SPOT or InReach?

[lune ranger]

I recently had a mid ride crash that left me with 3 broken ribs, broken scapula and a cracked humeral head I was on my own and needed to self-extract from Dartmoor. No big drama, I got to the road ok and then decided to carry on to reach my car rather than wait for help to come to me on a cold wet day. As a result my wife (egged on by both sets of our parents) wants me to get a tracker/communicator. I don’t think it would have changed anything about my recent fall. I doubt I’d have pressed the SOS button in this case - after all I rode 13km back to my car and could have decided to call an ambulance once I reached the road. I would have had phone reception somewhere on route.
However I’m getting a tracker anyway.
I’m looking at Garmin InReach Mini 2, InReach Messenger or SPOT Gen 4 or X.
I’ve dismissed Zoleo. Am I missing a good alternative?

As I see it SPOT subscription looks cheaper than InTeach for similar service. (I want messages and tracking).

Messenger doesn’t look easy to attach to the bike but is neat.
InReach Mini 2 has good mounting options and can act as a basic GPS
Gen 4 - one way messages only? Easy to strap down?
SPOT X pretty big/heavy in comparison. Less easy to strap down?

Big question is who pays (does anyone pay) for messengers sent to the unit from a phone. I see SPOT supply a UK mobile number, I’m unsure about InReach. Does this mean folk who send messages to me get them included in their normal plan? Do I pay to receive messages on either system?

[fatbikephil]

Sounds like a good self rescue there Lune. This pretty much explains my own decision to get rid of my spot and stop paying the excessive subscription fees. If you are in a position to press the button (i.e. conscious) you don't need to. I guess there will be a circumstance where it's life of death but I figured that would actually be very limited in this country.

Plus you may encounter the issue I did - nearest and dearest keep an eye on your tracking page and get worried when tracking stops (usually due to crap satellite reception, flat batteries etc) and nearly phone 999...

I took the decision that it was miles cheaper to hire one for a specific event and the rest of the time rely on myself to get out of what ever sticky situation I had just gotten myself into. For what it's worth I think the inreach was a better bet and Alpinum pointed out another operator that provided tracking support for less money / more flexibility. I think it's in the 'SPOT fees being gouged' thread, wherever that's got too.

[Lazarus]

Does this mean folk who send messages to me get them included in their normal plan?

Yes you pay to receive them ( or they are part of your subscription amount)

In reach tracking is not available at the £15 rather ( 10p a ping )
The one with tracking is about 35 a month or some such.
Basically spot for tracking and no reply messages
Inreach for replyable messages but poor tracking
PLB ( personal locator beacon) for no tracking no messages and no fees

I can think of plenty of scenarios where I am conscious enough to press a button but not travel miles to safety under my own steam .
Your risk perception MV

I have an inreach and likely to sell and get a PLB do lose the ability to let folk know you are safe though but also save hundreds over a decade

[Boab]

However I’m getting a tracker anyway.

After my second visit to a fenland drainage ditch, I need to get a tracker too. While I also extracted myself, pretty much all medical friends have given me the raised eyebrow and told me not to be so stupid next time. Watching this thread with interest...

[errol]

Had a spot gen 3 but now have an inreach and from a functional point of view both are great and easy to use but the inreach mini 2 is streets ahead and up to date. Highly recommend!

I did look at the messenger and but for a bit more the mini 2 is a bit more user friendly, IMHO

Mrs Woman wont let me go out on a long ride without it! Bit like the string vest question! 'Have you got it on'?

[Asposium]

Big question is who pays (does anyone pay) for messengers sent to the unit from a phone. I see SPOT supply a UK mobile number, I’m unsure about InReach. Does this mean folk who send messages to me get them included in their normal plan? Do I pay to receive messages on either system?

In theory.....

You as the inReach owner pay for messages, the sender is sending /receiving a normal text.
So, if unlimited texts (for the sender) then free.
You pay for the incoming text, or it comes off your allowance.
To be clear, you pay for outgoing and incoming messages.

A weather forecast counts as one message

Preset messages are free
There are three preset messages


Depends......

When I went to NZ I took the inReach with the unlimited tariff
So, I could send / receive as many messages as I wanted
And two min tracking
I was messaging a friend on EE just fine.
However, later discovered a friend on O2 was being charged for sending a text abroad
Turns out the mobile number Garmin uses for inReach messaging is abroad (Jersey i believe it was) and O2 charge for this.
Was a couple of years back, so might have changed.

Messages to GEOS (SOS) are free.
Have used SOS once, a rider slipped and broke ankle in NZ
Was helpful to be able to describe the incident to the rescuers
Explain wasn't me.
Then, as i rode up the valley, to hear the helicopter behind coming to collect her.



======
It is a shame inReach doesn't have an mid-tier unlimited messages subscription
There is a mid-tier unlimited tracking subscription
However, on the top-tier is unlimited messages
Did suggest to Garmin, nothing happened

[Lazarus]

Preset messages are free

To be clear.you preset the message yourself and what the message is and who it goes to. Don't think there is a limit as I had 11 numbers when doing a group Lejog.

[Taylor]

If you are in a position to press the button (i.e. conscious) you don't need to. I guess there will be a circumstance where it's life of death but I figured that would actually be very limited in this country.

Plus you may encounter the issue I did - nearest and dearest keep an eye on your tracking page and get worried when tracking stops (usually due to crap satellite reception, flat batteries etc) and nearly phone 999...

I recently thought about getting rid of my subscription for my spot and having just finished my 16 hour outdoor first aid course today I think I might keep it going, the first Mrs. Taylor wouldn’t have let me get rid of it anyway.
My son is training for Ten Tors later in the spring so he’s using it too.

I also have the issue of her panicking if it doesn’t send a tracking update. One time she was on the phone to MattRV asking him if he thought I was ok, he’s in London and I was riding in Wales, how the flip she thought he’d know, I have no idea.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Or maybe ....

[Boab]

Ooooo, I keep forgetting that I have an emergency flare in my explosives box. Might have to dig it out for my next big trip...

[lune ranger]

What telephone prefix do you get with InReach?
Is it +44 - a UK number? SPOT apparently is.

Edit - I just found this link:

https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=o ... hFNWJEVPI7

[Asposium]

What telephone prefix do you get with InReach?
Is it +44 - a UK number? SPOT apparently is.

Edit - I just found this link:

https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=o ... hFNWJEVPI7

Mine comes from a +44 number

[Lazarus]

Mine is +44 as well but assume they are all set to your own country rather than all UK

[lune ranger]

Mine is +44 as well but assume they are all set to your own country rather than all UK

Sure. Looking at the link above, it looks like the device switches number for a local prefix when it detects it’s in a new area.

[Alpinum]

If you are in a position to press the button (i.e. conscious) you don't need to.

There are many realistic situations where one can press a button or could make a phone call (but has no service) but is not mobile.
Been there myself a couple of times.
What you wrote reads lile a joke to me. If you weren't being serious you may excuse my current lack of sarcasm. My last concussion, 12 days ago, may have knocked some senses out of my mind.

It is a shame inReach doesn't have an mid-tier unlimited messages subscription
There is a mid-tier unlimited tracking subscription
However, on the top-tier is unlimited messages
Did suggest to Garmin, nothing happened

Check with Protegear. Perhaps you find something suitable over there. I've been using their services for about 4 years and as mentioned often on here, it's amazing. Similar prices I guess, but not sure Garmin is so extremely responsive (even regular questions get answered within just a couple of hours, mostly minutes!).

I moved to Garmin/InReach because at the time I replaced my 2nd Gen SPOT, there was no other option for compact and "cheap" 2 way sat comm options.
Given my experience with SPOT and their service... never again. But things may have changed.

Or maybe ....

If a tree falls down in the woods and nobody's there to hear it, did it make a sound?

[lune ranger]

The InReach would sync to my Edge or Forerunner device and therefore could be set up with ‘crash detection’ which would automatically press the SOS button. I realise the system isn’t perfect but it’s another tick for Garmin.

[Lazarus]

The InReach would sync to my Edge or Forerunner device

My crash detection has only ever"worked" when I was riding along and nothing at all has happened . It was gravel bike territory at the time so not even very rough

For balance I have not proper crashed with it so no idea if it works then but it does give false positives so would not want it to go to SOS .Does it give you a period of time to cancel SOS ?

[lune ranger]

If it works the same way as standard crash detection does on Garmin then it will give a warning and count down to sending the notification.
Not totally convinced by it as a feature per se but it offers something SPOT doesn’t.

[Martin B]

My Tu'pence worth:

I'm an InReach mini user. Mainly used for hillwalking/mountaineering and i've been working towards my Winter Mountain Leader so been going out solo a lot on the hills recently. I got it mainly due to my experience in protracted Mountain Rescue searches.

I use the basic Garmin Emergency contract - 3 presets can be sent as many times as i want for free, plus 10 incoming/outgoing custom messages per month
Anything above the 10, cost me 50p per message. There is no live tracking but I leave good route plans and fire out presets at regular intervals. If my plans go awry my contacts have been told they can log in and request my location from my InReach via the website - login details had been emailed and printed for my contacts and i made an instruction manual on how to do everything with screenshots.

My presets are customised online prior to going out. The 1st is a general checking in message and the 2nd is a 'running late but not to worry' both have *Do Not Reply* so that my contacts don't reply and eat in to my 10 free custom messages accidentally, the 3rd preset is soon to get changed to something like 'back at Car/Base/campsite etc and expect no further messages today' if i'm away for a few days. Just need to think of the wording of that one.

From a Search and Rescue perspective, i've spent many days out searching for missing hillwalkers/mountaineers as part of an MR team and came to the conclusion that if they had a tracker, even one with the basic no constant tracking but can request location as i have, we'd save a huge amount of time searching for them. Also even if MR can't get a location, firing out preset messages which incl your location gives us a step for a hint on your progress and where best to target SAR resources.
Even if the misper isn't alive we'd still, hopefully, be able to recover their body for their family - There's currently a lot of outstanding long term mispers in the Scottish countryside/mountains.

[Asposium]

^^^^

There is a setting on the inReach share page whereby a page visitor can ping the location of the inReach.

Setting is off by default I believe.

[rudedog]

Has anybody used the Apple SOS satellite service that come with latest iPhone 14?

I think a similar feature is also expected on the next release of Android.

[benp1]

I noticed in T3 mag earlier today that the Garmin GPSMAP66 can come with InReach built in, not sure whether that is helpful or not. One less device, one less thing to charge/use/lose, but less redundancy...?

Thankfully my crashes have only been with other people. That break above could've been to lower half rather than upper half, no easy way to self extract with that. I can think of a few local spots that would be really tricky to get help too. They're not remote in the slightest, but I don't know how help would get there - no MR here but there's no road nearby so no ambulance is getting in and phone signal is often patchy. We all must have places like that

Then again, it's been that way ever thus

[Asposium]

I noticed in T3 mag earlier today that the Garmin GPSMAP66 can come with InReach built in, not sure whether that is helpful or not. One less device, one less thing to charge/use/lose, but less redundancy...?

Indeed, in the grand scheme of things "one more device" is no big issue.

Also, an inReach should, ideally, be attached to the rider and not the bike.

If a crash was bad enough that one could not move to the bike then being separated from the bike would be problematic if the inReach were on the bike.

Also, less likely to be damaged if not on the bike

[Lazarus]

Yes mine is always lanyard to me when solo for that reason.
It's not something I had considered but think it's advice in the manual

[Alpinum]

The 1st is a general checking in message and the 2nd is a 'running late but not to worry' both have *Do Not Reply* so that my contacts don't reply and eat in to my 10 free custom messages accidentally, the 3rd preset is soon to get changed to something like 'back at Car/Base/campsite etc and expect no further messages today' if i'm away for a few days. Just need to think of the wording of that one.

My presets are something like this:

"All good. Checking in/spending night here"

"All good. Alternative route/might run late"

And what to me is really important

"I'm okay but I need help. Call [...]"

The last one goes out to friends who know exactly what I'm up to and know the difference between me pushing the SOS button or sending the above message.
Used this back in my SPOT days too. With 2 way comm it may have become less important, but I've stuck to it.