Time to Ditch Spot?

[dlovett]

So Spot got back to me a week later saying that they wouldn't offer any discount of any kind on a renewal. If I bought a new device from them then they would give me a small discount!!
There customer services had previously offers the activation fee free ($29.99).

I have a friend who bought a inreach mini for a yacht race and no longer needs it and wants to sell. Those of you using Inreach, what are the best deals you have got from them or an other airtime provider as I am tempted to switch if it's cheaper than spot.

TIA

[dlovett]

So if my understanding is correct with Protegear and an inreach it's €49 per year and then the tracking plan is €2.95 per day or €14.95 a week and thats for unlimited 10 minute tracking, unlimited SOS messages and unlimited preset messages. If I've understood this correctly the tracking shows on garmin explorer and you can upload a gpx file and then share your location overlayed on it a bit like spotwalla used to do to to.

With the preset messages is it correct you have three you set up on the Garmin website, similar to the spare spot buttons?

On my spot I had:
I'm ok all going well.
Stopped for the day.
I need some help but it's not an emergency, I'm heading directly towards the nearest road and then along it.

I used the first two regularly during trips and the 3rd once when I was local ish and had a bad mechanical.

If anybody could confirm this for me that would be great.

[dlovett]

Protegear have confirmed all of that is correct. They replied within 34 minutes in a helpful email and even had a sense of humour with a joke on it.

Compare that to Spot who took 6 days to reply and were very unhelpful, borderline rude.

Looks like my spot is now for sale and I'll be buying the inreach and going with Protegear.

[fatbikephil]

I pretty much came to the same conclusion with Spot a few years ago and ditched them. Now I hire one if I need to. I nearly went with an in reach given the options for subscriptions but ultimately decided it still wasn't worth the money. The new in reach messenger seemed a good option as you can pair it with your phone for more message options.

[Lazarus]

With the preset messages is it correct you have three you set up on the Garmin website

Yes and with garmin not protogear you can have at least 10 numbers ( possibly unlimited) attached to those 3 messages - 10 was the most I had carrying mine on a lejog group ride . They don't count towards your allowance.

If anyone wants an inreach( mini) I am selling mine (£100 to a regular ) as it does not get the use it should

[pistonbroke]

Given I'm a Motorola phone user, I'm thinking of pulling the trigger on their Defy gizmo, about €130 to buy with free 1st year then €5 a month for 30 messages which will do me, I don’t speak to MrsPB that many times a month in real life! They also sell a phone with the tech baked in but it's quite expensive. Can anyone convince me that In Reach or Spot is a better bet?

[Lazarus]

It does not do tracking or any free messages so I guess it depends on what you want.
PLB personal locator beacon is subscription free but no messages ( not sure of eu use but Ok for land in the UK

[Alpinum]

Protegear have confirmed all of that is correct. They replied within 34 minutes in a helpful email and even had a sense of humour with a joke on it.

^This

Been with Protegear (InReach Mini) since... 2018 or so..(?).
Anyways, always superb service, no matter what mess I was in or making. I think I've been shouting how great they are on here for a while now and don't mind to do it again. Should you decide to go with PG get used to responses within an hour, flexibility, ease and kindness. Good folks. Weather service is superb too, should you plan a trip to some very remote place.

[Alpinum]

The new in reach messenger seemed a good option as you can pair it with your phone for more message options.

This has been possible since the first InReach products under Garmin.

[dlovett]

With the preset messages is it correct you have three you set up on the Garmin website

Yes and with garmin not protogear you can have at least 10 numbers ( possibly unlimited) attached to those 3 messages - 10 was the most I had carrying mine on a lejog group ride . They don't count towards your allowance.

If anyone wants an inreach( mini) I am selling mine (£100 to a regular ) as it does not get the use it should

Will pm you

[dlovett]

Inreach owners, whats the battery life like, as good as the secs claim and can you charge it whilst it's in use? Thats' one thing about the spot a set of lithium batteries lasts for multiple days.

[Lazarus]

Couple of days( 30+ hours on at a guess) and yes you can charge it in use from a power bank ( never tried it direct from the dynamo)
Possibly less time with tracking but it's still going to be more than a days use.

[Alpinum]

Inreach owners, whats the battery life like, as good as the secs claim and can you charge it whilst it's in use? Thats' one thing about the spot a set of lithium batteries lasts for multiple days.

One charge in 40 days the way I use it, which usually is about 1 message/day and a couple of msgs. back and forth roughly every 4th day or so. Heavily depends on type of trip/place.
Never used it in tracking mode and also don't leave it switched on.

For 3 week trips I don't consider external power for it.

Once SOS is pushed the device goes into regular pings (think it's 10 min intervalls). If you're still capable (eg broken leg), you're best off to arrange certain times for comms with the SAR.