Any of you guys regularly use a personal satellite messenger such as Garmin Explorer etc. I'm needing to get something and looking for feedback
I've had a Garmin Inreach for about a year its a great rig. I'm in the back country a lot alone, my wife bought it for me. The text anywhere function was the big sell to let her know I'm not ded and of course its nice to have the panic button to send for the professionals is something real bad happens. As a gps... meh, its ok but the screens pretty small, definitely useful though. I've got an app for my phone that gives me way better sat images and it can mark way points and plot so I use that and keep the Inreach in my pack.
I use a delorme inreach and text on it quite frequently Dennis.
Text me with any questions or give me a ring....
InReach is the only way to go IMo
InReach is the only way to go IMo
This is what I've heard from more than a couple individuals.
Dennis,
I bought a Zoleo for my CO bowhunt (lot's of elk, no shot opportunities). I bought it because I have 3 small kids and wanted to be reachable for my wife's sanity and for my peace of mind. I'm pretty high strung about my kids and if I can contact my wife to make sure they're OK then I can enjoy my time.
My buddy had the InReach Mini. I liked the InReach due to the features and the accessibility of it, but the Zoleo was great as a simple messenger. The Zoleo had great reception, great battery life, and was easy to use. It didn't take me long to set up and was cheaper than the InReach Mini. I have OnX on my phone and a GPS unit, so I didn't feel the need for the InReach Mini's GPS capability.
It's just a messenger. But, it does that very well.
I would leave my phone off and when I saw the message indicator light up, would check the phone as needed. That helped me save battery. You can set the check message interval to continuous, 12, 24, and 60 minute, or manual intervals. At night I would set the interval to 60 min, and when I woke up I would set it to 12 or 24 min. I got to 67% battery after 4 days of use, never turning it off. It had a better battery life than my iPhone which I was babying.
It allows you to turn off the sound notifications and the LED light brightness via the app, but you have to do it through the app. You also adjust the message check intervals through the app.
The app is easy to use and set-up was easy.
Reception was pretty impressive, too. Unless I was in thick timber, I could get reception in the cargo pocket of my pants. In timber I would have to take it out and have it at least facing up to get a full 3 bars.
If I wanted to consolidate and use the messenger as my GPS and messaging system, I'd do the InReach. But for just messaging, the Zoleo was perfectly fine.
A friend of mine had a life threatening fall in Moab. He was doing astro photography so he was in a extremely low light area. He wanted something out of his truck and started walking back to it and did not trace his entry path to his truck. Basically walked off a 30' ledge. He was awake enough to activate his Garmin InReach. He remembers the S&R team headlights standing over him. He knew he was dead if the rescue teams could not find him. Shattered his femur, tore his acl and looks like he took a few turns in a cement mixer.
I bought a Zoleo today. I have 4 Garmins already and the explorer isn't as very good GPS unit. I have OnX and Gaia so i wanted messenger and the SOS functions only
I have a DeLorme Inreach SE. I got it before Garmin bought out DeLorme and doubled the price. It works just like the new ones. It's a real PIA trying to type out a message on it. It can be linked to a cell phone so you can do your typing on that which is much easier. I haven't tried it yet, though. Has anyone here done that who can tell us how well it works?
Over Labor Day I took a scout troop on a llama pack trip. We were able to use the Inreach to keep a contact at home posted about how things were going. Parents like to know those things.
RC,
My buddy was using his phone (InReach mini), as was I (Zoleo), to send messages via our respective messengers. I can't speak for how easy his was to set up, but neither one of us had an issue using it. Just put it on airplane mode and enable bluetooth and it's simple.