other remote hunts it lets me text my daughter every morning and every night to let her I know I'm doing fine. I email my parents every night because my mom thinks I'm going to get eaten out in the bush. Keeps me in contact with my employees at work and I've needed that once to keep a job from going sideways. Being able to email back and forth is awesome. I love my InReach, goes with me everywhere I go where I'll be out of cell service. One of my strongest pieces of equipment IMO.

[swampthing]

I have a company supplied inreach. I have sent a couple text messages with it but mainly just carry it for emergencies as I mainly hunt alone. It can take up to a half hour to transmit/recieve a message and is slow to type into. You also have to identify yourself to who you send a message to as it doesn't show your phone number but rather a different number each time you use it. When I hunt I really don't want to be in contact with the rest of the world. I never send "ok" messages. Its great piece of mind to have in the pack though.

[boxhitch]

In reach uses Iridium , and SPOT uses Global network , which is better than it used to be for sat phones, but I still hear complaints of SPOTS not getting out ? Never had trouble with mine last summer.

Just looking into running a SPOT Connect with a tablet for all-in-one comms, and gps and maps , and GEOS rescue. looks good so far.

[todbartell]

Inreach SE , battery will last a month if you use it only for a few minutes a day

[Bear Chaser]

Anybody actually turn on their InReach and leave it in track mode all day everyday? How long does the battery last?

The reason I do this with my Spot is to calm the nervous nellies at home. It also really narrows down the search area if maps showing your progress up until you disappeared can be provided to SAR. When in track mode I've been able to look at my hunts travels when I get home and found them very accurate comparing times and dates with locations.

[nazarow]

I've had the Inreach SE for the last year and I couldn't be happier with it. Battery lasts as long as the others have mentioned above if you don't have it on all the time.

[RiverOtter]

Not sure what tracking all day would do, as you can have it send every 15 minutes, which is ridiculous IMO. I'd be more inclined to send a mid day message, as coordinates are attached to text/email.

I assume you're thinking if you don't show when expected, but didn't send an SOS, your family would have a start point for searchers?

[Ry151]

I've had global star sat phones for 15 years. They have gotten better over the last few years but still consistently drop calls and some times take quite awhile to connect to satellites which sucks for conserving battery power. The customer service is on par for probably the worst ever!! Also the rates continue to rise with out warning.
Spot has worked pretty good for me over the last 5-6 years but like others say the one way com is limited which is why most people think tracking cookies are important so if you did go missing and your "check in's" aren't recieved then family has a place to start looking. I just ordered a inreach se and it will be replacing my sat phone and spot so we'll see how that turns out. The main reason is the cost of both and frustration dealing with global star but also the company I work for is sent out many times a year on rescues, when its a spot sos there are no details and rescuers go in blind where the inreach we have many details on the problem and they can go in prepared.

[RiverOtter]

Good explanation Ry, hadn't really considered why the Spot guys like the cookies so much.

Much to be said for having 100% confirmation via typed response.

[Buck]

Love my inreach explorer no missed calls yet

[ElectricDyck]

Had both, spot works excellent, in reach has problems with messages to cell phones..still is superior to have 2 way communication while lighter and cheaper than a sat phone..

[Bubba123]

Had a spot...never worked properly, no matter how many chance I gave it. After my 2 year subscription was over, I bought an Inreach SE, and haven't looked back. It works as intended, every time.

[Stresd]

Replaced my spot with an Inreach SE and would never ever go back to a spot. The Inreach Se is an Excellent piece of equipment. I use mine in bluetooth mode to an old Android S2 i have which allows me to text and e-mail from my phone through the Inreach. On longer pack in hunts I carry a small 50,000 mha battery bank. Will recharge my Inreach Se or phone about 35 times. As I posted a link in another thread the battery banks are the size of the inreach and can be had for less than $20 bucks out of Hong Kong.

[444marlin]

I had a 1st generation SPOT for a few years. It was OK. Many Check OK messages never made in to my home computer.
When I started to do more remote hunts with my son I decided I wanted to talk directly with the pilot or home.
Therefore I bought an Iridium. Expensive-yes, but worth it to me.

[dbergen69]

I use the Inreach SE and really like the 2 way messaging. Now that Garmin has bought Delorme I am hoping to see some nice gps/communication devices.

[Hunt247]

Ya a combo unit would be great

[RambleOn]

I started using the GPS InReach this year. Have only used for text back and forth. I tend to leave it on. Battery is great but would always carry a power pack or two. They are cheap and small and can provide a top up when needed for longer hunts. Never used spot but have had frustrations with sat phones.

[Ovis17]

Very happy with my Inreach SE.

[375shooter]

I've been using a Globalstar sat phone for the past couple of years. I haven't made very many calls, but of the ones I did, I don't recall any of them being dropped. I have noticed that the reception can be bad at times, though. I use it with my netbook to connect to the internet to check aviation weather for winds aloft, and for environment Canada weather, for flight planning. It doesn't always get a satellite signal right away. Sometimes have to wait 5 or 10 minutes. Will check out iridium system sometime.

[Hunt247]

Anyone use the spot global phone?