https://www.rei.com/product/140110/garmin-inreach-mini-2-way-satellite-communicator?CAWELAID=120217890005027528&s_kwcid=PS_Google%7C401_4256284%7CREI_DSA%7CNB%7Cbdcc5d51-88ac-42d3-a5a4-42312e0072a1%7Caud-153254652760:dsa-192211715525&kclid=bdcc5d51-88ac-42d3-a5a4-42312e0072a1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwm6HaBRCbARIsAFDNK-gMWXWrqNu05gSQjWIYMzgRFj_O3T7VL7SSR8y0__4K0ttyk9qRTC4aAh_iEALw_wcB
Picked up a Mini on the most basic plan and tested it around home and in the Canadian Rockies for most of two weeks where there was no cell service.
I love the size. It's small enough to attach to the shoulder strap of a kayak life vest or backpack strap and not be a nuisance. Mine is black and fairly inconspicuous when on a shoulder strap. In my Klim jacket when riding the bike, it disappears into the chest pocket and feels less bulky than the SPOT3 did even though they are close in dimensions. Because it bluetooths to the bigger screen on my phone, the little screen on the Mini is not the limiting factor that the Garmin Oregon or one of their watches were. While it is supposed to turn itself off when not moving for a while, I turned it off when we weren't moving in the evenings and the battery had plenty of charge after every couple of days when I would recharge it. I am sure it's waterproof, but the worst we had was lots of heavy rain. The charge port cover is rock solid and not always coming off like the one on the SPOT.
I typically record my tracks for the bike, hiking, and paddling on the Android phone with OSMand+, which works great off-line. The Mini uses the Earthmate app for mapping and after downloading area maps to the phone before heading out, the Mini hooked up bluetooth to the phone without issues. OSMand+ uses a lot of phone battery so put the phone in airplane mode to save battery while the Mini buffers the track and when ready BT them together to get the points into Earthmate. Walking and long paddles are typically no more than 3.5 to 4 mph, so worst case with the 10 minute intervals has been about a half mile between hits. On the bike, the interval between hits could be as much as 10 miles at 60 mph. If I've not reported in and the family wants to find me, that is not as good as I'd like but close enough for a search to be pretty quick. If I'm not unconscious and push the SOS button the location will be exactly where I need help.
I set up some texts and they worked when tested, but other than "starting out" and "end of day" to family, those aren't something I'm going to use much.
I do head out alone regularly, so do want a locator of some type. SPOT wanted $240 this year and using the Mini at the most basic rate, the cost to me is a toss-up when compared to the SPOT plan. Yes, there is a difference, but not enough for one or the other to stand out so to me the cost was not decisive. I do like that I can suspend the Garmin service. My other half has an REI membership and buying through them meant getting 10% back on the purchase in REI bucks.
So why'd I switch from the SPOT3?
The first real reason was SPOT's business and billing BS. I've wanted to ditch them from the start, because it was an annual game of getting a big automated billing increase every year that you can't get out of, wasting time on the phone to get passed to a supervisor, tell them I insisted on leaving due to the cost increase, then getting the bill cut. When I really did try to quit a couple of months ago, they argued that it wasn't yet subscription renewal time and I couldn't have a refund for unused service. It wasn't far off till my credit card would expire so I let it. Suddenly, I was getting daily emails and even two phone calls offering to reduce the rate if I would give them the updated credit card number. F-that! That's no way to run a business and keep your customers.
Second was that regardless of what the SPOT coverage map shows, I've had the device not connect in the US, Canada, and Africa. That's a fatal flaw right there for Globalstar, which SPOT uses. We use Iridium sat-phones for work and I've never ever had problems connecting with that service, which is what the Garmin is on. I have no doubt that if I push the panic button on the Mini, somebody will get the signal and I was never totally comfortable about that with the SPOT.
Picked up a Mini on the most basic plan and tested it around home and in the Canadian Rockies for most of two weeks where there was no cell service.
I love the size. It's small enough to attach to the shoulder strap of a kayak life vest or backpack strap and not be a nuisance. Mine is black and fairly inconspicuous when on a shoulder strap. In my Klim jacket when riding the bike, it disappears into the chest pocket and feels less bulky than the SPOT3 did even though they are close in dimensions. Because it bluetooths to the bigger screen on my phone, the little screen on the Mini is not the limiting factor that the Garmin Oregon or one of their watches were. While it is supposed to turn itself off when not moving for a while, I turned it off when we weren't moving in the evenings and the battery had plenty of charge after every couple of days when I would recharge it. I am sure it's waterproof, but the worst we had was lots of heavy rain. The charge port cover is rock solid and not always coming off like the one on the SPOT.
I typically record my tracks for the bike, hiking, and paddling on the Android phone with OSMand+, which works great off-line. The Mini uses the Earthmate app for mapping and after downloading area maps to the phone before heading out, the Mini hooked up bluetooth to the phone without issues. OSMand+ uses a lot of phone battery so put the phone in airplane mode to save battery while the Mini buffers the track and when ready BT them together to get the points into Earthmate. Walking and long paddles are typically no more than 3.5 to 4 mph, so worst case with the 10 minute intervals has been about a half mile between hits. On the bike, the interval between hits could be as much as 10 miles at 60 mph. If I've not reported in and the family wants to find me, that is not as good as I'd like but close enough for a search to be pretty quick. If I'm not unconscious and push the SOS button the location will be exactly where I need help.
I set up some texts and they worked when tested, but other than "starting out" and "end of day" to family, those aren't something I'm going to use much.
I do head out alone regularly, so do want a locator of some type. SPOT wanted $240 this year and using the Mini at the most basic rate, the cost to me is a toss-up when compared to the SPOT plan. Yes, there is a difference, but not enough for one or the other to stand out so to me the cost was not decisive. I do like that I can suspend the Garmin service. My other half has an REI membership and buying through them meant getting 10% back on the purchase in REI bucks.
So why'd I switch from the SPOT3?
The first real reason was SPOT's business and billing BS. I've wanted to ditch them from the start, because it was an annual game of getting a big automated billing increase every year that you can't get out of, wasting time on the phone to get passed to a supervisor, tell them I insisted on leaving due to the cost increase, then getting the bill cut. When I really did try to quit a couple of months ago, they argued that it wasn't yet subscription renewal time and I couldn't have a refund for unused service. It wasn't far off till my credit card would expire so I let it. Suddenly, I was getting daily emails and even two phone calls offering to reduce the rate if I would give them the updated credit card number. F-that! That's no way to run a business and keep your customers.
Second was that regardless of what the SPOT coverage map shows, I've had the device not connect in the US, Canada, and Africa. That's a fatal flaw right there for Globalstar, which SPOT uses. We use Iridium sat-phones for work and I've never ever had problems connecting with that service, which is what the Garmin is on. I have no doubt that if I push the panic button on the Mini, somebody will get the signal and I was never totally comfortable about that with the SPOT.
