adventure907
WKR
Yea, I stick with my sat phone ever since my Delorme fiasco.
DeLorme inReach
- Thread starter mt100gr.
- Start date
RCA Dog
Lil-Rokslider
I use the SE. It's been pretty good. I pair it with my phone, as entering texts via the toggle on the device itself is not the greatest. Also, I don't bring my gps anymore, so the weight is a wash. The rudimentary gps on the phone is good enough, if I feel like I need a gps. I don't really use the tracking feature, because of battery life (not that I've ever run out), but will turn the unit on for a few minutes in the evening and check in. The plans are pretty flexible, and you can deactivate and reactivate whenever you want. I had one issue, when I left it in my boat over the winter. I found it in the spring, and it still had battery life, so I turned it on. Once the battery had run down, I plugged it in to charge it, and it basically turned into a brick. I left it for a few days, and it started working again, and I haven't had any problems since.
TJ
WKR
For those with the Explorer, does the GPS work good enough to not need to carry both a GPS and the Explorer?
COlineman78
WKR
Had this happen once during thick cloud cover. Now I don't put it back in my pack until I get confirmation that it sent. Sometimes it will ask if you want to wait for a GPS fix before it sends which can cause it to wait forever. Luckily I had enough cell signal to get texts as the weather turned to shit and it ended up pushing me down.
zman
Lil-Rokslider
I just reactivated my Delorme inreach last night. 34.95 a month for the recreational plan. 40 messages a month. Worked great last year. I usually only have it activated 2 months or so a year. Nice for peace of mind as well as for the wife.
I put mine on the outside of my pack so it gets better connections.
COlineman78
WKR
At this point your phone has a GPS, so no need for the Explorer. IMO I think it's a waste of money to go with the explorer over the SE and just carry a phone.
I personally only send maybe 10 or so messages a year that aren't preset and stick to trails so don't necessarily need tracking, so I just stick with the lowest plan. I also started thinking I would only keep it activated a few months out of the year, but ended up bringing it with any time I would be in an area of questionable signal, such as ice fishing, fly fishing and backpacking.
jrice
FNG
I've liked using mine, seems to help a bit with the lonely factor when you are hunting alone, but it went dead on me at a really bad time when I was deep in NV on a deer hunt last fall. I knew it wasn't the battery and had no idea what the problem was. I knew my wife would be really worried if she didn't get a text, so I hike, motorbiked, and drove all the way back to civilization and called Delorme. Turns out that happens from time to time and there is a hard reset procedure to turn the unit back on, which wasn't explained in my paperwork. I did it (holding down 2 keys at once) and it fixed the problem instantly, but it cost me over a day of my hunt. On the same trip I had a problem with the directional button, and eventually couldn't get it to in one direction at all. They immediately sent me a replacement after I got back and called them, but that key shouldn't have gone out that fast, as it hadn't had much use. I think the reset instructions may be printed on the back of the newer units now, at least that's what I think they told me.
I'm missing the days when we were totally cut off from the world. Those days are gone forever now. I once hunted for 18 days in AK with no contact with the outside, pretty sweet, but like I say being able to communicate helps with the lonely thing.
I'm missing the days when we were totally cut off from the world. Those days are gone forever now. I once hunted for 18 days in AK with no contact with the outside, pretty sweet, but like I say being able to communicate helps with the lonely thing.
Chem-E
Lil-Rokslider
I'm really liking my SE. I use my phone as a GPS and to interface with the InReach. I didn't see the need for the Explorer. I also don't think it is that big a deal to type a message right on the SE. Some people complain about this feature, but how long of texts are you really going to send anyway? This definitely keeps the wife happy and I don't get as much grief for taking off solo.
I picked the SE up last month and used it on a 4 day trip. Set up was easy even for a guy who is terrible with tech stuff. I With it sync to your phone it is really easy t o use and send texts. I really didn't need to use the keys on the device only to turn it on and off. Battery life was great only got down to 85% after 4 days of use. Like the guys said above this is a great piece of gear for your wife and family back home. My wife has health problems and it was nice to be able to focus on my hunts without that little voice in the back of my head worrying if she was ok. IMO its well worth the money, I always have been very nervous coming out of the back country waiting to get signal I would feel like absolute crap if I came out all fat dumb and happy after a great trip only to find out something bad had happened, I know that it would be the last time I ever stepped into the woods again... The device is limited to what it is, it is by no means an end all and has its limitations. GPS is ok but I don't use this as my GPS. With all of that said I would definitely recommend buy one.
- Thread Starter
- #33
My rental Inreach explorer just came in the mail yesterday. Couple questions.
Say we've previously paired the unit with our cell phones and reach a spot we actually have cell service. If we want to start texting family/friends like teenage girls without the fear of eating up our data, we'd just turn bluetooth off on our phones and text away, right?
Mapshare - I've activated this on my In Reach account. I plan on sending the map link to the wives with instructions not to click "locate" unless they haven't heard from us for a day. Here's my question, I see on the In reach unit itself that I can send a message to "mapshare." This is only sharing our location on the map and they should see this location whenever they go to the link, right?
Also, it's my understanding that messages can NOT be seen on the map link unless we select "mapshare" as an additional contact when sending a text, right?
Say we've previously paired the unit with our cell phones and reach a spot we actually have cell service. If we want to start texting family/friends like teenage girls without the fear of eating up our data, we'd just turn bluetooth off on our phones and text away, right?
Mapshare - I've activated this on my In Reach account. I plan on sending the map link to the wives with instructions not to click "locate" unless they haven't heard from us for a day. Here's my question, I see on the In reach unit itself that I can send a message to "mapshare." This is only sharing our location on the map and they should see this location whenever they go to the link, right?
Also, it's my understanding that messages can NOT be seen on the map link unless we select "mapshare" as an additional contact when sending a text, right?
Finch, Not sure on the map stuff, but you should have no problems texting. The actual texting is on a separate app from your normal phones texting so it is a non issue. All the messages I sent my wife had a link to a map that showed where the message was sent from.
Ok, so you're saying as long as we send messages through our regular messaging app (whenever we have service), we should not be charged data but I guess we'd still need to turn off bluetooth since incoming messages might come thru the in reach app or would they?
ndbwhunter
WKR
How do you charge them while in the field? The website says the battery will last for 100 hours of continuous use. Do you turn it on and off as needed, or do you let it run all the time?
COlineman78
WKR
No, you could keep bluetooth on. Only texts coming through the InReach app (Earthmate) came through the InReach Device. Anything that comes through your normal texting (SMS) app came over your normal cell phone number. All texts will contain a link to a map where the message was sent from, but they will not be visible to everyone who has access to the mapshare link unless you include mapshare on the message (which I do for all of my presets). If you plan on using tracking I would suggest that you make sure you have some way of charging the device as it has to work very hard to keep a GPS signal if you are in a valley (which is commonly where you camp here in CO. I usually have my presets going to email rather than text as it contains more information and an easier way to access it; they're free so test it out at home. I use these presets as a free form of tracking and have one set to 'I'm here, checking in' which you could do a couple times a day. The problem with these devices is that people get used to the contact, so make sure they don't freak out until a time where you are expected to have cell service.
COlineman78
WKR
With bluetooth on, this is nowhere near true. Mine lasted 2.5 days this past weekend with clear skies, but in the bottom of a valley. I charge mine using a 18650 battery USB charger. Same thing I use to charge my phone. If I was going to be out for a while I'd consider a solar charger like this
Similar threads
Latest posts
-
-
-
Anyone start out with a compound, go to Trad and then back to a compound?- Latest: fuzzymarindave
-
-
Featured Video
Stats
Latest Articles
-
Idaho Mule Deer Management with Eric Freeman
-
TT#28 Idaho Bear Hunting with Roger Holscher and Chris Young
-
Rockstar Research with Kevin Monteith
-
Hunting Big Mule Deer: Obey the Wind & Still-Hunting
-
TT#27 DIY New Zealand Hunting with Australian Duo Miller and Pitts
-
Fewer Bucks, More Fawns?
-
Mathews Lift Review
-
Wyoming Range Winter Wrap-Up with Jeff Short
-
The Pursuit with Cliff Gray
-
Mile High Mule Deer Seminar