187 replies to this topic

[Vic]

we also picked up one around Christmas time.  I've used it to 'check in' a number of times and it has worked just as advertised.

 

Separate story - we were camped well out of cell coverage a few weekends back and realized we never asked anyone to look in on our pets while we out.  A quick text to my folks with the Delmorme and all was settled.  Saved me a 20 mile drive to cell service or cutting the weekend short.  In my mind it has already paid for the subscription service this year.  Hope I never need it for an emergency but nice safety blanket.  

[longhorn1]

With the In-Reach is anyone using the maps on your phone or with a GPS tablet? I would like some feedback on that and if you are tracking your trips. Also, if you are using a tablet with GPS capability, which one are you using. As mentioned earlier, I;m planning on buying the Explorer during the next 2-3 months. The guy I spoke with at our local REI was very helpful and he pairs his with his phone, but was planning on the purchase of a tablet. Thanks, jd

Edited by longhorn1, 10 March 2016 - 05:08 PM.

[PaulT]

I use the In-Reach Explorer with iPad and Android phone. The iPad has built in GPS. However, the In-Reach will pair via Bluetooth with your tablet without GPS to provide location information. You will pair it anyway to provide text messaging via In-Reach satellire access. The phone screen is a little small for comfortable use but as you are more likely to carry it while on foot so it may become your primary display.

It tracks your trips by sending tracking pings periodically via sattelite. These can be made available by online map to those you allow to see your position.

If you are in canyons or heavy timber, expect delays or skipped updates when the unit cannot see enough of the sky.

Paul

[BILL98388]

Just got my Cabela's sale paper, inReach units are $50 off ($250 and $330) through March 30.  If you don't have a store nearby try online:

 

http://www.cabelas.c...ch-All Products

 

Same pricing there.

 

Bill

[Lighthawk]

Inreach plus android (Samsung Note2) phone here.  Works great.

I actually just use my phone plus their Earthmate app, and leave the Inreach at home.

I can set waypoints, follow routes, etc. just from the phone, without cell service.

The Inreach is used for all remote trips or off grid hikes of consequence.   The phone and the GPS synch both ways.

 

I'm hoping Garmin will improve the interface.  I do like the ability to import KML files into the desktop when I do my research.

Bird & Hike and many other sites generously share these files and import them into Explore, the online platform where all your maps are stored.  Unfortunately, they only allow for a few dozen characters, and offer no support for a note field which really limits the utility.

[longhorn1]

I read the comments left by purchasers on REI and Cabelas. There seemed to be a fair number of people complaining about syncing issues, loosing the satellite in wide open areas and having to reboot, etc.

Has anyone had issues like that?

I have the Samsung 5 android phone, but I want a bigger screen. What do you recommend that has GPS? jd

Sent from my SM-G900V using Wander The West mobile app

[Vic]

I have not had those problems - I've used it probably only a dozen+ times though, so time will tell.  

 

I would agree the interface is bulky and sending custom messages (as opposed to the presets) is not super easy.  Not for long conversations for sure.  Fortunately I have my 10 YO daughter to help with the the tech issues 

[Shadyapex]

Well, I just ordered an inreach SE. I read a lot of reviews, including all the posts on this thread and decided that the negatives weren't important to me. Most of the negatives concerned the use of the device as a GPS replacement and many suggested that it came up short. Well, I have a GPS that I rarely use, most of the time I use Topo Maps on a tablet or phone along with paper maps. As long as I know where I am I don't really find much use for route planning, back tracking, etc. This approach also helps keep me more aware of my surroundings, the lack of which is a common pit fall in many GPS based "emergencies." I am never going to follow my GPS up Lippencott Rd in a rental Camry for instance. Yes, this happened to some hapless poster on deathvalley.com. Remarkably, they survived.

I'm planning on using the device mainly for out of range communication and emergency need. But I am looking forward to seeing the mapping ability as we're going to Scotland this spring and for some reason the USGS hasn't seen fit to publish quadrangles of that area, being a US agency and all. Also we're hoping to avoid the exorbitant international data rates that one incurs using google maps, et al on a tablet or phone.

We've had a 1st gen Spot for some years now and it has given some peace of mind but the ability to actually communicate, albeit at a fairly basic level, is much looked forward to. I imagine we'll keep using paper and digital much as we have in the past but with added communication.

Side note, (not really a rant). Digital maps are great, you can zoom in, you can zoom out, but you just can't really replicate the brain's ability to see both at the same time. This is why I still use paper maps. We don't really see with our eyes, we take in data with our eyes, we interpret (see) that data with our brains and no app, to date, can replicate the brains ability to see both the big picture and the detail at the same time and put it all into perspective. This is the main reason I still use paper maps, but the ability to find yourself on a digital map, via 22 satellites spinning in space, if freakin' amazing. There is a reason why there is more than one tool in the tool box; as long as you don't try to tighten a small bolt, or much else for that matter, with a large crescent wrench.

[craig333]

Good points. Knowing where you're at is nice, sometime essential but I like a big paper map for seeing where I might want to go.

 

Kind of interesting story, to me at least. I've been exploring the area around Antelope Lake for thirty years during our annual trip there. I remember a stream crossing and going downstream and then crossing the stream again and then going uphill. I tried to find it for years, it wasn't on the Forest map. Almost thought my mind was going when I took another guy to the stream and we fished it downhill. Only on very close inspection I spotted remnants of the old road, a few bits that hadn't got washed away in whatever flood washed it away. I'm sure it would show up on an old topo, glad the FS updated their maps. Pretty interesting sometimes to lay out an old topo (lots seem to be dated to the 1950s) and compare them to a more current map.

[Bigfoot]

...But I am looking forward to seeing the mapping ability as we're going to Scotland this spring and for some reason the USGS hasn't seen fit to publish quadrangles of that area, being a US agency and all. Also we're hoping to avoid the exorbitant international data rates that one incurs using google maps, et al on a tablet or phone. ...

 

It will be interesting to see how well the Scotland map for the Delorme Earthmate app works for you. Another source of digital maps that I know are good come from RouteBuddy, a British company; maps for iOS, OS X and Windows.