DeLorme InReach Satellite Communicator

A little background. Last fall a family friend was climbing the Maroon Bells in Colorado and went missing. He was supposed to have gone with another friend who ended up not being able to go. Our friend was supposed to get a SPOT locator from our second friend, but they didn't meet up. They have yet to find his body.

Forward to this spring's turkey season. I hunt by myself a lot in some fairly remote areas; near forest roads, but a long was from civilization. I knew, in light of our friend's experience, the wife would be more comfortable if I had a PLB/Locator. I researched the SPOT, the ACR ResQLink, and a couple others. The InReach SE, although more expensive, seemed to fit my situation best.

We have two teen girls and both my parents and my wife's parents have health issues. In light of that, a device that allowed two-way communication seemed the better option in case of an emergency at home. My wife will also be going on a mission trip to Malawi in May and the InReach will provide good international communication through the Iridium satellite system. We subscribed to the Freedom Plan which allows you to change service plans as needed or even suspend the service when not needed. I was also U.S. Air Force combat rescue for the last 10 years of my career, so I know the importance of being able to contact someone in case of trouble.

The Recreation Plan allows 40 text messages a month and unlimited track points (which my wife can check on the website). Although the literature says it can take up to 20 to send a message I sent several that she received and replied to within 5 minutes.

There are a couple of down sides. 1) You need a clear view of the sky to contact the satellites. I haven't been able to definitively determine how much tree cover will block the signal, but didn't seem to have too much trouble. 2) The rocker switch used to select letters to compose text messages is cumbersome. Fortunately you can download an app for smart phones that allows you to type a message on your phone and send it to the InReach, which then sends it through the satellites. 3) She can track exactly where I am at all times when I have it in Track Mode. Wait, that's a good thing, I think.

Despite the price it is well worth it if it allows my wife some peace of mind while I continue to hunt the way I like to. It will also be worth it for my peace of mind while she is in Africa.

I would recommend a PLB/locator to anyone who enjoys hunting or hiking remote areas where help may be miles away. Research the various options and select the device that best suits your need. The peace of mind for you and your loved ones is worth the cost. Hope this helps someone.

I have been looking at getting a locator for the reason you mentioned, and I really appreciate this review!

I just got one.
Haven't even activated it yet but I'm excited to give it a try. Before I was using a spot which gave my wife piece of mind, but on longer trips I get kind of worried about what could be going on at home. Last year my great uncle died while I was hunting and I didn't find out for a few days. Probably how he would have wanted it, but still would have been nice to have two way communication.
Either way: everybody that backcountry hunts should have something especially if they do it alone.

If money is no obstacle or you hunt a lot a lot I recommend the Iridium GO! it turns your cell phone into a satellite phone. My buddy that guides in AK has one and brought it on a 10 day unlimited hunt we did together. Pretty neat to check the quota or call, text home from nowhere, if need be. (Although there is something special about being unreachable too.)

She's never been that worried about me in the past. Being a Rescue guy you never want to be "that guy", the one your buddies have to come rescue. It's bad form, and you'll never hear the end of it. I always carry enough gear to stay for a couple of days if needed and she knew that. Our friend's accident kind of changed that for her. Besides, like MTGomer said, it is nice to have the two-way communication in case something bad happens at home and they need to contact you.

We've had a bunch of discussions on the InReach in the last few years on the forum. Before Garmin acquired DeLorme it was easily the best option unfortunately when Garmin took over they nearly doubled the price of the device which is really disappointing.

Mthuntr said:

We've had a bunch of discussions on the InReach in the last few years on the forum. Before Garmin acquired DeLorme it was easily the best option unfortunately when Garmin took over they nearly doubled the price of the device which is really disappointing.

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I just look at it as "Hunt Insurance", it insures I can still hunt. Remember; if mamma ain't happy, you ain't happy. And if mamma ain't happy for long enough, you ain't happy with half your stuff.

I've got one, and love it. For the extra $30 or whatever for unlimited text, it's worth it.

I have a spot, and rent sat phones as well, but the Inreach is all I take now. The tracking/map app for the phone is worth it, and far better than toggle texting.

For a small fee you can also get weather updates, which is very handy as well.

My wife picked up one for me a few months ago. I bluetooth pair it to my phone, and then downloaded the USGS topo maps for wherever I'm gonna be. I leave the inReach in my pack and just use my phone. No complaints whatsoever. It really gives her some piece of mind when I'm out of phone range.

Are the plans monthly or term length? Can you cancel your plan? Just thinking how it sounds awesome. But really wouldn't need a plan for 12 months.

Best money you can spend. Go on line it will give you all the info.

flacowboy said:

Are the plans monthly or term length? Can you cancel your plan? Just thinking how it sounds awesome. But really wouldn't need a plan for 12 months.

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flacowboy,
The Freedom Plan is about $25/year above your monthly service fee, but it allows you to move up and down the service scale as your requirements change. You can also suspend the service for months you won't be needing it, so it's kind of like having a monthly plan. The SPOT charges a flat $149/year regardless of how much you use it. The $25 Freedom Plan is a little extra, but you can more than make it up if you don't use it for a couple of months. I also figure that over time the higher cost of the device will be made up by months that I suspend the service. Go to their website and check it out.

I bought one last year when I had my moose tag. More so to call for strong backs if I killed one while alone than anything. I was a little adverse to having another "leash" in my pocket like that, but got over that quickly and now feel much better having it around.

Last year my brother was able to get a hold of me when my dad had a stroke while I was hunting by myself out of service in Wyoming. If it weren't for the inreach I wouldn't have found out for a couple days likely. Dad was pissed I missed a couple days hunting.

The plan I have is like 12/month, and includes unlimited preset messages, and like ten custom messages per month. I can go over the ten if I want, I just pay like $.50 each for them. I'm in the woods year around, so I wanted a plan where it was always active. It's either in my truck or backpack at all times.

Transporters are on board with using them rather than Sat-phones also, which is nice. Renting a sat phone for 7-10 days is most of the cost of what I paid for the device.

The one downside is the slow relay time on text messages. It's not real time that you can converse on, there's a pretty good delay.

One more endorsement here. Texting is a little slow to have a conversation on, but it is still way better than the alternatives.

I have one and use the cheapest plan that gives you only 10 texts and charges $0.50 for each additional. You can have 3 preset messages and send an unlimited number of those. At that rate it I would have to send more than 20 more texts each month before it costs as much as the next payment option with unlimited texting. I use it very conservatively, I send a preset "all is well" text each night from camp and that is pretty much it.

we looked into these quite a bit and decided to wait until version 2 comes out. I talked to a Garmin rep and he said they were working on making it better. 4 of us hunt archery elk and it would be great to communicate with each other (especially the "I got a bull, come help haul it out!" text we all want to send).

I've had one for a couple of years now. It's been awesome! I have the yearly plan with unlimited messaging, as I travel a lot and am out of cell coverage quite a bit. I have broken down and was able to reach my wife for her to coordinate help for me. I was on a hunting trip and my wife was able to tell me she was very sick and I had to get home. I like it for the simple fact that I can keep in touch with my sons and my family to let them know how my trip is or if I'm successful or even just to shoot the breeze if I'm glassing and sitting for a long time. I like the weather updates as well. They have always been really accurate. Having it gives my wife a little peace of mind when I'm out, especially with my physical issues from being blown up in Iraq. The inReach has been one of the best pieces of hunting gear I've gotten over the years.

MNElkNut said:

we looked into these quite a bit and decided to wait until version 2 comes out. I talked to a Garmin rep and he said they were working on making it better. 4 of us hunt archery elk and it would be great to communicate with each other (especially the "I got a bull, come help haul it out!" text we all want to send).

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well, appreciate you making the decision for me at the moment, WE wait. lol

If they update the hardware to accept OnXMaps chips, I'm getting one.

airlocksniffer said:

If they update the hardware to accept OnXMaps chips, I'm getting one.

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I'm guessing they won't anytime soon (I could be wrong) because they have a competing system called EarthMate Hunt

Mthuntr said:

I'm guessing they won't anytime soon (I could be wrong) because they have a competing system called EarthMate Hunt

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I hope that's not the case. Just an SD card slot, which most other Garmin GPS units have. Does anybody know what changed for the inReach between DeLorme and Garmin? I'd consider just getting a Delorme version if the units are identical as it looks like Garmin significantly raised the price for their branded one.

EDIT: some links answering some questions

http://andrewskurka.com/2017/preview-garmin-delorme-inreach-se-explorer/

http://andrewskurka.com/2017/garmin-inreach-se-explorer-faqs/