Inreach Mini or Something Better?

[gibbons025]

I bought the Garmin 66i here a month ago. I’ve been testing it out and have had great battery life. I left it on for a week and it was just at a 1/4 battery. I bought the freedom plan which was I believe is 62 dollars month with a 24 dollar activation fee , that’s for the unlimited text plan. Of course there are cheaper plans but I plan on letting the other guys in my party text home when needed and receive messages so the price was worth it for me. You can just suspended the account until you need it again. I know it’s pricey but it stops me from having to carry two devices.

 

[Team4LongGun]

Can someone clarify-
With the in reach mini-I’m syncing my iPhone to it and I now text on my iPhone to family? Is this correct?

 

[RosinBag]

Can someone clarify-
With the in reach mini-I’m syncing my iPhone to it and I now text on my iPhone to family? Is this correct?

That is correct. You text through the Earthmate app just like normal. You can also choose to send them your location or not. Mine has worked flawlessly.

 

[muddydogs]

Haven't done the Map Share thing. Is it worth it?

The one function I would love is to be able to send an out of office email that says "in the event of an emergency you can reach me this way: bla bla bla," as I have a number of folks that might need to get ahold of me for one reason or another.

If you tend to forget to send the people that need to contact you a text right off the bat it might be or if you track a lot and your significant other is interested in watching your track line it could be. My wife could care less about my track and doesn't get to concerned unless she doesn't hear from me for a couple days so the Map Share deal is only a back up plan for me.

I'm not sure if someone could send an email message to our inreach email account from another email account or not, guess I'll have to try that.

 

[muddydogs]

Can someone clarify-
With the in reach mini-I’m syncing my iPhone to it and I now text on my iPhone to family? Is this correct?

Yes, through the Earthmate app not your phones texting app.

 

[IdahoMtnWalker]

I've been running the mini for a year now and it has also worked perfectly. Earthmate app on the phone is an easy way to communicate with folks outside.

 

[justin davis]

So, word of warning...your inreach text number is not "yours," and it can change frequently. The only way for someone to send a text message to you that you receive on your inreach is for you to send them one first that they then reply to.

So there is no way to get ahold of your buddy if they have an inreach unless they message you 1st?

 

[Dos Perros]

I'm not sure if someone could send an email message to our inreach email account from another email account or not, guess I'll have to try that.

Folks at Garmin said that will definitely not work.

 

[Dos Perros]

So there is no way to get ahold of your buddy if they have an inreach unless they message you 1st?

Allegedly. I guess the one exception (besides Map Share as noted above) is if you also have an inreach and you know their inreach address. Then you could send an unsolicited message.

 

[Dos Perros]

This is Garmin's breakdown of how the messaging works:

https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=o4sYSXP4LC8KhFNWJEVPI7

 

[justin davis]

This is Garmin's breakdown of how the messaging works:

https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=o4sYSXP4LC8KhFNWJEVPI7

Thanks

 

[ozyclint]

with the mini can you get weather forecasts for a location other than your current one? can you input a co-ordinate then get weather for that location?

 

[muddydogs]

with the mini can you get weather forecasts for a location other than your current one? can you input a co-ordinate then get weather for that location?

Just be aware that the weather comes from probably the closest weather station location and while fairly accurate the temps where I hunt can vary 20 plus degrees from real life to what the app says.

 

[TradLife406]

I ran the Mini last year.
I think if a guy is day hunting it may be OK. But I usually go out for a few days and the battery just didn't last.
Also it really struggled to send out and receive texts.

I picked up a slightly used Explorer + and tried it out last weekend. It seems a lot better on the battery and sending and receiving texts.

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

 

[ozyclint]

what was your usage style for the mini? did you have it on all day sending tracking points?

i only want to turn it on for sending a message once a day and a weather report every other day. it'll be turned off most of the time. need it to last 14 days in NZ.