Back Country Question ASAP

[svhunter]

I'm heading to Co in 2 days. I thought I wouldn't need communication in the back country but things seemed to have changed. My 25 year old baby sis, who has cancer but was doing really well, seems to be in limbo a little bit. I'm afraid to be out of reach. Is a Strata rental a decently reliable option for 2 weeks or should I pursue something else. Price seems good enough at 60 bucks a week. But maybe there are hidden catches. I'm in scramble mode here cause I'm running out of time.

 

[muddydogs]

Whats a Strata rental? It would cost you a few bucks put you could stop by your local sporting goods store and pick up an InReach SE+, spend about an hour getting it set up and at least have texting communication.

 

[svhunter]

Its a network company who rents out Globalstar sat phone as and option.

 

[Daniel_M]

Its a network company who rents out Globalstar sat phone as and option.

Globalstar may work better in the L48, but it's a no no here in Alaska. I would be looking at Iridium as they bounce a significantly higher amount of orbiting satellites.

 

[COlineman78]

Sat phones are simply frustrating to use. I forget which one Aron uses, maybe the Iridium GO. Either way if you don't need actual voice communications an In-Reach will be a much better solution and you should be able to get it up and running in a couple hours.

 

[muddydogs]

The Satphone is probably $60 a week plus per minute airtime which is probably around $2.00 a minute. Might be the cheapest way to go. While I'm all for the InReach the new SE+ models are going for $400 especially since you don't have time to shop around. For $400 you might as well get the Explorer for $450 to have a GPS as well or a back up GPS. Another $50 about will be required for the activation fee and first months air time so your looking at $450 to $500 to get an InReach up and running. Thow if you're going to spend some years remote hunting and want to start carrying a communication device then spending the money on an InReach might be better then wasting $120 plus air time on a Sat Phone.

Only you can decide where to spend your cash.

 

[svhunter]

Thanks Guys, I'm going to try the Sat phone, I think for my needs and time frame its worth the try. I asked again and 60 a week includes the airtime. We'll see how things work out.