Pretty sure I got mine on a Black Friday sale which isn’t too far away.
Tell me about your personal location beacon
- Thread starter bucky
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Pretty sure I got mine on a Black Friday sale which isn’t too far away.
I have this, Mc Murdo Fastfind Ranger. No subscription needed, good for 7 years. Has no bells or whistles just a straight up panic button "come get me". My buddy was a crab fisherman, same company they used on boats
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0848MZPDK/?tag=wranglerorg-20
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0848MZPDK/?tag=wranglerorg-20
I cannot swear to it but t-mobile and maybe mint mobile iPhones will send out text to emergency services. I do know my phone shows a satellite image when I’m out of cell service now. My neck of the woods has spotty service and I haven’t been out of service long enough to see what the satellite image allows you to do?
OP
My iPhone 8 will sometimes show SOS but I’m really not too sure how it works. I like the idea of being able to text info on my situation. Here in my local mountains or desert it might just be texting friends or family to bring me a part. I do not always need the whole Cavalry to show up. The cost of a subscription is not an issue to me.
In my backpacking days I witnessed a few SAR rescues and know how many resources are involved.
In my backpacking days I witnessed a few SAR rescues and know how many resources are involved.
You said " My iPhone 8 will sometimes show SOS " the key here is " Sometimes " When I need to use the SOS feature I need it to work ALL the time not sometimes
OP
This post reminded me that the iPhone 14 and newer can connect to satellites for emergency purposes.
I have a 15 so I guess I have a backup for my inreach.
But can it also send text messages ? What happens when you hit SOS once on the phone ?
I could have sworn he deployed the Donald Duck one this morning.
I heard @AndyG got lost driving his Jeep to cars and coffee today!!!!
I could have sworn he deployed the Donald Duck one this morning.
I heard @AndyG got lost driving his Jeep to cars and coffee today!!!!
At least I didn’t go with you guys to Perverts and Pumpkins....
I bought an InReach Messenger a few months ago for big woods / backcountry hunting.
One additional good feature of the new Messenger model (besides being cheaper than a Mini2) is the ability to charge your phone from it. So it’s a backup battery and GPS communicator in one device.
The thing I don’t like about Garmin is the complicated nickel and dime plans that trick you into spending more money. I bought the cheap plan because it’s all I need. I thought I needed to turn tracking on to enable the backtrack feature, but I didn’t, and it cost me $0.10 every 2 minutes it was on. The extra crappy part was I was paying for waypoints that nobody could even use because I haven’t set up my map yet. So it was purely wasted money and they don’t make it clear that backtrack works as soon as the device is on. Live and learn!
Still a great addition to the comms & nav kit though
One additional good feature of the new Messenger model (besides being cheaper than a Mini2) is the ability to charge your phone from it. So it’s a backup battery and GPS communicator in one device.
The thing I don’t like about Garmin is the complicated nickel and dime plans that trick you into spending more money. I bought the cheap plan because it’s all I need. I thought I needed to turn tracking on to enable the backtrack feature, but I didn’t, and it cost me $0.10 every 2 minutes it was on. The extra crappy part was I was paying for waypoints that nobody could even use because I haven’t set up my map yet. So it was purely wasted money and they don’t make it clear that backtrack works as soon as the device is on. Live and learn!
Still a great addition to the comms & nav kit though
I use an inReach. It works well for texting friends/family from remote areas with no cell service. I regularly use the tracking feature that allows them to keep track of my location when I am in Baja.
The InReach is pretty standard in the outdoor industry for guides now. I'd stay from Spot beacons. From what I've read they use the same satellites as Apple does for the iPhones and Apple takes priority over Spot so a lot of people have been having issues even just sending messages.