InReach Battery Life

[morphiend]

How long are folks getting on a charge with their InReach? I seem to be only able to get about 2.5 days on a charge. That seems low to me.

[Tron]

Depends on what is running on the unit. Tracking and such all use more battery.

[Bear Chaser]

Lots of texting definitely runs the battery down faster. I found the battery didn't last as long as I'd like either.

[Useyourfeet]

I have the older unit that runs lithium aa's and pairs to my phone. I have been using it for work and play and the batteries are still going 3 weeks later.

[Stormy]

4 - 5 days is about normal for our group - we don't text every 5 minutes though

[BCbillies]

I don't use tracking ever . . . got down to about 60% at the end of a 15 day sheep hunt with a decent amount of texting.

[SaintSix]

Just got back from 2 a week trip. we don't use tracking and we manually check for messages. I also turn down the brightness. we generally only turn it on in the AM pre hunt and after the sunsets to send messages, after 2 weeks we came back with 65% battery.. so I would look at turning down brightness, manual check and tracking, what ever you can skimp on out of those will increase your battery life.

[todbartell]

I don't use tracking ever . . . got down to about 60% at the end of a 15 day sheep hunt with a decent amount of texting.

x 2 I only turn mine on when I am sending or expecting to receive a message

[morphiend]

I have it set to manual check for messages and don't track with it. I've got the britghtness down as low as it goes. Though I do leave the Bluetooth on to send message through my phone. I'll turn that off and see if it improves.

[island6]

Leaving the Bluetooth on will kill the battery much faster.

[Backwoods]

I've gone on two 10 day sheep hunts and came home with 50% battery life, I shut it off when not needed to mark way points or text the ol lady once in morn and at night for her piece of mind, turn the brightness way down, I used my Bluetooth also but just turn on quick and shut it down, I've never actually just left it on, haven't felt I've needed too. Get the weather updates also on the explore

[RiverOtter]

While Bluetooth may very well use more battery, it greatly reduces the time spent creating a message.
2 weeks for an InReach is not a problem.

[swampthing]

I only turn mine on when I want to send a message. Charge it twice a year, whether it needs it or not

[Cordillera]

agree with all the points on saving life; I just came back from 13 days and never used 50%. We messaged each other twice a day.

You can also buy a small battery cube to recharge in the field. I would bring one so that if you accidentally leave it on and it runs down, you can recharge for emergency use.

[Murder]

I still don't understand why they went with a rechargeable proprietary battery for the explorer model. That very feature pushed me into the original inreach that takes aa's. I always have spares and several years down the road do not need to worry about a expensive replacement battery

Mike

[AgSilver]

I still don't understand why they went with a rechargeable proprietary battery for the explorer model. That very feature pushed me into the original inreach that takes aa's. I always have spares and several years down the road do not need to worry about a expensive replacement battery

Mike

Pick up a solar powered battery backup...I got a 10,000 mAh from Amazon for $30. I could recharge the inReach several times from that on a full charge, plus it recharges in daylight. Neverending power!

I started a track on Sunday night, sent several messages per day, paired with BT running all day, and left it running straight through and on Tuesday midday it was at 25%...even grabbed two weather updates in there. So I got a good two days of heavy use out of mine. But I could see knocking it down to two weeks pretty easily.

[RiverOtter]

I still don't understand why they went with a rechargeable proprietary battery for the explorer model. That very feature pushed me into the original inreach that takes aa's. I always have spares and several years down the road do not need to worry about a expensive replacement battery

Mike
Going with the original IR paints you into a corner with your phone battery. I balked at the built in battery as well, originally, but it is a non issue with a few modifications to the setup; screen brightness, sound level, track off, manual message check and power down when not actively using it.

At any rate, the built in battery is far superior to a pair of AA's and if you require more, a small battery pack to recharge is a good option.