PLB's

[pondweed]

I'll share my experience. I have had one of the original SPOT devices since 2007. It has worked almost flawlessly for me all over Wyoming.

Mine was a gift from those who wanted me to have it. As a friend said, "it provides peace of mind you never knew you were missing". And that is a consideration. Once you start sending out regular OK messages, people back home get a little nervous if you forget it in the truck/at home etc. Peace of mind is addicting.

The biggest tactical plus has been NOT needing to specify my starting point. I simply send an OK message wherever I park. This gives me complete freedom to change my mind about where I want to hike/fish/hunt once I better see what conditions are like. I also send an OK msg when I get back to the vehicle, so folks have an idea when I'll be home. I also have a little system for indicating I got a critter down/will be late for good cause.

 

[MThuntr]

For pure SOS function, Oudoor Gear lab strongly favored the PLB. That's what I'm goinig to go with.

If you have no need to share your location or check in then a PLB is the way to go. My only concern which was brought up before is that if you were killed you could not activate your beacon and you're kin would have to rely solely on SAR. I haven't spent enough time researching but maybe there is a PLB that can be "ping'd" if you fail to return as agreed.

 

[dcopas78]

I just got the Delorme InReach SE a couple of months ago. I haven't used it off grid yet, but I signed up for a basic package for a month and sent and received messages on it. So far, so good and the wife likes the peace of mind.

 

[tjones]

I spent a little time on my lunch looking at the costs of the DeLorme InReach SE vs the Spot Gen3. I assumed that the user already had a GPS which ruled out the more expensive DeLorme Explorer. I also assumed that these units should last at least 5 years and that each unit would generally be used for 5 months of the year or less. If a person bought today, the DeLorme InReach was the better deal over 5 years and beyond. The DeLorme also has the advantage of being able to send/receive texts and pair with a smartphone or tablet.

Been looking at all info and came up with the same. All good info

 

[1_pointer]

FWIW, I used my inReach on my recent trip to ID. Every message I sent went through and most took only a minute or so to do so. Every message my wife sent was recieved. I'd say I'm very happy with the product. Mine's an older model that can only be paired with a Delorme GPS. For the price difference of only $80, I'd look harder at getting their new Explorer. It incorporates the communicator and GPS. I really like their GPS devices, but they do have a downside. They do not take the On X GPS maps. However, they do come with nationwide covereage for public lands, but the scale is pretty coarse. If one is digital map savvy, they do have an option to load data to them using their own program which allows one to directly import shapefiles, many of which are free from the state and federal agencies.

 

[npaden]

I also used my inReach SE on my latest trips in Wyoming. It worked really well. There were a couple times where it took 15 minutes or so to go through, but it was when we were in a fairly steep canyon and I guess the satellites were in a bad spot but it kept trying and eventually went through.

My friends son had a SPOT satellite phone and he tried it a few times and ended up giving up. I sent through several messages for him to one of his friends that we were meeting up with on the trail. I did the $35 plan, but with the custom preset messages that are free with the $15 plan I think in the future I will just do that and pay the 50 cents per message. I think I only sent or received 15 or so custom messages in the 2 weeks I was out and you get 40 with the $35 plan.

Of course I forgot to stop my plan and it automatically renewed for the next month, so that sucks, but it's my fault for not stopping it.

Only one thing was that one person said they were unable to respond to my text message or see the GPS coordinates that it sent. Everyone else said it worked great with phone iPhones and Androids, but the one individual had an issue replying. Of course that was the guy that we were trying to meet on the trail, but he texted someone else and they texted us so it all worked out.

It was a little difficult getting it all activated for some reason, but since then it has worked very well.

 

[1_pointer]

Agreed on the plan! I opted for the cheaper one and just sent the free pre-set messages the majority of the time. In all, that's really all my wife wants to know, that I'm OK. The few times she did reply it went through and she stated that the map links sent with the messages worked fine.

 

[WT_in_MT]

For the price difference of only $80, I'd look harder at getting their new Explorer. It incorporates the communicator and GPS. I really like their GPS devices, but they do have a downside. They do not take the On X GPS maps. However, they do come with nationwide covereage for public lands, but the scale is pretty coarse. If one is digital map savvy, they do have an option to load data to them using their own program which allows one to directly import shapefiles, many of which are free from the state and federal agencies.

pointer- are you sure about the map backgrounds the Explorer will display? From the little I've looked at this model, I don't see that it displays much for a background. I'll have to look again but IIRC, it mainly shows your position relative to your track and waypoints, unlike the PN GPSr. Let me know if you have found differently.

 

[RobG]

I picked up an InReach SE the other day and am a bit horrified that you can't swap out the batteries if they die - you have to recharge the battery via the USB plug in, which could be rather inconvenient if you are lost.

The SPOT seems to run on two AA Batteries.

 

[Ben Long]

Oops. Thanks for the reminder. I've got a SPOT and need to renew.

 

[npaden]

On a side note discussing maps, the Delorme app for the iPhone has really good topo maps that you can download ahead of time before your hunt. Worked really well on my hunt, the nice screen of the iPhone showed more detail than my X GPS map chip did.

As far as battery life, I went a week without charging the battery, but I have invested in one of the lithium battery storage units like this one for all my other electronic gadgets I've been packing with me.

http://www.amazon.com/13000mAh-Exte...21494&sr=8-1&keywords=anker+astro+e4+13000mah

I can recharge my iPhone, camera, inReach, etc. with it (just have to bring the different cords but some are the same. I wish I could recharge my Garmin GPS with it, but it takes 2 AA batteries so I have to carry spare batteries. I did have my GPS run out of batteries once during my last hunt, but I plugged it into the battery pack and as long as I kept it plugged in it worked.

I have 2 different battery packs, the 13,000 mAh one that can recharge most devices 6 times and another 5,200 mAh pack that is much smaller that I take on day hikes and stuff that can recharge most devices twice. For long trips I take them both.

 

[1_pointer]

pointer- are you sure about the map backgrounds the Explorer will display? From the little I've looked at this model, I don't see that it displays much for a background. I'll have to look again but IIRC, it mainly shows your position relative to your track and waypoints, unlike the PN GPSr. Let me know if you have found differently.

I haven't found differently, but a quick look shows you are right. I just assumed it would show the maps. Since that's the case, I much prefer my inReach (non-SE) and the PN-60.

 

[1_pointer]

I picked up an InReach SE the other day and am a bit horrified that you can't swap out the batteries if they die - you have to recharge the battery via the USB plug in, which could be rather inconvenient if you are lost.

The SPOT seems to run on two AA Batteries.

That's not all that comforting. My older model uses two AAs. That said, there are quite a few chargers out there that can use AA batteries. They really aren't that big/heavy or expensive. That or something like npaden linked would work as well.

Might be a good time for a test. Charge it up and see how long it runs before it dies.

 

[RobG]

That's not all that comforting. My older model uses two AAs. That said, there are quite a few chargers out there that can use AA batteries. They really aren't that big/heavy or expensive. That or something like npaden linked would work as well.

Might be a good time for a test. Charge it up and see how long it runs before it dies.

That won't tell you much: rechargeable batteries perform much worse in cold environments. My avalanche transceiver recommends against them for that reason. My iPhone shuts down completely when cold, although Apple has always had foo-foo engineers. Apparently inReach stole a few of them and they recommended this change.

They say 100 hours with 10 minute tracking intervals - not sure what temperature that is at. It has a push button turn-on so I suppose it could inadvertently get turned on and you wouldn't know until you went to use it. The extra battery npaden referenced would be mandatory but another thing to carry around. inReach also has one (http://inreachdelorme.com/product-info/goalzero_guide_battery_pack.php) but it takes 6 hours to charge in the sun.

InReach recommends a solar charger and notes that charging temperature is between 32 and 113F. As a safety precaution, if I can't be near a charging station, I'll make sure and only get lost when it is warm and sunny. I will also hunt at night, and lay around letting it charge during the day.

I still have my PLB so I guess I'll use the inReach to phone home, unless it fails then my wife will go bat-crap crazy trying to figure out why I am not reporting in. Crap, maybe I'll go take it back and get a SPOT. The local SAR told me that is what they use and perhaps this is why.

 

[1_pointer]

I think we may be talking past each other. I'm not talking about rechargable batteries, but something that uses regular AA to charge something.
http://www.amazon.com/Brookstone-USB-Power-Back-Up-Charger/dp/B000N7HT0E

My pard uses a similar thing to keep his iPod charged. Works pretty slick for that.

That said, I'm with you on preferring AA batteries as a powersource.

 

[jryoung]

That won't tell you much: rechargeable batteries perform much worse in cold environments. My avalanche transceiver recommends against them for that reason. My iPhone shuts down completely when cold, although Apple has always had foo-foo engineers. Apparently inReach stole a few of them and they recommended this change.

They say 100 hours with 10 minute tracking intervals - not sure what temperature that is at. It has a push button turn-on so I suppose it could inadvertently get turned on and you wouldn't know until you went to use it. The extra battery npaden referenced would be mandatory but another thing to carry around. inReach also has one (http://inreachdelorme.com/product-info/goalzero_guide_battery_pack.php) but it takes 6 hours to charge in the sun.

InReach recommends a solar charger and notes that charging temperature is between 32 and 113F. As a safety precaution, if I can't be near a charging station, I'll make sure and only get lost when it is warm and sunny. I will also hunt at night, and lay around letting it charge during the day.

I still have my PLB so I guess I'll use the inReach to phone home, unless it fails then my wife will go bat-crap crazy trying to figure out why I am not reporting in. Crap, maybe I'll go take it back and get a SPOT. The local SAR told me that is what they use and perhaps this is why.

Well crap, I was damn near putting one in my cart. I've long though about the solar charger option. If I was a smart guy, and worked at a solar company with the worlds most efficient panels I'd go over to the R&D department with a Goal Zero and see if someone could put in a couple of the worlds most efficient panels.

 

[RobG]

I think we may be talking past each other. I'm not talking about rechargable batteries, but something that uses regular AA to charge something.
http://www.amazon.com/Brookstone-USB-Power-Back-Up-Charger/dp/B000N7HT0E

My pard uses a similar thing to keep his iPod charged. Works pretty slick for that.

That said, I'm with you on preferring AA batteries as a powersource.

I guess I caught that, but I'm not that interested in carrying more junk around or counting on another thing that could go wrong.

I talked with my wife and she's comfortable enough knowing I have the PLB. I'm sure she would go nuts if she was expecting a check-in each night and didn't get one.

 

[tjones]

Sheesh modern hunting in complicated. Between this and trying to keep my butt strapped in a tree it might be best to take up bowling.

 

[npaden]

To me the reliability of the irridium satellites vs. the global star is far more important than the fact that it can only go 10 days on a charge or 7 days on a charge.

I would turn mine on in the morning and turn it off at night and send 3 or 4 preset messages during the day and it still had plenty of battery left at the end of the week although I don't recall exactly what %. It got below freezing every night we were there but warmed up into the 50's during the day. I did the tracking thing one time but decided it wasn't anything anyone cared about so I didn't use the tracking feature after that. I would assume that sending your tracking point every 10 minutes would use more battery than just sending 3 or 4 messages during the day.

The solar options are a gimick in my opinion. For $30 you can get a battery pack that stores more juice than one of those small solar panels could generate in a week probably and they cost a lot more and are harder to pack. I also didn't have any issues with cold with my battery pack. I think the lithium batteries do better than the old NiMh batteries did in the cold. Of course I wasn't in below zero temperatures either.

All that to say, I wouldn't fret too much about the battery being rechargeable instead of AA. Unless you are going to be out beyond a full week I very much doubt you would need to charge it at all. If out beyond a full week, for $30 or less you can get a battery pack as big or as small as you want that would be able to recharge it multiple times.

 

[RobG]

The iridium satellites (inReach) are supposed to be better than the global star (SPOT), but both of those pale in comparison to the PLB system. I'm just going to continue doing that rather than freak out my family if I can't get a message home.