I bought one last year to pacify my family regarding my solo trips and their need to know where to send the mounties to retrieve my 60+ yo bones
My experience with the Inreach has been very good. No issues or complaints. I have used it under deep cover and through the upper Pasayten which is more open generally. Tracking has been flawless for me. I pair mine to an Android for messaging. My practice has been to set the tracking interval to every 2 hours (the interval choices range from 10 minutes to 4 hours) and then send an end of day message that all was well and leave the device and phone on for an hour in case someone wanted to reply back. With that configuration I have successfully made it for 5 days on the same set of lithium batteries. I do carry a spare set of batteries just in case. With the phone in airplane mode that also made it for 5 days without needing a recharge. All sent messages were successfully transmitted and the ones coming back were successfully received. The extra weight of all this hardware is a bit annoying but my 5 day pack weight is still under 20#s so not really a problem.
I also carry the ACR ResqLink PLB since I owned it before I bought the Inreach and it doesn't weigh much. In a critical emergency I would probably activate the PLB just to be on the safe side.
The monthly Inreach service charges are not the cheapest but the family peace of mind and pacification makes them acceptable to me.
Thanks for the balanced review. I take reviews with a grain of salt if they are too hyped or too critical. I am planning on getting a Galaxy 3S smartphone before this summer and was also thinking of pairing it with the InReach. This post helps in my decision.
Apart from the potential safety factor there is the related entertainment value to the Inreach. Not for you but for some of the parties you put on your notification list. Some of mine get the biggest kick out of clicking on the link and seeing where I am on a topo map. And then switching the map to Google Earth format and zooming in seems to be really interesting for them.
The biggest benefit for me is that my wife doesn't question some of my gear purchases so much anymore since my trips are now adding to her amusement and entertainment
THanks, TrailDad. I just got the InReach for Christmas to help my family feel better about my trips, too, especially since I drag my kids all over Creation. Haven't finished setting it up yet, but I like the interface and it looks easy enough that my kids could activate it if something happened to me (they could probably figure out all the texting stuff, too...) Good to know you haven't had any problems with it.
Thank you all for your replies! Traildad, the details of your response were really helpful!! In reading reviews from other sites we have now seen lots of detailed positive experience with these devices. It's great to hear from NW Hikers too!!! Thanks!!!
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