Anyone using these? What sort of subscription do you have? Pros and Cons?
Thinking of getting one instead of a PLB.
It would be used for school tramps I
and OE trips.
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Anyone using these? What sort of subscription do you have? Pros and Cons?
Thinking of getting one instead of a PLB.
It would be used for school tramps I
and OE trips.
There was a recent thread on this, I think general opinion was they are not a replacement for a PLB, more of a useful addition to one.
I’ll try and find the thread later
Thanks for that. Looks like plb is the way to go.
An additional to note is that although you can suspend the service. You still get charged an annual fee (and one off activation fee).
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With the blocks around the Matakitaki that DOC opened for helicopter access for hunters last roar, I’m sure one of their requirements was that you carried a device with Inreach technology.
You would probably want to find out whether this was likely to become a more widespread requirement before splashing out on a PLB only to find you require Inreach to enter a ballot.
I like the idea of being able to contact people and let them know what is going on, but if I had an Inreach I still wouldn't go without my PLB because the people that do the rescues say they are the better option, they have a homing beacon, and they are rated to standards (such as being able to broadcast the emergency signal for a minimum of 24hrs iirc)
I have the Inreach Mini. One of the best purchasers I have made. I run the cheapest plan and just go over when I do extra things which doesn’t end up being anymore expensive then having the more expensive plans. The weather reports are awesome and being able stay in contact with my family gives a lot of piece of mind.
Im on the fence with an inreach. Recently i found out thst Garmin was hacked a couple years ago and their entire system went down until they paid something like a $10,000,000 ransom, which they ended up doing. Very slim chance but it could happen again right when you need it most. Ive only got a plb and may get an inreach in the future but i wouldn't rely on it being my only piece of emergency communication.
There’s a number of reasons why it might fail if provided all sorts of random scenarios, just like every piece of equipment. That reason seems pretty ridiculous though lol.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dyls
How is it ridiculous if its happened? Their systems were down for weeks. Bet you if it happened to say Tesla, thousands would second guess buying one.
I thought it was only their fitness platform and the inreach service wasn't affected?
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QUOTE=Ned;1319421]I thought it was only their fitness platform and the inreach service wasn't affected?
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Correct.
Personal preferences aside doesn't mean an inreach isn't a good investment. I still think it was the best back country money ive spent.
Been stuck in Tahr or wap blocks with comms is the best, keeps those at home from going batshit and they can re=-book travel (ferry) for you while you're stuck in country.
For those that say a PLB because its nz based and there have been occasions where inreach hasn't worked well, if you go looking for incident where something hasn't worked you'll find it.
You can set up your inreach with the New Zealand base if you insist. Track me kiwi does inreach now. The cost is more than Garmin plans. https://trackme.nz/trackme-nz-on-demand-data/
Ive been involved with Inreach activated rescues and the best thing about it is there is a constant communication with victim and rescue.
Personally the Trackme plans is a bit dear compared with what's available with my Garmin monthly sub.
I recommend getting one! if you want a plb as well, I certainly wouldn't begrudge that.
I stand corrected. I had just heard from word of mouth and was told all of their satellite services were pretty much shut down. It actually put me off buying an inreach just before my roar trip this year.
I have an inreach mini if it is of interest $450, used it to get out of the shit in fiordland this year but not going to need it for a fair while now.
Look up Zoleo. New compotation to in reach. Half the price.
I took an inreach mini to Fiordland, the family really appreciated the regular contact and was also able to contact chopper and confirm pick up spot and timings. I liked the premium weather forecast which was accurate and when bluetoothed to phone was easy to message and see the info. For me will not replace the plb or gps it is a two way contact tool.
Now that looks very interesting - Zoleo. Wonder the price of their plans are? Looks to be quite user friendly too.
https://zoleoinc.cdn.prismic.io/zole...r-brochure.pdf
Wow their plans are dear!
All plans and pricing is AUD$
The use the same network and sos as Garmin.
https://www.zoleo.com/en-nz/plans
Plus exchange rate .
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To the OP
Convenience of satellite communication aside, when you genuinely need picked up it’s all about the robustness of the system for the people looking for you, not necessarily the other way round.
For proper SAR applications a PLB is the better option no doubt about it.
I have both an InReach mini and a PLB, I use them for different purposes. The PLB is obviously for emergency use only and I’ve thankfully never used it. I use the InReach mini for communicating with my wife. I’m often in places without cellphone coverage and I’m often late, I hunt by myself a lot too.
I love the way you just tether it to you phone and use the app to send messages using your normal phone contacts.
If I had to get one thing I’d get a PLB, for safety reasons, but if you have the cash, get both.
A mate took one into Fiordland , I was meant to be sending weather forecasts to him. He got very patchy coverage, some days none at all.Quote:
Originally Posted by Steven708
What he said. I have both - a 66i (GPS with inreach) and a PLB. The PLB is the "oh-shit" device - dedicated battery, one-trick (call SAR) better coverage. The Inreach is surprisingly useful. You can communicate a delay, organise a chopper (don't need SAR but do need a pick-up), etc. So that sort of restricts the PLB use to the kinds of things where you really want SAR - which in my opinion is what they should be used for. I hear of people activating a PLB because they have run out of water, or something where its not life or death... get an InReach and organise your own chopper at your own expense for the trivial shit. If I ever had a real emergency I would use both - I'm sure SAR would appreciate any information/context that could be provided. (Lost? Or Injured? Urgency? etc)Quote:
Originally Posted by craigc
One plus for the inreach is if you have someone at home keeping an eye on your live track and you've become incapacitated and can't trigger an SOS, then at least SAR will have a good idea where to go looking.
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@craigc so you just text on your phone when the mini is linked in? I loaned a 66i garmin and i hated the old school texting on it. tap tap down across type thing. And a lot of shit on the gps i will never useQuote:
Originally Posted by craigc
Yes that is correct.
You Bluetooth to a inreach via the earthmate app and you text like normal to any of your contacts. All inreach models have this capability. It beats tapping away like texting was like 25 years ago.
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I have a Garmin 200i. I have always used a spot x device in the past but since getting my dog it made sense to just consolidate all my devices and get the Garmin, GPS, Inreach, Dog tracking etc all on the one device. I was expecting stellar performance after watching all the Garmin vs Spot reviews on YouTube (mostly from the states) and nearly all of them singing the praises of the Garmin for reliable and quick messaging. However, that has not been my experience at all, I found with the Spot X it was often slow to get a message out but it always got there in the end. The Garmin however has on several occasions said that a message has been sent but it was never received at the other end, the opposite way around has been true also, it’s actually made for some entertaining conversations with my wife when parts of the conversation disappear into thin air. Still a handy device but not cracked up to the hype Garmin would have you believe, I also now carry a PLB, I used to trust my Spot X but wouldn’t trust the Garmin with my life
I have had the odd msg to arrive too. It isn't very often tho.
From what I've researched into the matter in the US it is very good but in backwater nz where we do shit different for no good reason it doesn't.
It is to do with the cell companies.
2degrees was the worst by far.
There used to be a feature available that sent a GPS reference point with each message. Unfortunately that ment that the cell providers recognized those a spam an blocked the messages from being received by a nz cell user.
A message from Garmin to nz users came to ensure this feature was disabled so nz cell providers didn't block messages as spam.
So if you haven't disabled this feature it still tries to attach ref point and gets blocked as spam.
This doesn't happen at the user point it's something in the network transition from iridium.
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It will be interesting to see if Apple manages to pull this feature off in the next iPhone model
https://www.tomsguide.com/news/iphon...-means-for-you
That would assume we all want iPhones which I for one certainly do not. Thankfully this house is Apple free and long may it continue.Quote:
Originally Posted by Staffnurse41
Only fruit type apples are allowed in.
Yes I noticed this a few months back, annoying as fk that our beloved telcoms decided that we no longer wanted this useful feature.Quote:
Originally Posted by Reindeer
I’m surprised Garmin didn’t go after them, being the size that they are.
I can still get exactly the same types of texts, with a clickable link, from the marketing department at The Toolshed(!) so I know it’s still possible.