Tell me about Garmin InReach

[stevewaters]

With Protegear's data plans, can you stop them for a few months and restart without penalty ? or do you always need to have the SOS monthly plan as a minimum ?

[Richard G]

Going off what the site says, once you've paid the activation fee (don't miss that, it's expensive at €79), you basically just pay for the periods you need in the year.

[Alpinum]

Logging is stored within the unit; then, when the mini (or Explorer+) are synced via the EarthMate app that logging data is shown on the website (explore) tracking page.

Do you mean, when tracking by iridium is done and sent to a webpage (-map) there may be a few gaps. These gaps will be filled once the device is connected to the mobile phone (via bluetooth to the Earthmate app) and thus, logged points will be uploaded to the webpage via Earthmate filling in the above mentioned gaps?

[Alpinum]

With Protegear's data plans, can you stop them for a few months and restart without penalty ? or do you always need to have the SOS monthly plan as a minimum ?

Going off what the site says, once you've paid the activation fee (don't miss that, it's expensive at €79), you basically just pay for the periods you need in the year.

Exactly. It works all automatically. I don't have to bother about anything. After some trips you may find you could change dataplan (for more or for less services), which you can do at any time.

[Alpinum]

My 2 gen SPOT would drain it batteries with about 60 h of 10 min tracking. Nothing new there...

My Gen 3 goes a lot longer than that on a set of fresh Lithiums. Spot quote over 400 hours given a clear view of the sky.

True, 4 AAA batteries and a much easier system, the 3 gen SPOT is possibly the best option for tracking only use.
Yet don't expect 400 h when tracking in Scotland...
It's more like 100 - 150 h (from mates experiences).

[Asposium]

Logging is stored within the unit; then, when the mini (or Explorer+) are synced via the EarthMate app that logging data is shown on the website (explore) tracking page.

Do you mean, when tracking by iridium is done and sent to a webpage (-map) there may be a few gaps. These gaps will be filled once the device is connected to the mobile phone (via bluetooth to the Earthmate app) and thus, logged points will be uploaded to the webpage via Earthmate filling in the above mentioned gaps?

Exactly

Kind of useless for knowing where someone *is*

But useful for seeing where they’ve *been*

[Alpinum]

Sorry, misunderstood your first response.

[ScotRoutes]

My 2 gen SPOT would drain it batteries with about 60 h of 10 min tracking. Nothing new there...

My Gen 3 goes a lot longer than that on a set of fresh Lithiums. Spot quote over 400 hours given a clear view of the sky.

True, 4 AAA batteries and a much easier system, the 3 gen SPOT is possibly the best option for tracking only use.
Yet don't expect 400 h when tracking in Scotland...
It's more like 100 - 150 h (from mates experiences).

Guess where mine is used.....

[Alpinum]

Guess where mine is used.....

Spot quote over 400 hours

That's why I thought it'd be helpful to put in some numbers from experience outside of labs and ideal conditions.