My daughter in law is looking for something for the hubby (our son) and she asked me what I thought of the Garmin. I told her that I would do a little research for her. I had a SPOT many years ago, and hated it to be honestly.

He is currently getting typed in the 767 but his GA flying is mainly backcountry type flying and he desires (maybe its his wife!) to be able to keep in touch.

Am I understanding correctly that using it requires an Iphone for more than basic messaging? He is an Android kind of guy even though he has to use Ipad for his job.

So, is the Garmin In-Reach the best option?

Thank you!

WWhunter wrote:Am I understanding correctly that using it requires an Iphone for more than basic messaging?

No, that's incorrect

So, is the Garmin In-Reach the best option?

Yes

The In-Reach Mini ($400) has a few (three?) messages that are customizable with an ap on a device (phone, iPad, computer). You can free text with the Mini without using the Garmin ap (Thanks asa). I believe the ap is available on both Iphone and Android.

The In-Reach Explorer ($800) has a big screen, a built in GPS map, and other stuff. It’s about the size of a cell phone. It can free text.

Both require data plans. Explorer plans cost more.

I have a Mini and use the lowest level plan. It’s more than enough to tell my wife I’m fine when I’m in the woods.

jcadwell wrote:The In-Reach Mini ($400) has a few (three?) messages that are customizable with an ap on a device (phone, iPad, computer). You can’t free text with the Mini without using the Garmin ap. I believe the ap is available on both Iphone and Android.

The In-Reach Explorer ($800) has a big screen, a built in GPS map, and other stuff. It’s about the size of a cell phone. It can free text without using another device.

Both require data plans. Explorer plans cost more.

I have a Mini and use the lowest level plan. It’s more than enough to tell my wife I’m fine when I’m in the woods.

You can text with a mini and no phone/app, it just takes a while to type it out because you have to scroll through each letter. I've used it a few times when my phone has died and wasn't an issue for short messages but you wouldn't want to be doing it much. I like the mini a lot. It's pretty perfect in my mind.

Didn’t know that. I’ll have to figure out how to do that. Previous message edited. Thanks asa.

SPOT has always worked great for me, bread crumbs, a SOS and not quite SOS button, all I really need as part of being off the beaten path is to be out of touch, mine lives in the non transponder plane

But in his case, get him a refurb iPhone 14pro or better with the satellite texting (iOS 18), better built than most of the Garmin and other offerings, and less junk to haul around.

The Garmin Mini has worked well and met my needs sufficiently. My son is a geologist current working a couple prospecting gigs. He uses a Garmin Explorer regularly in the field along with a bunch of other really expensive electronic fancy stuff and likes the Garmin as much as any of them.

We use both the Explorer and the Mini for the guide service and I use a mini in the plane and when I am out hunting or hiking alone. I put it in track mode and it gives an “ping” every 10 minutes, which is a bit long in the plane, but should get someone to the general area if you go down. Our guides have used them both to coordinate two rescues, while out on trips (neither of them our issues, luckily). With the mini if you are over a certain age you really need to pair it with your phone or carry a pair of reading glasses, otherwise it’s a real PITA to hunt and peck your way through the frigging letters, nearly impossible. The pre set messages work well. The explorer is much more user friendly without pairing it, but it’s bigger than I want to carry on foot, or in the plane. I think we pay around $25/month for each device and you can turn them off and on easily if you want to deactivate one for a length of time. One thing not mentioned above (I think) is that for each message it also sends your location.

Pete

Last time I checked (a year ago) there were basically 5 options. Garmin has several models and prices, Bivy Stick, Spot, Zoleo, and Motorola all have a single item for sale. All of them except SPOT use the Iridium satellite system. All of them except Garmin sell retail for about $200. If you have an AT&T cell phone you can add a Motorola for only $5.00 per month, other than that they all have limited programs for about $20.00 per month. They will all do tracking and text messages, but they have priorities. Bivy stick also works as a power bank and is set up for weather forecasts, Zoleo has a very good system of weather forecasts but also sends text messages and Email with your own Email and phone numbers. Google is your friend, spend some time to compare them and see what looks best for you. Bivy stick has a strange setup where if you send an SOS message it goes to a private company who would bill you for services if you did not have an annual subscription, last time I Heard SPOT would make one phone call to the local county sheriff to report it. They all have different options. A word of warning if you are checking them out from work, SPOT's website is "Find me spot". com, "Find the spot" .com is a gay porn site.

Hard to not imagine that this market is going to be decimated when iPhone 14/15/16 add a breadcrumb/tracking feature.

Dale Moul wrote:Last time I checked (a year ago) there were basically 5 options. Garmin has several models and prices, Bivy Stick, Spot, Zoleo, and Motorola all have a single item for sale. All of them except SPOT use the Iridium satellite system. All of them except Garmin sell retail for about $200. If you have an AT&T cell phone you can add a Motorola for only $5.00 per month, other than that they all have limited programs for about $20.00 per month. They will all do tracking and text messages, but they have priorities. Bivy stick also works as a power bank and is set up for weather forecasts, Zoleo has a very good system of weather forecasts but also sends text messages and Email with your own Email and phone numbers. Google is your friend, spend some time to compare them and see what looks best for you. Bivy stick has a strange setup where if you send an SOS message it goes to a private company who would bill you for services if you did not have an annual subscription, last time I Heard SPOT would make one phone call to the local county sheriff to report it. They all have different options. A word of warning if you are checking them out from work, SPOT's website is "Find me spot". com, "Find the spot" .com is a gay porn site.

For some the major point of the SOS feature on these is it also sends a message to your own people to get the search and rescue ball rolling independent of slow and ineffective government workers.

I have a few very capable and bothersome people on my SOS list, if they get a message they will not stop harassing all capable gov resources that my tax dollars fund, if those resources don’t start trying to save me quickly the next call goes to our friends who have their own aircraft to come get me

NineThreeKilo wrote: I have a few very capable and bothersome people on my SOS list, if they get a message they will not stop harassing all capable gov resources that my tax dollars fund, if those resources don’t start trying to save me quickly the next call goes to our friends who have their own aircraft to come get me

Whereas the members of this website would be too lost in peacefulness and tranquility to realize what had happened.

I used to use a SPOT for flying and bikepacking, switched to the inReach mini in 2019. Mostly tracking with the occasional messaging if I'm spending the night someplace out of cell service.

If I had to buy again, inReach mini would be my #1 choice, the gen 2 out now is even better (longer battery life, usb c charging) Sending messages with a paired phone is pretty seamless and each message gets sent with a link to your location.

Tracking can be set to record every 3 minutes, even with the plan that sends every 10 so the breadcrumb trail is tighter.

Every SPOT I've dealt with will knock WAAS GPS offline every time it transmits. It seems worse with certified avionics (example GNC 355) than the experimental stuff (like G3X). Never had this issue with the inReach.

Thanks everyone! I'm going to tell him to read this thread when he gets some free time.

Android guy, wants to text his wife, get an InReach.

Me, backcountry flying the most important SAR asset is flight tracking to deal with the ELT reliability of only 50%. And I want 2-3 minute tracking, not 10 minutes. I find the SPOT reliable enough for this at a fraction of the cost of an InReach for a 12 month unlimited tracking subscription.

I've held off an InReach for texting for so long that now my iPhone can do that role. Tried it out on a few hunting trips (mountains, forest canopy), it's good.

Maybe if and when ADSB can track me in the valley bottoms with 30 second pings I'll rely on that for tracking but I don't think the iPhone with its transmit power and antenna orientation requirements will ever do that.

I've got the inreach explorer. My biggest gripe is how fussy the GPS is. If it is not perfectly vertical with a clear view of the sky it won't be a solid GPS lock. If I clip it to a tiedown ring on the wing it won't have good signal. I don't understand this since a handheld GPS in the plane works just fine. Very fussy trying to prop up the inreach in the windshield on a back country cross country for tracking. I've about given up on it.