Garmin inreach Mini

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Jurassic pusher
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Garmin inreach Mini

Post by Jurassic pusher »

A friend told me about this, a great review on DC Rainmakers site, could it be the answer to all of Spots downfalls?
Asposium
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Re: Garmin inreach Mini

Post by Asposium »

Jurassic pusher wrote:A friend told me about this, a great review on DC Rainmakers site, could it be the answer to all of Spots downfalls?
inReach isn’t perfect; the price being the main sticking point.
Pete-G
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Re: Garmin inreach Mini

Post by Pete-G »

The mini looks like a great little device to me. Basic communication, price is a lot more competitive to Spot, and the option to use the subscription as and when. The first Garmin\InReach devices are proper pricey, but this is nearly half
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Javi
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Re: Garmin inreach Mini

Post by Javi »

Real user experiences on battery life? I've read very bad reviews.

My SPOT membership is about to finish and may swap for a In REach Mini
Lazarus
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Re: Garmin inreach Mini

Post by Lazarus »

dont know but also watching them with interest- I bet it makes SPOT up their game - as the two way communication seems much more useful[ if you ever actually need the emergency option]
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Jurassic pusher
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Re: Garmin inreach Mini

Post by Jurassic pusher »

Since my original post (last May), I bought one 5 weeks ago £250 from Blacks/Millets, it`s first proper outing was the just passed Dales Divide.
I am very impressed with it, easy to use and the menus etc are quite straight forward and I no tech expert!! Sending and receiving texts from home anywhere was nice (but not real deal maker for me)
The battery reached the 25% remaining level after being on for 45-47 hrs so Garmins prediction of a 50 hour battery life is a little conservative, I plugged it into a battery pack but it may well have lasted upto 60 hrs
It was set to track every 10 mins.
As I am not going to need it now for such intense tracking I will down grade my Garmin Subs plan, something a Gen 3 Spot is not able to do
So overall for me it is ideal, if I was in need of regular high level of tracking then a Spot may prove to be more cost effective.
Asposium
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Re: Garmin inreach Mini

Post by Asposium »

Jurassic pusher wrote: Thu Apr 25, 2019 8:01 pm As I am not going to need it now for such intense tracking I will down grade my Garmin Subs plan
another option is to "suspend" the inReach when not required
still need to pay the annual fee
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Mart
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Re: Garmin inreach Mini

Post by Mart »

I just got one for my 25year long service award present.
Only just tested it out and like it a lot - even a numpty like me can use it :-bd
2924 miles per Gallon
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Richard G
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Re: Garmin inreach Mini

Post by Richard G »

Does that base "safety plan" come with the GEOS search and rescue stuff, or is that extra? (assuming they even do it)
Asposium
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Re: Garmin inreach Mini

Post by Asposium »

Richard G wrote: Fri Apr 26, 2019 12:11 pm Does that base "safety plan" come with the GEOS search and rescue stuff, or is that extra? (assuming they even do it)
All the plans have basic GEOS

It is possible to purchase extra cover and /or medivac

I did suggest to Garmin there should be an SOS plan; no tracking at all, no messages
Essentially turns the inReach into a PLB.
Said was a good idea and would consider, seems they haven’t
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Alpinum
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Re: Garmin inreach Mini

Post by Alpinum »

Just as a little reminder (posted this multiple times on other threads), you might want to have a look at protegear.de for some (likely) more usefully and cheaper data plans:

https://www.protegear.de/english/dataplans-for-inreach/
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Javi
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Re: Garmin inreach Mini

Post by Javi »

Thanks Gian. Those are better data plans.
I guess I'll have to separate tracking intervals and fiddle with the options to get it last for 1 week during HT550.
Battery life: Up to 50 hours at 10-minute tracking with 5-minute logging (default); up to 30 hours at 10-minute tracking with 1-second logging; up to 20 days at the 30-minute interval power save mode; and up to 1 year when powered off
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