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Garmin inreach

Has anybody got this new gps and how do you like the texting on it. I'm going into the wilderness for 3 weeks and need to say in contact with the wife. Give me some feed back thanks

I haven't text much directly from the inreach but works well from a smart phone. If you are forced to use the inreach only for texts there are quite a few pre loaded texts you can pick from once you start typing. Its not like texting from a phone but I doubt you will be writing stories so to me its know big deal. I will say the preloaded topo maps are good enough for me. I did spring for the additional Hunter version which adds a few layers to the map. Plus it comes with imagery. I have been logging into their website to view the maps on my PC and then mark waypoints on the PC. Once I have a bunch that I want to check out I plug the inreach into the PC and sync it to transfer all the waypoints to the inreach.

They dont run on AA which is the only downside I see. I hunted from a base camp where i had a solar panel for 21 days last september. There is some lag in the messages, but never more than 3 hours. The gps got me within 30 feet of a marked dead moose in the pitch dark. I have not downloaded any map layers to them, but i believe you can. Dont text people who you dont want to know where you hunt. It sends a location with each message. It was great for getting weather updates from people back home. It would be near impossible to accidentally activate the SOS feature, but easy to use single handed if needed.

I have the new one with gps and loved using it for two weeks in the NWT. I used the phone app for texting back home and found it easy to use and convenient.

I will say that I did not rely heavily on the gps function of the unit for this hunt, but for the extra $50, I thought it was a no-brainer.

Dude I believe on the website you can select in settings to NOT send your coordinates with the text. I do not know if you can send coordinates to some and not to others. I think it is an all or nothing setting.

There is a rumor circulating that even Kota Man has an In Reach now!!!

Although, I'm still calling BS until I get a message from him on it.....

Love mine!!!

Mark

I just used an Inreach+ for 30 days in a very remote region. It was excellent and I was happy to have it. Make sure you sign up for the correct plan, and then cancel the plan at the end of the trip. I had the unlimited plan and was able to text as much as I wanted. Note that the pinpoint weather forecasts also cost extra (cost me an extra $30 for the month).

You want to make certain you pair it with a smartphone as the actual unit itself is a bit unwieldy to use. Also, Garmin maps absolutely suck. You want to sync it with a GPS app on your phone such as Avenza. Make certain you download the correct geo-referenced maps to Avenza ahead of time.

I texted directly off the Garmin when it was raining and I did not want to get my phone out. It's slow (slower than the old flip phones, 1 letter at a time) but it does work. Other than that I used my phone.

To keep it charged I used a solar panel and a battery bank. I never had any trouble keeping it charged even with days-long rain. It is an awesome tool and absolutely worth the money if used correctly.

To tag on the questions posted by the OP: .

It looks to have its own internal battery. This seems unfortunate to me because I'd rather be able to switch batteries like a AA or AAA when it gets low.

What is the battery life on the Inreach SE (no GPS) versus the Inreach Explorer (with GPS)?

I just bought the delorme inreach explorer off of eBay new in the box 264 to my door. With all the mixed reviews out on the garmin I just couldn't talk myself into spending 450. As well as I have a feeling within a year or two garmin will truly have a do all device out.

I have the InReach. Internal battery. But I don't leave it on for bread crumbs. Turn it on as needed and I have 75% left after 12-14 days. Yes you can turn off GPS coordinates. You must do this via your account settings if memory serves.

If Kota has one, you know it has to be good!

I had the ORIGINAL InReach and lets just say it was less than impressive. The new one is very nice. I've only texted a few "test" messages so far, but will give it a good workout this fall. I'm optimistic at this point...

Garmin supposedly now own delorme scrappy

Thanks for all the help, I'm going to the GILA so I will give it a test run

Uh yes Bowman garmin does, but you can still get both the explorer and the se model that was made by delorme for lot less money. Like I said in my earlier post, mixed reviews on the new garmin version led me to save my money .

I have the InReach before Garmin bought them and I've used mine on my past few hunts and they have worked great. On my sheep hunt in the NWT, my outfitter and the guides mostly all had an InReach and they used them to coordinate daily. One of the guides had a Sat phone and the outfitter was struggling to keep in touch with them. I know the pilot loved having the exact coordinates when he would fly out for a drop or pick up.

I think they have several advantages over a sat phone and would recommend the InReach over a sat phone. With that said, I did buy kota-man's sat phone from him for a trip later this fall...but that was more work driven that a personal need.

Thanks Scrappy. After ZBarebow said how well the battery lasted I just picked one up on eBay.

If you can write off a SAT phone and the plans, it is a great "insurance policy" in addition to the InReach. I really debated getting rid of mine but as most of you know ALL of my stuff is ALWAYS for sale. ;)

I like my Garmin InReach.......the basic one. I just bought it before a NWT trip a few weeks ago. The unit worked perfectly and was very easy on battery life, although I kept it turned off much of the time. When I'd stop for lunch or an extended break, it was quick to fire up. Texting on it was irritating but do-able, and the preloaded texts were used frequently to let family know I was alive. Paired with the phone, texting was a snap. My real complaint is the Garmin Earthmate App on the iPhone really sucked down the iPhone battery fast when you had it on. Seemed that a few texts would draw 10-20% of the battery on a regular iPhone 7 that normally goes a long time on a charge. Also, the Garmin topo map isn't as nice as the SPOT message Goggle Earth style map of your location for the recipient of your message. Also, 160 characters max in per text make one scrutinize the message you write. Overall I'd rate the unit as a winner for the extreme back country hunter.

I bought an InReach Explorer + and like it so far. I need to keep in touch this year with my wife. We are having our third child in September and she is on slight bed rest right now and can't work anymore. Labor Day weekend might be my only shot this year for elk hunting. It's still up in the air if I get to go or not. If I do get to go then I have a way to see how things are going at home.

Its pretty incredible how well these things work at texting. I brought my new Garmin Explorer to FIndland with me. I text my buddy back home using the Garmin and he had the text within a few minutes. For those that asked the battery is internal and not user changeable. You have to send it in to get changed. I think I read the life expectancy of the battery is around 4 years but that may be with regular charging and discharging. My old SE when used just for texting occasionally will go 2 weeks or so before it needs a charged. I plan to use the Explorer this year more as a regular GPS so I will get to test out the battery life. As far as mixed reviews I don't think I read any. Some don't like that it doesn't take AAs but that doesn't mean it is poor. Price is a little high but beats buying a Sat phone or the Iridium GO.

The bread crumbs are important. If, for some reason you cannot send SOS, the bread crumbs will give SAR location of where you have been, direction of travel, and last know location.

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