Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Anybody ever rent and use a sat phone?

The Chicoms will have electrocution fences around their towers.

Surveyors Exchange in Anchorage is where I go when I need a Satellite phone on remote trips. As mentioned before they’re not as “easy” as a cell phone but they worked great enough. Called home to check on the family and let them know we were still alive and it came in handy for some hunters that found us out of desperation. They had a caribou down and their flight service refused to come get them. Lent them our sat phone while they cursed the bastards at Moose Pass and then arranged our flight service to come get them. They’d been eating their caribou for several days and were down to having to hike out of the bush, which they figured would take a couple weeks. We shared some whiskey with them and they shared some caribou with us. They got out safe and sound and we flew out during the same break in the weather.

I wouldn’t go in the bush without a way to communicate with the outside world. I worry about my loved ones too much and since worry doesn’t jive with relaxation a satellite phone is cheap insurance.

I think between the rental and the number of minutes used it was $125 for the week or 10 days we had it.

Just got to get of their buddies to go first. Then they'll steal the fencing.

Rented one from the outfitter when the wife and I took an extended trip into the wilds of the Boundary Waters. If I had gone alone I would have passed but the wife is a worrier and having the phone relieved her stress. We called the kids a couple of time to tell them all was well. I can't really remember the cost but I remember thinking it was pricey, especially the minutes.

I rent one every year. I've rented from both Surveyors exchange and the Satellite phone store here in Anchorage. This year I think it cost me $99 for 8 days with 30 minutes prepaid. Well worth the cost if you ever need it.

That sounds like the “deal” I got, with 30 minutes prepaid. If anything, the price of that technology is “cheaper” than it was just 10 years ago.

I’d opt for more minutes than you think you’ll need because we had several dropped calls and bad reception at times. The dropped calls and poor reception could usually be blamed on the weather but it could be hit or miss even in clear skies and no overhead obstructions. I eventually figured out that the valley we were in was enough to obstruct the satellite link.....sometimes.

If I remember correctly the satellite companies compute the time of a call a little differently so be aware that the time spent talking isn’t all you pay for. Ultimately it’s not a big difference (usually) and it’s definitely money well spent in case of an emergency and it’s good piece of mind for you and your loved ones.

I would also rent the best one available and the rental company can answer your questions that pertain to the area or region that you plan to use it in.

If you go overseas, check local laws. I know someone who was detained in India for having an Iridium sat phone.

Have rented them several times.

Nice to talk to yer squeeze and sometimes they are handy to get meat hauled when you don't want 2 moose in the boats.

And there are emergencies ...as for towers.....well there is a reason they are called " Sat" phones.

Says you- where you are! I rented one out of Fairbanks for a week when my adult son and I went to the remote cabin without my wife (she worries) and it was in excess of $100/week no prepaid? - 3 or 4 years ago. Never used it. Was for emergencies only. Would have been handy the year before when I blew the clutch 120 miles out of Fairbanks, with no cell phone service. Road crew at the bottom of the hill had one, tho. and kept my boat secure for 5 days...

Pretty complicated to use in an emergency, I won't rent another. I've been dealing with the Bush for 50 years- one day it might catch me out, but fuggit. My kids are grown and my wife is competent.

My friend Seth Kantner In Kotzebue owns one, but discourages anyone to call him on it unless vital. Expensive! He prefers to use it only on outgoing calls, sparingly. The one time I thought I might need to call him when he was 200 miles away upriver and the furnace went out (he was my landlord), I checked the padlock on the furnace room door - locked. But I had a bolt cutter available , and then found the "reset" button.

"Good call" he said.....

Good insurance at 30 below if chit goes south, and you don't have a bolt cutter.

Missed a Wyoming Elk hunt in 16 with a tibial plateau fracture. One friend rented a sat phone, it was needed. Another friend had his atv come over and land on him. 18 rib breaks, ruptured spleen and broken arm. Had to be evacuated by chopper and flown to a hospital in Idaho. Doc said another 15-20 minutes he would have bleed out. Cheap insurance!

If yer gonna be stupid, anal, or paranoid, carry a sat phone. Yeah, I know - chit happens, even if none of the previous applies...and then your ass is saved. It really is a good idea.

I hunt solo a lot. Probably gonna catch me up one day....

I'll be in good company- Hugh Glass, etc.- not that I'm in their class.

But I'm lucky. So far.

I have not used one. I went with ham radio instead. I carry a handheld and bounce off the huge number of radio repeater stations in this part of the country.

I used one in Afghanistan in 2003. The company I was working for supplied it. Other than it worked, I couldn't tell you anything about it. Only drawback was I had to stay up late to call the US.

Same here. But we are all lucky until we aren't...

I hope when my time is done I'm in the wilderness and having the time of my life. (And leave me there for mother nature to consume). I've been on many an adventure without means of communication and lived to tell the tales. Had things gone south, well, see the first sentence of this paragraph.

My recommendation is for one of the InReach products. One of my hunting partners has an older Delorme model. I recently purchased a Garmin Mini. Used primarily for communicating with flight service provider on Kodiak/Afognak. Nice tool for communication with family to give them peace of mind, and serve to summon emergency services if needed.

When I die- if I'm lucky- God is going to need a helicopter to find me.

I'm pretty sure I'm not that lucky...

I rented one a few years running when traveling to a cabin in the bush. Had a wife and little kids. Leave them in the summer with cows, calves etc. So I felt pretty bad not being there, day in and day out. We rented a sat phone and it worked well.

It had the capability to send and receive text messages and it had voicemail so I would turn on the phone at a set time every evening. Could see any messages, if there were any. Talked to the wife and crew a few times over the week. Like many others, paid for a week's rent and prepaid for a set number of minutes.

I have switched to the Garmin inReach. The outfit I rented out of was in Florida maybe. They shipped me the phone and it had a prepaid return label to ship the phone back to them.

Worked great overall. One time we were in the float plane pulling away from the dock and realized we forgot the phone in the cabin. that would've been an expensive mistake.

I’ve owned an Iridium phone for over 20 years.

Lotsa places in AK cell phones don’t work. Particularly the places I love.


Glad to have it in case shtf on a remote hunt.

Thankfully it’s never been used for such.

But being gone up to 6 weeks, nice to check in at home.

Be prepared to lose satellite strength during a call & having to call back.

I keep my in a 1150 pelican box w 2 extra batteries 2 for talking, 1 reserved for shtf

Have never used up both talking batteries on a trip.

Was talking to my dad on a fogged in sheep hunt, while talking to him a sub legal ram walked up to see what that noise was I guess

. (life in the bush "nugget". )

Love them. Used an epirb for many years also but sat phone is nice comfort to communicate your needs. They sign off wh3n the satellite goes by but you can reconnect quickly.100 a week or less is usual price.