Garmin inReach® Mini 2, Satellite Communicator, Orange

UPDATE: just returned from a RawHyde off-road motorcycle training, course where Instructors repeatedly emphasize the need to wear This on your body as you ride. (and to never ride alone) All people in the course fell at least once in the very challenging training exercises. with one fall, My foot was pinned below my bike, but luckily not injured due to my good boot. If I were out alone, I don’t know what I would’ve done as I needed others to shift the bike weight to get my foot out From under the motorcycle Prior review : As a 70 year-old going on hikes in the local mountains with friends and adventure motorcycle rides. I am at risk for injury far from assistance. This is an essential item as my cell phone service is often spotty to absent. Hope I never need to use it, but I have tried all it features But the SOS good for letting others know where you are and texting from remote locations. Not as easy to use as cell phone texting but functional. As the screen is tiny, I don’t think it would work well as a GPS mapping device, but it does display your location and coordinates.

I use this product, along with the water-proof case, for diving. It gives me an extra sense of security if left on dive trips. The product is excellent however, the subscription and activation fee can get a little pricey.

Absolutely love my mini garmin! Its perfect size is great for travel and easy to attach on my backpack. The battery seems to last for quite awhile. If turned off when not using it can last for weeks. The satellite signal works well and best to test out at home before starting your trip just to make sure. I ended up testing it out and sending test messages to family members. It says to connect as well to your phone with the Bluetooth feature. Make sure that you get the membership to allow the texting from the device and SARS assist when needed. 10/10 would recommend if you are not into the watch. Although I am thinking of the watch just because I would like to be able to track my trips rather than use an iPhone.

I purchased this for backpacking so my wife would not be so worried about me when I am in the back country. It has all the features I needed and wanted. It was easy to set up and get working. The SOS feature was the number one reason my wife and I wanted it, if I have an accident or medical emergency I can hit that button and it connects me directly to the Garmin center. From the GPS they know exactly where I am to send help. It communicates via text either through the device or you can type in the message in your phone when is connected to the device via Bluetooth. If you set it up for tracking you can set up for it to ping the Gamin System which will make it possible for your loved ones to be able to track you as you travel. There is an activation fee and a monthly service fee which can be turned off if you are not going to be using it for a while. They battery life is very good but you should carry a USB charging battery depending on how long you will be out. For me this is a must for peace of mind for my and my family.

This is old-school performance on high-tech equipment. I bought this for outdoor adventures in areas that have no cell coverage. It is functional, but you have to imagine that you are living in the 20th century to meet performance expectiations. First, the setup and activation took nearly 2 days. Yes, 2 days. I set up my account, put the InReach outdoors with full view of the sky, and then waited... and waited... finally after numerous power cycles, and more waiting, it activated. The instructions said that the long activation time is not an indication of normal performance. Yeah, right. Then I went camping in a remote area for a week. I sent a preset message, had InReach in full view of the sky, sitting on a small table. I waited... finally the message showed as Sent after 20 minutes. Not impressed. Other messages took anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes to send; judging the replies was more difficult, but the quickest reply from a friend was about 30 minutes (this could have been due to the friend taking time to respond). Despite the slow performance, it never failed to send or receive a message. The subscription plans have Gotchas that are not advertised. The Freedom plan, aka "pay as you go" does not offer much Freedom. First, you have to pay $35 for each year you use the plan; so if you only use it one month every year, then it isn't $15, it's $50. And, contrary to what's advertised on the Garmin site, you DO get charged for the months that you do NOT use it (as of June 2022), I believe $5/mo. For those reasons, I just did the Annual plan. The short of it: For ONE month, you pay $105 over the course of a year - that's $105 for ONE MONTH of usage. For the Annual plan, you pay $178 over the year, which is $14.86 per month. For the type and amount of service you get, InReach can seem like a total rip-off. You need to decide for yourself if having 'service anywhere' justifies the cost. For me, it is, and it fits my budget. There are a few strong points of the Garmin InReach2 over other platforms. First, it is small. I mean tiny. It's easy to pack and carry, and you do not need anything else - no phone pairing required. Battery life is good, and it uses a built-in rechargeble battery. The phone app is decent, and you don't need service / internet to use it or pair it. Of course you need to have already downloaded the app, but that's obvious. The screen is small but easy to read, unless you have poor eye sight. Still, let's say you are older or farsighted and lose your reading glasses, the SOS button can be found and operated by feel, so there's always that. Some downsides: Preset messages require setup on a computer via the InReach portal. The rechargeable battery means that you can't use common batteries in a pinch, like AAAs or similar; and you need to have access to a USB-C charger. Complaints aside, if I knew all this before I bought it, I probably would have still bought it, mostly because I'm an electronics nerd.

I took this little device on a canyon hiking trip in Utah to really put it to the test. Even with canyon walls towering over 100 feet, I was still able to get a solid connection. The speed varied depending on how deep I was, but it never failed to send a message. The screen is small but manageable—though if you have poor eyesight, it might be a bit challenging. It tracked me for the entire two-day trip, providing an excellent trip overview and, more importantly, peace of mind for my family back home. The build quality is impressive too—it handled scrapes and drops with no issues (including a few unintentional encounters with rocks while climbing). Subscription Note: Just be aware that some features require an active subscription. It’s not a deal-breaker since the core functions work well, but it is something to consider when factoring in the total cost.

Love the inreach. Used for hiking and tracking. Did 175mile stretch with no issues in the mountains

I like hiking and camping in remote areas that often don't have cell reception. I have Starlink, but that stays with the car. When I'm out in the back country, possibly days from any cell towers, I like to at least have a way to call for help if needed. The bonus, and why I love this over dedicated PLBs, is that I can get weather forecasts and message family and friends through this via Bluetooth on my phone. The service plans are very reasonably priced, so it doesn't feel prohibitive to use the extra features. I highly recommend this if you spend time in remote areas with no way to get help. Just telling someone where you're going and when you're expected to check back in is the bare minimum safety advice, but that could mean that it will take days before anyone even starts looking, and they won't know exactly where you are. With this, you'll have help on the way almost immediately, and they'll know exactly where to go AND what your situation is because you'll be communicating with Garmin. Even if you never need to use it in an emergency, the messaging and ability to get weather forecasts, along with the peace of mind this gives you, is worth the price.

Ik heb dit iets meer dan een jaar geleden gekocht. Na iets meer dan een jaar sporadisch gebruik had ik zomaar onverwacht een lekkage met het bijbehorende onderwaterhuis. Dat durf ik niet nog een keer denk ik. Jammer want de combinatie is best een goed idee. De Inreach 2 was daardoor defect.

Muy bien pero los planes de precios son caros

Excelente, yo lo uso para que mi familia me ubique cuando salgo en la moto, hay que comprar un paquete de emergencia, bajar una app de Garmin, nada difícil.

Am still testing and getting ready for Namibia Fish River 5-day Trail and so far pretty cool. Essential features are messaging, SOS, 10min tracking & 6-day battery life ... so far looks fine ! The only reason for 1 star less is the battery behaving strangely making me not confident yet that I can do the full hike with one charge. A couple of times I charged it to 100% and within minutes of unplugging it, it was at 95%. But then it drops very slowly for the next few days. Probably need some long hikes to give me a better sense of the charge used per day.

Really pleased. Bought this after having to be rescued by a helicopter in the USA where we had no signal at the scene of a medical incident and my wife had to drive off and leave me to get help. Tested in regularly in the US recently when out of mobile / cellphone coverage and it worked perfectly, linked to the relevant Garmin App on my phone - you do not need to have mobile / cellphone signal to do this, the device relays the message on the phone via Satellite. You do need an active subscription to the relevant Garmin service. It will not work without this. It is also NOT a personal locator beacon don't mistake it for one or assume it functions like one. This allows two -way comms.