Emergency Communications

[Wandering Sagebrush]

https://www.rei.com/product/203003/acr-electronics-bivy-stick

ACR Electronics Bivy Stick??? $199.99

The number of one star reviews is only one less than the five star reviews. I’m not sure I would buy one.

 

[Tom n N]

This article might be helpful:

How to Choose Between a PLB and a Satellite Messenger​

https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/personal-locator-beacons.html

Regards,

Caig

Great info, thanks for sharing

 

[rubberlegs]

I finally had a chance to test the iOS 18 satellite texting. My first impression is this will kill off the InReach system some day, but isn’t quite ready for that yet. It may be like how phones have replaced hand held GPS receivers with far better functionality.

We successfully sent messages out. Unfortunately we got messages back through a WiFi connection (we were at DVNP visitor center), so I can’t comment on two way communication yet. Texting via satellite won’t work if there’s cell service.

Also when I sent a message via satellite to my phone, I couldn’t receive it using WiFi. Perhaps it has to go through SMS texting. The texts showed up as soon as I was in cell service. This isn’t a really big deal for emergencies, but didn’t work for our testing.

We’ll do more testing when in the back country next week and report back.

We’ve also done the demo test of emergency satellite with the phone which you can do in cell service. That seems to work well.

My other initial thought: if you aren’t a hiker and stay close to your truck, the phone may be a good option. If you are hiking where it’s easy to drop the fragile phone, perhaps an InReach device is better. I’m liking having both for now.

 

[Tom n N]

I finally had a chance to test the iOS 18 satellite texting. My first impression is this will kill off the InReach system some day, but isn’t quite ready for that yet. It may be like how phones have replaced hand held GPS receivers with far better functionality.

We successfully sent messages out. Unfortunately we got messages back through a WiFi connection (we were at DVNP visitor center), so I can’t comment on two way communication yet. Texting via satellite won’t work if there’s cell service.

Also when I sent a message via satellite to my phone, I couldn’t receive it using WiFi. Perhaps it has to go through SMS texting. The texts showed up as soon as I was in cell service. This isn’t a really big deal for emergencies, but didn’t work for our testing.

We’ll do more testing when in the back country next week and report back.

We’ve also done the demo test of emergency satellite with the phone which you can do in cell service. That seems to work well.

My other initial thought: if you aren’t a hiker and stay close to your truck, the phone may be a good option. If you are hiking where it’s easy to drop the fragile phone, perhaps an InReach device is better. I’m liking having both for now.

Appreciate the update.
You and others make a good point about the fragility of a phone. Honestly, in our older age we’re sticking a lot closer to the truck these days. Not a lot of all day hikes and boulder hopping as in days gone by, but still, something to consider.

Looking forward to hearing how things work once you get further into the back country. I would say if you can reliably have a two way text with someone back home when you’re in a place like Stripped Butte Valley, then I would think you’re good to go texting for help from anywhere. Again, for the purposes of this discussion, am only interested in two way text communications when out of cell or WiFi range.

I agree that we are on the cusp of satellites making not only the various emergency devices, but our entire cell tower infrastructure obsolete soon. It’s ironic that early mobile phones used satellite technology originally, then transitioned to the current tower system. I have a cousin who has spent her entire career in third world countries, mainly in Africa and Asia (she’s currently in Nepal) and has always depended on satellite phones during her rural travels. I always hoped that the technology would someday become accessible to regular travelers like me. Are we actually at that point now?

Anyway, thank you for sharing the results of your real world field testing. I and I’m sure many others really appreciate it. Keep us posted.
Tom

 

[Sagebrush Reconnoiterer]

I agree that we are on the cusp of satellites making not only the various emergency devices, but our entire cell tower infrastructure obsolete soon. It’s ironic that early mobile phones used satellite technology originally, then transitioned to the current tower system. I have a cousin who has spent her entire career in third world countries, mainly in Africa and Asia (she’s currently in Nepal) and has always depended on satellite phones during her rural travels. I always hoped that the technology would someday become accessible to regular travelers like me.

I'm using a satellite phone, in 2007, in Eureka Valley, California (Death Valley National Park) to call home (I lived in nearby Big Pine then). The phone was a rental. Costs to purchase then were pretty pricey, but renting for a long trip wasn't bad. I don't know what costs are today. An acquaintance of mine owns and uses one as he travels a lot in the rural West.

 

[dennis 221]

US=2 Phones, one inreach mini2 ,an one ham radio

 

[Tom n N]

Much has been said about cell phones not being terribly durable, and that’s a valid point.
It should be pointed out though, that there are a lot of good aftermarket protective cases that can mitigate this. I spent my career in construction, and had to carry a cell phone at all times when working. Needless to say it took a real beating every day. Our company issued phones all came with the heaviest duty Otter Boxes available, and I can verify they work really well. Can’t count how many times I dropped one from a ladder or the top of a power pole. Fortunately, I never destroyed one of the bosses expensive iPhones. You can bet our personal phones have the same protection.
Just another part of the equation,
Tom

 

[FAW3]

I consider my must have "overlanding communications" to include:

1: A cell phone. Should be "field use rugged" with either a good protective cover or a phone designed for hard use. I use a Kyocera DuraForce model.
2: A SPOT tracker.
3: 2-meter ham radio. I have "Repeater Finder" loaded onto phone and IPad.

Just to broaden the topic a bit, not really "communications" as such but some other things come to mind:

1: A NOAA weather alert radio. I get this via my ICON 2-meter radio and a handheld portable from CRANE.
2: A backup map system. Can be a printed DeLorme State Map or offline maps downloaded onto my IPad. I never want to rely on all my mapping being on one device that can fail, be dropped or whatever.

 

[Sagefemme]

Much has been said about cell phones not being terribly durable, and that’s a valid point.
It should be pointed out though, that there are a lot of good aftermarket protective cases that can mitigate this. I spent my career in construction, and had to carry a cell phone at all times when working. Needless to say it took a real beating every day. Our company issued phones all came with the heaviest duty Otter Boxes available, and I can verify they work really well. Can’t count how many times I dropped one from a ladder or the top of a power pole. Fortunately, I never destroyed one of the bosses expensive iPhones. You can bet our personal phones have the same protection.
Just another part of the equation,
Tom

This puts me in mind of the aviation event in the last year when a panel in the fuselage of an Alaska Airlines Boeing plane blew off during ascent out of the Portland airport. One of the details that emerged later was that a passenger's iPhone was found in the backyard of a house in Beaverton, Oregon. The phone was on and working, and open to the luggage search app of Alaska Air. They can be durable. This one fell 20,000 feet and was still operational and trying to locate the passenger's luggage! No mention in the news of what protective case, if any, was on the phone.

 

[dennis 221]

So sad..Just discovered my ham handheld radio connects to the Canadian weather channels..too

 

[Tom n N]

It has been really interesting following the great information from all of you out there that this thread has generated.

While a lot of you may very well know all this already, I found some very good concise answers to my original question online in the “iPhone Users Guide” under
“Send a Text Message Via Satellite on iPhone”
And
“Use Emergency SOS Via Satellite On Your iPhone”

A couple important things I learned were that these are two completely separate functions (and that regular satellite texting should NOT be used in an emergency) and that there are a few important steps that need to be taken to utilize either function BEFORE you leave regular cell coverage. Also was able to verify the need for ISO 18 on an iPhone 14-16. Of course your particular carrier will factor in to all this, but apparently this will be a free service for the first two years (like any successful drug dealer, the first taste is always free!)

While the message of using redundancy has been received loud and clear, since I’m starting from absolutely no device of any kind (well, I always figured I could light my spare tire on fire to send an emergency smoke signal) I’m thinking this might be a good first step towards entering the 21st century.

I’m also eagerly awaiting results of any real world “field testing” from the Rubberlegs or any others out there.

Thanks
Tom

 

[dennis 221]

T-mobile an starlink sign a deal .so more service & money to spend..don't know when rollout will happen

 

[Kodachrome]

I spend a ton of time in the backcountry out of cell range so I have always had a Spot, Inreach and now a Zoleo sat messenger. I like the intuitive aspect of the Zoleo and it gives very location accurate weather forecasts.

It came in especially handy while I was doing a super remote 180 mile trek and 20,000’ foot peak climb in the Himalaya last month, the weather forecasting was spot on and saved me time and energy. My wife loves it.

 

[rubberlegs]

We used an iPhone 15 quite a bit on our recent 5-week trip, and are very pleased how satellite texting works. We were able to connect with both IOS and Android phones, and received messages back from both. I am thinking soon phones will supersede devices like our InReach Mini.

First, you need open sky for either device. In a canyon or forest you may have a lot of trouble. Quite a few times in the Pacific Northwest forests I can't get our InReach Mini (not the Mini 2) to find itself on the planet. Probably the phone will have similar trouble. Maybe the Mini 2 connects to more satellites than the Mini, and phones usually connect to all GPS satellites as far as I understand.

When your "ground team" doesn't get the nightly "in camp" message, they can freak out. But there's been several times I could not communicate with either GPS or message satellites. Also, once on the trip the InReach system must have been partly down, because it wasn't sending out our location.

For SOS (emergency) and sending a message, the InReach sends your location. I'm not sure the iPhone does that for SOS, but they can guide you on how to use another app built into the phone for determining location. Yes, SOS is a different procedure than texting so maybe they'll know where you are. In order to connect to a satellite, the phone takes a few minutes to find the nearest satellite. Then it guides you on which direction to orient the phone. That's much better than the InReach, which tells you nothing and sometimes takes a long time to connect, even with open sky. I'm guessing for SOS that either will work similarly.

For both all communication is by "texting". There is no voice capability. New InReach devices can send photos so maybe they are trying to compete better with the new phones. The InReach always sends your lat/long coordinates when you send a text. For the phone you'd have to write your location into your message. For now, the InReach is slightly better since it sends your location.

The InReach can send messages as text, to an email address, or to another InReach device. The phone can only send a text. Another minor plus for InReach.

We asked our friend for a weather forecast using the phone, which worked well. He's an experienced backcountry traveler and knows how to deliver us a good forecast. The InReach now has "Premium" weather from your location (or a stored location) as one of the 50 messages included in our plan. We used that a lot in Death Valley the past month. If you have a knowledgeable person, it's a tie, otherwise the InReach is currently better.

The phone is generally easier to use with better software. The InReach works more easily with the phone app than directly with the device, but having used it thousands of times that's not an issue for me. But my wife doesn't use it as often and found the phone texting much easier. So the phone is slightly better but you need to practice either one.

Probably as a beginner in satellite communication, I'd start with the phone. Just protect it from damage and bring extra battery energy when away from your vehicle.

Currently, Apple isn't charging for satellite texting. Our InReach plan is about $15/month, plus the cost of the device is several hundred dollars. Certainly using a phone you already have is attractive for that reason. For iPhones, it has to be iPhone 14 or later. I suspect they will start charging at some point. So the phone is cheaper for now.

Many people want to get away from being contacted out in the boonies, but we enjoyed being able to alert loved ones, and get weather and road reports. To each their own!

Hope this covers various cases... ask away if not!

 

[Sagebrush Reconnoiterer]

Also, once on the trip the InReach system must have been partly down, because it wasn't sending out our location.

I receive “Camped here” messages from ski3pins when they are on a trip, using their inReach. I recently got a message with no coordinates, first time I’ve experienced that. Upon opening the link in a browser, one only gets a 2D strip image of the globe and the text box. I replied to their IR message stating so, they texted by phone the following day stating that it sometimes happens.

 

[rubberlegs]

Yes, that happened to us a couple weeks ago. The issue resolved itself a few hours later.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

That happens occasionally, but is usually solved by making sure you’ve got 3D connections, and leaving the handheld on for a few minutes after sending. If you leave it sitting on the rig, don’t forget it’s there.

 

[rubberlegs]

I always get location locked in before sending a preset message on our InReach. But rarely the message has that glitch anyway.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Another possible glitch might be a phone app that is out of sync with a recent InReach update.

 

[Sagebrush Reconnoiterer]

If you leave it sitting on the rig, don’t forget it’s there.

That happened to Monte & Julie a couple years ago. If I remember right, it sat on top of their camper all the way home, where they found it. They chronicled that experience in their blog.