Case in point... in 2008 when my father was doing the mail route I have now he had an unfortunate accident on the snowmobile. He ended up breaking the radius bone in his left arm when he hit a boulder buried in the snow off the side of the road. He ended up having to walk about half to 3/4 of a mile back up the mountain road in about 2 feet of new snow to get signal with the Global Star phone. The Iridium phone didn't have any dead spots unless there was heavy cloud cover.Good to know about the Garmin, coverage is king not to much else matters if you don’t have a signal. I know one thing for sure that you are going to feel way more comfortable out there knowing you can get help if you need it.
You may have seen this link I posted above.I've been doing a little research into devices like these because I have a mail contract route that in the winter I am on a snowmobile where there is no cellular or land line phone service available. So far the Garmin is by far outshining the Spotx, mainly because of satellite coverage. The latest video I watched has some good information.
Good to know about the Garmin, coverage is king not to much else matters if you don’t have a signal. I know one thing for sure that you are going to feel way more comfortable out there knowing you can get help if you need it.
Im not doubting the garmin is good but the main thing that is drawing me to the spot is the additional coverage it offers. It offers both SAR recovery insurance and off road recovery and towing insurance. All this for less than garmin. I get the Garmin devices also have gps mapping which isn’t why I’m getting the device. The coverage for both devices in the continental US is comparable but why spend $20-30 a month for less coverage and insurance? That’s why I was looking at Spot specifically. I was mostly curious if anyone had used the off-road services, I’ve watched several reviews on it with older devices that didn’t allow communication with recovery teams and it worked ok but the recovery people had no idea what to expect. The new spot you can go back and forth with them and get an ETA and such.You may have seen this link I posted above.
https://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/plb-personal-locating-beacon.198641/
It’s an excellent thread on the subject.
The Park rangers I work with at the Grand Canyon just received 6 of the Garmin units to use for back country communications during SAR events
I won't dispute having vehicle recovery would be nice, but from my own personal experience with global star and iridium I know with out a doubt that Global Star's US coverage is not as reliable as Iridium's coverage in mountainous terrain. Having more satellites in the sky has its advantages.Im not doubting the garmin is good but the main thing that is drawing me to the spot is the additional coverage it offers. It offers both SAR recovery insurance and off road recovery and towing insurance. All this for less than garmin. I get the Garmin devices also have gps mapping which isn’t why I’m getting the device. The coverage for both devices in the continental US is comparable but why spend $20-30 a month for less coverage and insurance? That’s why I was looking at Spot specifically. I was mostly curious if anyone had used the off-road services, I’ve watched several reviews on it with older devices that didn’t allow communication with recovery teams and it worked ok but the recovery people had no idea what to expect. The new spot you can go back and forth with them and get an ETA and such.
Just an FYI: I pay $13.53 per month for a year round plan on my Garmin.Im not doubting the garmin is good but the main thing that is drawing me to the spot is the additional coverage it offers. It offers both SAR recovery insurance and off road recovery and towing insurance. All this for less than garmin. I get the Garmin devices also have gps mapping which isn’t why I’m getting the device. The coverage for both devices in the continental US is comparable but why spend $20-30 a month for less coverage and insurance? That’s why I was looking at Spot specifically. I was mostly curious if anyone had used the off-road services, I’ve watched several reviews on it with older devices that didn’t allow communication with recovery teams and it worked ok but the recovery people had no idea what to expect. The new spot you can go back and forth with them and get an ETA and such.
That's the biggest reason I have been looking into these type of Sat Com devices. I currently use a Sat phone and unless I am in my truck with a mobile antenna set up I have to stop some where take the phone out and find a spot with service before I can call out. As for incoming calls... That's not realistic at all. I have talked to a few of the Outfitters that guide hunts and they love the back and forth communication ability with the GPS based communication units they have. The ones that started out with Spotx have all switched to inReach.The thread I linked in an above posts contains comments by a Moab SAR professional (Moabian). His SAR team uses the Garmin for communications in the field instead of a SAT phone.
Apparently they find the Garmin a more reliable communication device.
spot was good enough coverage everywhere I go and worked
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From there website, but it does not really explain what they mean by winching / extraction services. Does this mean they will send a team out to get my jeep with a broken axle 5 miles into the Rubicon Trail. Or does this mean if I slip off the road into a ditch ?
- Up to five tows per year
- Up to 50 miles each tow
- Winching/extrication services
An answer to my own question, I found this on the web from spotFrom there website, but it does not really explain what they mean by winching / extraction services. Does this mean they will send a team out to get my jeep with a broken axle 5 miles into the Rubicon Trail. Or does this mean if I slip off the road into a ditch ?
- Up to five tows per year
- Up to 50 miles each tow
- Winching/extrication services
Author: Article Reference #:AA-00072 Views:5272 Date Added:2009-05-06 12:00 AM Last Updated:2009-05-13 05:19 PM | 3.45 Rating/ 21 Voters |
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