Satellite Phone

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Brachii

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Apr 25, 2017
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157
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I’ve been wanting to invest in a satellite phone because most of my hunts are solo hunts in wilderness type areas with no reception. I know my wife and I would feel much better if I had that as an emergency option.

Anyone with any experience with these? Are they reliable, do they require a data plan of any kind, and does anyone have particulars ones they’d recommend? Thanks for any advice!
 
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I use a text only Garmin Inreach phone and you can pay monthly. It works world wide and has a S O S emergency. Check it out. Plus it is a lot cheaper.
 
When I did a trip to the Boundary Waters/Quetico, I just rented a sat phone. It was about $25 a week. Fortunately, I never had to use it.
 
Greyman said:
When I did a trip to the Boundary Waters/Quetico, I just rented a sat phone. It was about $25 a week. Fortunately, I never had to use it.
Click to expand...

I toyed with this idea as well, but found that they were just too expensive compared to an InReach Mini. However, if I were going truly backcountry in an unfamiliar area I might rent one. Otherwise, I just go with the mini: better battery, stanby time, weight, and syncs to the phone.
 
I seen they make a device that can turn your cell phone into a satellite phone when conected I'm not sure what the name of it was or how it works but it sparked my interest as well instead of a sat phone
 
Here's a decent rundown that should get you started.

https://www.rei.com/blog/news/which-satellite-messenger-should-you-get

There is a iphone/android case (called SatSleeve) that allows you to use your phone to connect to a satellite system. Very expensive and, at least when I looked at it, didn't cover north america.

There is no one best, depends on what features you want, how often you'll use it, etc. Renting might be the way to go it not a heavy user.
 
so what’s the deal with the inreach? I’m seeing conflicting info about its texting abilities. Are they only preprogrammed messages back and forth or can we full on text? My wife would be able to watch my geographical location from our PC at home?
 
Maybe you should go on the inreach website and find your answers first hand. Just like Cush said mine has never let me down.
 
I just purchased the inReach mini. I like it small size have it in backpack for snowmobiling emergencies.
 
Thanks for the advice guys! I already checked the website but wanted confirmation on a couple things before I got it.
 
Brachii said:
Thanks for the advice guys! I already checked the website but wanted confirmation on a couple things before I got it.
Click to expand...

You can find my review of the inreach mini on here zomewhere. You can do preset or sync to your phone and use the app to type and map.
 
Get an Inreach or similar, of it was me. I used to rent a sat phone for all my trips up here 2-3times a year, but do not anymore. The good phones start at 700 and up. Most require a yearly plan, but come with some minutes like $400ish a year last I looked. Sat phones are not like a cell phone they will drop calls all the time, and do not work 100% of the time, nothing does. There are dead times in sat coverage, but they are usually short 15-30min. Also terrain and vegetation cover can hinder calls/message sending at times

For me the sat phone offered nothing over the Inreach as far as reliability. You can recharge the inreach with a battery pack. Not so much with the phones, but the batteries will last a long time if you use it sparingly.

The inreach has an app that works quite well for navigation. I suspect it will get better in the near future, probably on par with OnX.
 
Brachii said:
so what’s the deal with the inreach? I’m seeing conflicting info about its texting abilities. Are they only preprogrammed messages back and forth or can we full on text? My wife would be able to watch my geographical location from our PC at home?
Click to expand...

There are a couple of preset messages you can program in for quick ease. But, the unit has full 2 way texting capability. Mine is paired with my cell phone. There's an app you download to your phone to interface with the unit. I keep my phone on airplane mode to do this and the battery lasts a long time. Texting on the full keyboard on my phone is awesome instead of toggling on the unit. You can set it up in your account to add your grid coordinates to your text messages. But, tell anyone you might text that the message will come from a strange phone number. Mine comes through a 215 area code and my regular number is a 719 area code. But, your name will be in the signature of the message. If I remember correctly the person receiving the message can click on the coordinates and it will pull up a yahoo maps pic of where you are on a map.
 
And the app is something my wife would download and could watch my location?? They nailed this product if so. Sounds ideal
 
No. You download the app on your phone. She should be able to click the coordinates in your message and yahoo maps will pull it up. She doesn't need the app.
 
Thanks John and everyone else! Gonna order one today. Will definitely help us feel safer during the hunting and scouting seasons!
 
I'm "old school" and use an InReach without a cell phone, and love it.

You can send 3 preset messages with no charge, as many times as you want...
You can send up to 10 text messages per month (if your on the plan I use) no charge, after that there is an extra charge.

I also like I can send my location on a map every 1-8 hours to multiple private facebook accounts if I want.
Yes your wife can monitor your location at your specified interval (every hour, every evening, etc) if you desire.

I also like that I can send a text message simultaneously to emails and cell phones.
 
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