Satellite Phone- Rent, Buy or ??
Elk
I need a Sat phone for an upcoming elk hunt. I'm not sure if I'll ever need one again.
The rental cost is about half the cost to buy one. Is that normal?
Would it be cheaper to buy one, use it for my elk hunt and try to sell it?
Is there a place that buys used satellite phones?
Any other cheaper options?
I need a Sat phone for an upcoming elk hunt. I'm not sure if I'll ever need one again.
The rental cost is about half the cost to buy one. Is that normal?
Would it be cheaper to buy one, use it for my elk hunt and try to sell it?
Is there a place that buys used satellite phones?
Any other cheaper options?
Never carried a satellite phone on an elk hunt, but I do keep one in camp while on the Alaskan tundra. Rent mine from Surveyor's Exchange for $75/week (or $225/mo). Have to pay for air time on top of that, but air time costs $$$ regardless whether you rent or own.
We usually rent one on our drop hunts. A week is about $150 with 60 minutes of air time. its at the sat phone place in Anchorage, cant recall the name. Its piece of mind if everything goes south, allows for early pickup if needed, and to check in with home every few days.
If you buy one beware... the cost of the phone is not so bad but look at what you have to pay for service! I bought a used one then sold it. You can buy the service by the minute but they are only good for a short amount of time.
I believe that when you rent them they come with service.
I now use an "InReach" instead. I really like it and use it frequently.
InReach SE.......you can send and receive messages plus tracking.
I own one and the piece of mind is priceless! I use mine pretty often. Even on hikes, out fishing on the ocean, on hog hunts, even just in my truck or jeep on remote drives, and of course AK hunts. I pay $50 a month and it's cheap sanity, makes my wife feel better too!
sat phone for $50 a month?
I used to rent Iridium phones while on remote solo hunts. Now I use an InReach. Biggest issue with sat phones in the mountains, even Iridium phones, is that you will be lucky to get service half the time, at best. More like about 25% of mountain locations, in my experience. If you're in trees, or on the wrong side of the mountain, no dice. When you really need one badly like in a medical emergency, you may not be able to hike a mile to the top of the peak to find a signal. With the InReach, I have much better success sending messages. Unlike the very strong signal strength needed to transmit a full phone conversation on a Sat Phone, the InReach can send simple text messages more easily, even in areas of poor signal strength. It's not perfect either, but dramatically better than a Sat Phone. Sat phones are fine for flat treeless prairie locations. Anywhere else, I'll take an InReach.
Sorry, Straight Arrow. The $50/mo is just the service plan, Iridium based. The phone itself was about $700 for a Motorola something or other. And I've never had a problem getting a signal as long as the phone has a clear path to the sky.
Another vote for Delorme Inreach
I'll be buying one this coming fall but then I live in a fairly isolated area with cellphone reception only good to about 15 miles from our community.
I'll have it with me all year round to use only when necessary.
I think that an important question would be which one?
In the old days in northern Quebec Global Star was the better one... then Iridium became the best... now a bush pilot and hunting buddies tell me that since Global Star added satellites that is their first choice.
if you're only going for a week or two, and don't have much future use planned, I'd rent for sure. I rented one a few years back and it was about $100/week which included some time, but we had one of those guys with us that needed to call his wife every day so we ended up with something like $125 or so with the extra time.
You'll get chopped up buying new and trying to re-sell after (unless you're my brother in law who sells everything for more than he paid; or so he claims......repeatedly).
Another vote for Inreach. I used to rent them for all my AK hunts and my wife bought me the Inreach a few years ago and never rent a phone anymore, unless the air taxi requires it (some of them are still old school).
I bought the Iridium 9555 last summer... Great investment living in Alaska.... I pay $204 every 6 months ($34/month) for my service plan, and the minutes roll over as long as I don't have a lapse in my plan. I can go 5 months on 10 minutes then use 200 in 10 days on a hunt so I love the rollover option available.
I keep mine in my truck for roadside emergencies, take on all hikes, take fishing with me, etc... Just good peace of mind.
If you don't mind, who are you guys buying service plans through for your satellite phones? Any recommendations? Thinking about picking up an Iridium 9555 off of eBay and was looking for the best options to add service.
Another vote for the InReach. Much more versatile and, as Sticksender mentioned, requires less signal to transmit and receive. The SOS function is a major advantage. Let's just hope that the Garmin merger doesn't screw up a good thing.
Neither. Stop at Nick's house in Fairbanks and borrow. ;-)
I get my service plan through Surveyor's Exchange, but if I remember correctly my minutes are regional and can only be used in Alaska or Canada... I'd have to double check that but I'm pretty sure that is the case.
