Garmin In Reach

Bokerfork

Active Member
Joined
Jul 15, 2019
Messages
106
Location
Saint George, Utah
I love to explore but need some peace of mind.

I ride solo most of the time and often leave home with only a vague notion of where I'm going and/or the conditions I expect to run into. The other day I "researched" a road from Enterprise, Utah to Motoqua, Utah via Slaughter Creek. Looked very doable on Google Earth. Started out from Enterprise Reservoir heading for the aforementioned Slaughter Creek. Reached that easily enough and in fact passed the occasional ATV along the way. Feeling this was a well traveled road and not worrying about much of anything, I pressed on. Mind you, I had told the wife roughly where I was going and she knew from past experience approximately when I would return. With a full tank of gas and plenty of water I pressed on. My usual policy is to never go down anything I can't come back through.

All's well until I find myself going down a reasonably steep incline with unreasonably rough terrain. The incline suddenly increases as well as the crappiness of the terrain. No big deal going down but.... can I get back up this if I have to?

Cut to the chase, 2 hours later I arrive in Motoqua not much worse for the wear but having gone through several more incidences of "can I reverse course if I have to.

Most of this time was spent with zero cell coverage.

So, my question is this, Garmin In Reach with the ability to link to my smart phone for map coverage? Or, what other safety device would you recommend for the solo adventurerer/dumbass? I like the idea of Garmin being able to link to my larger screen phone for detail but not sure if anyone has first hand experience. I should add that I currently use a Garmin Marine GPS with local maps but find the screen too small for good detail.

Any help, preferrably with first hand experience would help. I'm not interested in just a GPS device as much as one with the SOS feature.
 

Checkswrecks

Ungenear to broked stuff
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11,489
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Damascus, MD
I have the Mini and it works great as advertised. Love that it fits in a pocket and yes it works when out of cell coverage. Like that I can turn off the bills if not using it for a while.
 

moto.monk

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Joined
Aug 19, 2019
Messages
1,090
Location
los angeles
Had an in reach explorer and took a dump on day 2 of riding main land Mexico. The device was outdated even though it was new. I will never own another Garmin device. Did hear great things about the sos beacon. I had a spot sos but returned it the same day after reading the bad reviews Amazon.
 
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Mak10

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Joined
Aug 20, 2018
Messages
2,567
Location
SE Idaho
Watching. Cell phone service in Utah is spotty at best. I’m in the same situation.
 

magic

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Jul 6, 2015
Messages
743
Location
WISCONSIN
I've been using a SPOT GEN 3 for several years now. I spend a lot of time in Michigan's upper peninsula riding by myself. The cell phone coverage is not very good at all there. I check in usually twice a day. My wife and son get my programmed message (I'm OK) on their cell phones and Emails showing my location. I have not used the SOS or Help feature yet. Overall I am pretty happy with it. You have to buy a subscription for their services, about $200/year. SPOT GEN 3 is about $100.
 

patrickg450

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Joined
Jun 20, 2012
Messages
2,069
Location
Memphis TN
I have the Mini and it works great as advertised. Love that it fits in a pocket and yes it works when out of cell coverage. Like that I can turn off the bills if not using it for a while.

Garmin is so much better than the SPOT devices........never again will I use SPOT. Uncle Bob is the EXPERT on this topic.
 

Checkswrecks

Ungenear to broked stuff
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I've been in a lot of places where the SPOT let me down, both in the US and foreign. It's fine for light duty where things may never get critical, such as day hikes with friends or with others riding in areas that are not in deep hills or tree cover. Riding alone where I may go off an edge in the woods, I never felt comfortable.

So far my biggest tissue with the Inreach Mini has been battery life and I have a small single lithium cell booster battery that I can take along if concerned.

btw - I always carry the SPOT or Inreach in the chest pocket of my riding jacket or shoulder of my PFD, so it stays with me if I'm hurt and separated from the bike or kayak.
20180803_130842.jpg
 

magic

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Joined
Jul 6, 2015
Messages
743
Location
WISCONSIN
I bought my SPOT GEN3 in 2016 for my trip to Deadhorse. Every time I sent a message it was received. I have used it in Alaska, Canada, Michigan, Minnesota and all over Wisconsin without any issues. I borrowed it to my niece to use while hiking on the Appalachian trail. A couple of her messages were not received because of heavy tree cover. Once she figured that out it worked fine.
 

patrickg450

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Joined
Jun 20, 2012
Messages
2,069
Location
Memphis TN
I've been in a lot of places where the SPOT let me down, both in the US and foreign. It's fine for light duty where things may never get critical, such as day hikes with friends or with others riding in areas that are not in deep hills or tree cover. Riding alone where I may go off an edge in the woods, I never felt comfortable.

So far my biggest tissue with the Inreach Mini has been battery life and I have a small single lithium cell booster battery that I can take along if concerned.

btw - I always carry the SPOT or Inreach in the chest pocket of my riding jacket or shoulder of my PFD, so it stays with me if I'm hurt and separated from the bike or kayak.
View attachment 69981

told you he was the expert....


I bought my SPOT GEN3 in 2016 for my trip to Deadhorse. Every time I sent a message it was received. I have used it in Alaska, Canada, Michigan, Minnesota and all over Wisconsin without any issues. I borrowed it to my niece to use while hiking on the Appalachian trail. A couple of her messages were not received because of heavy tree cover. Once she figured that out it worked fine.

Paulie and I were riding side by side (for the most part) to Tuk in 2018. On more than one occasion we would stop and check in together. Our wife's would compare points, they were diff and came in at diff times......

I know someone is going to talk about all the "X" factors.......it happened too many times, like at night when we stopped top camp.
 

SkunkWorks

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Joined
Sep 13, 2018
Messages
1,733
Location
Colorado
I had the Garmin Inreach Explorer+ with me for my whole trip to Montana/Wyoming.
While riding, I carried it in my upper inside breast pocket. While at Camp it was either in the Camper or in the Jeep.
It tracked just fine in heavy tree cover, and even inside the Jeep.
There was no cell-service in the valley where the Campground was, but I could send and receive messages to/from my wife from inside the Camper as well as inside the Jeep.
Battery life is pretty good. It will last about 4-5 days while tracking is on constant.

Here is the link to my Mapshare tracking. If you zoom-in on all the different areas, you can see everywhere we went.

https://share.garmin.com/AlansCurrentLocation
 

jeckyll

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Joined
May 11, 2016
Messages
651
Location
Lotusland
I found that steep mountains and tree cover will definitely delay the InReach. The messages go eventually, but in steep canyons I do not expect to always have coverage.

As has been suggested above, I also carry mine where I can reach it easily, should I need to, without digging through pockets.
 

patrickg450

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2012
Messages
2,069
Location
Memphis TN
I had the Garmin Inreach Explorer+ with me for my whole trip to Montana/Wyoming.
While riding, I carried it in my upper inside breast pocket. While at Camp it was either in the Camper or in the Jeep.
It tracked just fine in heavy tree cover, and even inside the Jeep.
There was no cell-service in the valley where the Campground was, but I could send and receive messages to/from my wife from inside the Camper as well as inside the Jeep.
Battery life is pretty good. It will last about 4-5 days while tracking is on constant.

Here is the link to my Mapshare tracking. If you zoom-in on all the different areas, you can see everywhere we went.

https://share.garmin.com/AlansCurrentLocation

you live 2 blocks form my brother, he is on the E Brown Drive
 

SHUMBA

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2018
Messages
1,242
Location
ONTARIO, CANADA
I love to explore but need some peace of mind.

I ride solo most of the time and often leave home with only a vague notion of where I'm going and/or the conditions I expect to run into. The other day I "researched" a road from Enterprise, Utah to Motoqua, Utah via Slaughter Creek. Looked very doable on Google Earth. Started out from Enterprise Reservoir heading for the aforementioned Slaughter Creek. Reached that easily enough and in fact passed the occasional ATV along the way. Feeling this was a well traveled road and not worrying about much of anything, I pressed on. Mind you, I had told the wife roughly where I was going and she knew from past experience approximately when I would return. With a full tank of gas and plenty of water I pressed on. My usual policy is to never go down anything I can't come back through.

All's well until I find myself going down a reasonably steep incline with unreasonably rough terrain. The incline suddenly increases as well as the crappiness of the terrain. No big deal going down but.... can I get back up this if I have to?

Cut to the chase, 2 hours later I arrive in Motoqua not much worse for the wear but having gone through several more incidences of "can I reverse course if I have to.

Most of this time was spent with zero cell coverage.

So, my question is this, Garmin In Reach with the ability to link to my smart phone for map coverage? Or, what other safety device would you recommend for the solo adventurerer/dumbass? I like the idea of Garmin being able to link to my larger screen phone for detail but not sure if anyone has first hand experience. I should add that I currently use a Garmin Marine GPS with local maps but find the screen too small for good detail.

Any help, preferrably with first hand experience would help. I'm not interested in just a GPS device as much as one with the SOS feature.
Hmmmm...how about riding with a buddy, cause if y'all had a bad hair day and fall, broken leg or whatever, whatchagonnadountiltheycomeforyou.
Like they say, never swim alone.
SHUMBA

Sent from my SM-A520W using Tapatalk
 

EricV

Riding, farkling, riding...
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@Bokerfork - For peace of mind, don't go riding on Shivwits land past signs that warn that only Natives are allowed. Never mind the polygamists and that hazard in the other direction. I know you've seen the signs on Old 91 and Gunlock-Veyo Rd. :rolleyes:

Spot worked well in UT for me when I lived in Ivins. In Reach may have a better network, I have no experience with them. Nothing works great in deep canyons and under heavy cover.
 

Bokerfork

Active Member
Joined
Jul 15, 2019
Messages
106
Location
Saint George, Utah
Polygamists good, Shivwits bad. Good to know.

I've seen a lot of signs but my favorite was out in Modena. There's a big polygamist settlement out there. The sign on the fence read simply, "If you can read this, you're within range."

And Shumba. Riding with a buddy is preferred but a lot of the time my rides are spur of the moment. Most of the time they're fairly short and tame. I know that anything can happen at any time, but I'd rather ride alone than not ride at all.

Thanks to all for your responses. With tracking and an SOS feature, the wife (and I) will feel much more comfortable going forward.
 

Skytower

Active Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2020
Messages
172
Location
Norfolk, VA
I picked up a Garmin Montana 700i. I wanted a backup to my cell for navigation, as well as an SOS/messaging function. So far, I'm happy with it. It works under medium/heavy tree cover, surrounded by hills. Haven't had to use the SOS, but the messaging and weather work, although slowly.
 
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