EISPIRATEN

So I got one of these fancy new devices after a friend had a nasty crash a few weeks back. Today I had some business in Eaton Canyon, so I brought it, and tried it out. It's... not amazing? I was in a canyon, and there was tree cover. But it wasn't particularly narrow, or jungly. It's the sorta place where I'd hope an emergency beacon device could function, since it's where I could conceivably have an emergency. But the device couldn't talk to the communication satellites nor to the GPS satellites. It tried for an hour with no luck. The I moved it to another spot, with fewer trees, and evenually it got a fix, and could communicate. I've never tried one of these. What's "normal"?

I am curious how it works out. I've been on the fence about getting one of these, but I really dislike ongoing subscriptions. I think the cheapest sub was $12/month last time I looked. Also, the screen is so small I don't think I could use it for navigation. The larger one has a better screen. I do like the idea of being able to send texts via satellite, but I am still sitting on the fence. Please give us a verdict after using it a while.

From what I've read the best way to use it is via bluetooth from your phone which likely has a readable screen.
Not the same but related - I have a SPOT generation 3 and it's fairly worthless in tree cover. I've even hiked northward in open areas for over an hour with no tracking.

I'd say this device is for rescue and for communication only. I wouldn't use it for mapping or navigation or anything like that. It looks like it's not amazing for rescue and comm, though. I might simply be expecting too much, though.

OK, I used this again today in Eaton Canyon. It's not good. No idea if it's worse than other devices on the market, but on its own, it's bad. GPS reception is spotty. On the way back up the canyon I had the InReach turned on to see if it could maintain a GPS lock. It couldn't at all, while my cheapo Android phone had no problem. The InReach Mini 2 can talk to the Chinese and Russian flavors of GPS (like my phone), so maybe that's the big difference here (I have the original InReach Mini that talks to GPS only).

The iridium comm connectivity has similar issues. But this is made worse by the fact that Garmin engineers have never seen a computer. The UI is terrible, so it's hard to tell when a message has successfully been sent or if incoming messages have been successfully read. As far as I can tell, it sent out a message at the bottom of the canyon after sitting in one spot for 15 min. Then it tried to check incoming messages during the whole climb out, and was able to finally connect up at Eaton Saddle. Not 100% sure that's what was happening. If I had to buy this device again, I'd do more research to see if anything else is better. And I wouldn't rely on this to bail me out of trouble: it just might not work.

I think its like a safety blanket...yeah, but I think you have to find out where you can use it...and hike there. Maybe they add the area in someday but till then.

PLBs are for the search and rescue...not In-reach/SPOT...but I think of em as surveillance and so which one is in the lead? Starlink hehehe.

How is your friend doing?

Are PLBs supposed to be better? I never saw any clear statement about that one way or another. I have a resqlink that I used to carry with me, but it no longer is able to get a GPS fix at my house (for testing), so I got this inreach to replace it. It also can't get a GPS fix at my house...

Friend will be in a wheelchair for a while, but at least he's alive.

PLB uses the SAR satellite...thee official. Otherwise you are having someone else contact SAR.
Ham Radio , you can contact someone else too.
There was a case of a snakebite, and the person got the plb to work and in time. It also generated a lengthy discussion on surveillance too(gulp).
Probably sold a number of people on it too..https://www.sarsat.noaa.gov/emergency-406-beacons/

I dont know about gps....my phone says must turn on location for maps.

If they can't figure out how to get GPS and Iridium comms to work reliably, I wouldn't worry too much about surveillance

I've got the InReach Explorer+ (the full-size unit) and it works fine for me. I use my phone via bluetooth to view the map and to compose texts.
I think part of your problem down in deep, steep canyons is that it won't send out a message using the Iridium satellite network until it first has a solid fix using GPS satellites. Every text has a shortlink to a map of the physical location. Down in a canyon this may never happen at all, because there aren't all that many GPS satellites orbiting directly above you. Iridium satellites, on the other hand, should eventually pass overhead, and you only need one of them. It would be nice if you could override the settings and squirt out a text without location info in an emergency, but the SAR guys might not agree.

The InReach was originally made by Delorme, which was recently bought out by Garmin, but I have a feeling that the GPS circuitry/logic is just like my older Delorme GPS unit, which refused to get a 3-D location "Fix" until it locked on at least five satellites. Annoying. We all know that the math says it only needs three satellite signals for 3-D positioning (which may be all a phone bothers using), but five must improve the accuracy. I know that the tracks from the Delorme are far more steady and dependable than the tracks I generate with my phone apps.

In general, when I use the InReach to send out breadcrumb pings every ten minutes or so, it doesn't always connect with a satellite. Dense tree cover and deep canyons are usually the culprit. My phone gets a notification that it missed one when it happens. Just the same, I'll keep using it because my wife likes to see that I'm still alive and moving on her computer screen when I'm out hiking solo. Easily worth the $15/month subscription. Plus, for an extra $20 per year you get that $50k helicopter insurance! That might keep you out of bankruptcy.

My advice: Be extra careful while bushwhacking in deep canyons!

Is the battery sealed or replaceable?

My understanding is that it's not officially user-serviceable, but it's not too much of a pain. I clearly didn't do enough research before this purchase