Forum Index > Gear Talk > InReach Fail? - The Roaming Dials
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Jaberwock
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PostSat Sep 16, 2017 7:50 am 
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awilsondc
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PostSat Sep 16, 2017 11:22 am 
Well that sucks. It's one thing to have your headlamp turn on in your pack when the button gets pressed against other gear in your pack, but to have the SOS get triggered despite the SOS being in the lock position well... that is unacceptable. I usually have the power off on my unit which is an older model so I'm not sure if it'll have the same problem, but good to know!

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Seventy2002
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PostSat Sep 16, 2017 12:28 pm 
Was the lock designed to prevent most accidental activations while permitting a panicked user to summon aid when they don't have the manual dexterity or presence of mind to disengage it?

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HitTheTrail
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PostSat Sep 16, 2017 5:12 pm 
Was the unit powered on or off at the time it triggered the SOS? In other words, did the pressure power the unit on and trigger the SOS?

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thename
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PostSat Sep 16, 2017 8:52 pm 
Terrifying. Had to test my SE+; the new cap over the button system seems to have solved this horrifying bug.

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canadug
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PostSat Sep 16, 2017 11:08 pm 
Wow! That is totally unacceptable. What is the point of a 'lock button' when it does not work. They should pay for the rescue and notify every SINGLE InReach user. I will test mine tomorrow. You should post this to their Facebook page, twitter, etc........That seems to be the only way to really get a company's attention these days.

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HitTheTrail
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PostSun Sep 17, 2017 7:33 am 
I just tested my older InReach SE model. The unit was powered off and the SOS button was in the locked position. I pressed the SOS button as hard as I could and eventually the unit turned on and initiated an SOS signal. It then gave me 20 seconds to delete the SOS call as indicated in the above video. So what the OP is saying is correct, you can override the SOS lock by a continuous pressure on the SOS button. I had to press so hard and so long I don't think it could happen accidentally in my pack so I am not that worried about that. In fact I almost think it could be a safety feature if you are incapacitated and need to get out a quick SOS with a single action. Your mileage may vary.

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Frango
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PostWed Sep 20, 2017 8:59 pm 
I just tested mine - Delorme (not Garmin) InReach SE. IF the lock button is fully clicked over, I can't push the sos button long or hard enough to activate it. Now having said that, I DID discover that it is easy to think the button is locked when it isn't really - it really has to click into place...a good check because mine wasn't actually locked I found out doing this!

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evergreen199
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PostWed Sep 20, 2017 9:23 pm 
I just tested mine as well - also an older InReach SE, Delorme not Garmin, and had the same experience as Frango: the SOS does not activate for me even with significant pressure for a long time as long as the lock button is really locked (not just pushed visibly to the lock position, but actually clicked in).

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Damian
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PostWed Sep 20, 2017 9:33 pm 
Yep. This happened a couple weeks ago to a good friend of GranolaGirl who was hiking in the Olympics. Rescue was inwork but was aborted when the authorities got through to another party member who also had an InReach. Much chaos and stress was experienced by the family and friends. This stuff is very bad press for an otherwise great product. I always keep a piece of tape over the switch on mine. But looks like that's insufficient.

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shoutdiggity
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PostThu Sep 21, 2017 9:22 pm 
Hey all, this is Nathan, the unlucky guy who had to watch a rescue helicopter landing in Russia and the author of the email Roman was nice enough to post. HitTheTrail and awilsondc: The inReach was powered off at the time an SOS was triggered. The pressure--which on my particular unit does not have to be strong--turns on the unit and triggers the SOS in one fell swoop. Another inReach I've personally tested required a bit more pressure to trigger the SOS though it still did, and finally, I was not able to trigger an SOS from a 3rd unit I tested. These were all the yellow inReach SE model. Since I became vocal online about the issue, many people have reported this same spectrum of results from pushing the SOS button with the power off and the lock switch clicked into place. Pretty poor design if you ask me. canadug: my sentiments exactly. It was really disturbing to me that Delorme did not even bother to address my request that they contact subscribers. Damian: any chance you might be able to get me the contact info for the "good friend of GranolaGirl"? I agree that this is an otherwise great product, but really think they need some bad press to realize the human ramifications of this design flaw. Thanks all for you posts and discussions and Jaberwock for sharing! I'll update this thread if I get any more info. I'm planning on emailing Garmin one more time and including the information shared from other users to let them know this is not an issue only affecting me, but one that affects many of us in the outdoors community.

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jdk610
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PostFri Sep 22, 2017 5:32 pm 
Jeff, they have fixed it on the current (Garmin) model.

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DIYSteve
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PostFri Sep 22, 2017 6:29 pm 
Jeff, I wouldn't make a purchase decision based on this very rare occurrence. It's never been a problem for me. There are easy ways to pack an inReach SE such that there's no chance of the SOS button getting inadvertently pushed at all, certainly not for 5-10 seconds.

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Malachai Constant
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PostFri Sep 22, 2017 6:36 pm 
I have had amSE for the last three years. In that time I have carried it on three 20+ day section hikes and dozens of day and backpacks with absolutely no problems. In almost all cases it was either in an upper or waist belt pocket with other electronics. After seeing this post here and on FB I tried to duplicate the problem without success. Either my unit is immune or I am too much of a wimp to press it hard enough. Go figure.

"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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DIYSteve
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PostSat Sep 23, 2017 10:29 am 
I just tried it on 4 y.o. inReach SE, held the SOS button down for a full 10 seconds, SOS did not activate

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