Johnny Bravo
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 15, 2022
- Messages
- 1,367
Title says it all, $150 off at many places right now if you were on the fence.
Garmin inReach mini 2 on sale, $150 off
- Thread starter Johnny Bravo
- Start date
Khunter
Well-known member
Or the free satellite texting via Verizon and TMobile is killing the inreach market. I know after 25 days hunting the only use my inreach got was pulling weather reports when in years PST i used to always use the unlimited Inreach data plan to maintain communications all fall. Not this year, just kept inreach on the cheap safety plan.
Is the satellite texting good enough that you feel comfortable relying on it? I just got a phone with the capability to do sat texting and I feel that it doesn't perform all that great. It's slow to send a single sentence message, and it only seems to work in open spots without too much terrain and trees above me. I'd be fearful using that as my only sos tool.
Khunter
Well-known member
I have had inreach for years and absolutely keep it on me even woith new phone sat texting. In a 20+ recent days of hunting I used iphone sat texting (verizon version) and it worked fast (faster than inreach I believe including getting replies to my texts) and worked well consistently unless I was in heavy tree cover or had something (step tall hillside usually) blocking the horizon. It worked for me in many instances where a hill obscured a good portion of the horizon. In a few cases got a warning to wait for a satellite not too low on the horizon and was delayed a few minutes. YMMV.
Phone satellite texting is NOT an SOS tool. It is a great tool for less urgent communication needs such as ‘made it back to camp” but I would,never recommend it as a replacement for inreach. It diod save me $$ cuz I did not have to upgrade my basic safety level inreach data plan adn sent out a ton of no cost texts via my phone.
kodiakisland
Well-known member
I spend a lot of time out of cell phone range, and quite frankly am not married to my phone like many are. The inreach gives me the ability to text if I want to. It allows my wife to see in real time where I am. It also gives me the ability to get real help if I need it, as most of my time is spent solo.
I'm sure the phone will eventually take over all the duties of the inreach, but one thing I preach to my kids is redundancy when it comes to the outback. How are you going to get home when things go wrong. Having two separate systems is great when all you have to depend on is yourself.
Of course, I try to teach the young guys at work the same thing about their vehicles. No tools, jumper cables, air pump, etc. I guess they just plan to be stranded and call AAA.
I'm sure the phone will eventually take over all the duties of the inreach, but one thing I preach to my kids is redundancy when it comes to the outback. How are you going to get home when things go wrong. Having two separate systems is great when all you have to depend on is yourself.
Of course, I try to teach the young guys at work the same thing about their vehicles. No tools, jumper cables, air pump, etc. I guess they just plan to be stranded and call AAA.
