"regular" InReach explorer+
i have no idea how other products perform or compare.


1. I have the mount on my dash and a mount on my backpack strap. when I do my hikes, I take the device with me.
2. I have the garmin bluetoothed to my tablet. the map is from the satellite so I always have navigation.
3. there is an SOS button. don't know how it will perform as I've never called for an SOS.
4. I like being able to send texts when my phone has no reception. I've been in very remote locations with no cell service. one time in a deep valley. it took almost 10min to send a text but it did.
5. in 2021, I did a 15-day backpacking hike with the garmin and a folding 15-watt solar panel, I communicated daily with my family, left "breadcrumbs" every 10min so my family knew my location. i've done many hikes with the device and it has been excellent. during short 2-3 day backpacking, I've been known to leave my mobile at home and only use the garmin for my immediate family.
6. when I find a nice campsite or landmark, I record the location. I also do this on Gia but replicate on Garmin.
8. battery life is amazing.

the 3-most valuable features i use most often.
1. access to maps when the phone fails. confirm trails.
2. communicating with my family via texts (sending and receiving)
3. returning to "saved" locations

 

Go to Bass Pro .com several reviews on these units.......some good some bad.

 

And the Mini was $100 off for Black Friday/etc. DOH!

I bike in an area with little (No actually) cell service and will be traveling for sports activities where cell service is known to be sketchy. Not to mention the whole earthquake, tidal wave, asteroid, alien invasion, zombie apocalypse. Some of that is tongue in cheek.

And reviews, yeah: I take the top 20% and the bottom 20% and toss them. What happened to people being reasonable on reviews. Thanks 'JL'. Isn't Cabella's part of Bass Pro? I'll take a look, thanks 'thin'...

 

many providers have their own network. one major factor for me was based on which network is most likely to remain operational or come on line the quickest.

from the iridium website

"When it comes to defense, intelligence, and national security, there is no room for error. The United States government continues to count on Iridium® for real-time tactical, mission-critical connectivity beyond the reach of terrestrial networks – anywhere on the planet."

not to mention, it was was the Iridium 9555 sat phone that saved Brad Pit and the world multiple times (World War Z). I conclude if its good enough to save the world during a zombie apocalypse, then its good enough for me.

 

I have used the Mini on several Road trips especially where I knew cell service would be sketchy and can say my family members have felt better knowing I was where I meant to be and all was good on a daily basis. Haven't had the need for SOS feature and hope to never need it but it is nice to know I have it if needed. I use GAIA to track my trips so I have the basic membership feature ... can even pause monthly fee when not using and re-up when I have a trip planned. Battery life has not been tested as I just leave it plugged into USB while driving and have the unit attached to the windshield. I have set up three preset messages which are unlimited to send and have shown my family members how to access online to see my locations if ever needed to share with rescue. I recommend it as a peace of mind for the traveler as well as the ones at home.

 

I chose the zoleo because they assign you a phone number that doesn't change that you text from and people can text you even when it's transmitted via satellite

 

That's interesting. Looking into it.

'JL' mentioned Iridium, and back in the old days, the company I founded was approached by an early satellite phone company. (The kind with the fold out attache case thing with the antenna built in, that required aiming and power from somewhere (usually a vehicle)) I think they used one in one of the Jurassic Park movie spinoffs. I laughed when I saw it. They were going to send us a free 'base station' when we sold a certain number. Yeah, they disappeared rather quickly, probably bought out by Iridium ironically. The early days of most tech can be primitive, and sat-phones was no difference. Anyone seen the early Iridium phones with what looks like a sextoy for an antenna? Too crazy... (Anyone remember the old world Nextel phones? 🤷‍♂️)

I do find it interesting that people want to track me. 🤷‍♂️

 

Sorry to hijack a little but I’m keen to learn more about them too. I see that you need an Irridium subscription for full function so I guess it is just cheaper than running a Sat‘ phone? I was loaned an Irridium phone way back in 2004 when I drove Alaska-Texas. What about the functionality of the iPhone now to send a satellite SOS?

 

I don't know much about that. Users need an iPhone that is capable of that for one thing, and I've heard rumors that the service isn't very robust meaning that some who have claimed to try using it weren't able to get a signal through even while standing in an open field. I can't imagine in a city with no power getting a signal through (going with the potential of there being a local catastrophe causing public utilities to fail (and we had that last year! A huge storm came through with 70 to 80 mph winds and funnel clouds and the power was knocked out for miles around here. We were without power (aside from our generator) for most of the day, and the cell towers started dying and we had zip for service)) Would an iPhone work? From the rumors, I don't think I'd like to ASSUME that the iPhone sat SOS would actually work if I was in or going into a circumstance were communication could be an important thing to have.

But I have to temper this with the idea that what would it matter if there was a problem, but yeah there are still some surprising areas with no or pathetically low signal coverage, even in this day and age. Which is stunning... But I can feed the paranoia and fears all day long. But out biking, it's all to possible to get hurt. Heck three people were taken out by a deer trying to cross the road, and tried to jump over them, and didn't quite pull it off. All three survived, but one guy spent 2 weeks in hospital and lots of surgeries. It took people a bit of time to get a cell signal to start calling people.

On the Mini idea, there was a company that did a similar service, and they were notoriously unreliable. They had a great looking device, but if it doesn't work, or the service drops you, what good is it. I was just curious if the Mini in particular, and Garmin products in general actually were worth the expense. It seems like they might be. (I should have bought the Mini 2 on the Black Friday sale I guess DOH!)

 

Homemade Wanderlust Youtube channel (a through hiker) has two recent videos where she had to use the Inreach Mini due to AFIB issues on the trail. She used it for communication and trail rescue. there are similar type videos for other hikers. i personally carry an Iridium Extreme 9575 satellite phone with Redpoint Solutions Ripcord rescue programmed to the SOS button. i used to have TMobile and changed companies and got the sat phone because TMobile at that time cut off your data at 200mb roaming on other carriers towers. they used to and need check if they still do that. There used to be alot of roaming out west in TMobile due to their past western sparse coverage - my wife and lost our cell data in Minnesota like 10 hours into our trip to FJ Summit several years back.

 

@fsubzero - sorry- AFIB?

 

Cardiac Afibrillation. irregular heart rhythm.

 

We've had an inReach Explorer for a number of years now. We live inside the Santa Fe National Forest and there is no cell service. Even the Forest Service radios don't work in much of the area around our house. My wife carries it whenever she hikes so that she can let me know where she is, tell me if she's delayed, or call for pickup on a one-way hike. In winter we keep it in the car when we drive out to the highway. We get a fair amount of snow in the winter and might not have a car come up the road for 2-3 days. Don't want to get stuck and have to walk 8 miles in the snow to the next house.

As noted above, it can take a while for the message to come through in some cases - 10 - 15 minutes. I find the interface pretty horrid, but you're asking about the mini anyway.

 

We've had an inReach Explorer for a number of years now. We live inside the Santa Fe National Forest and there is no cell service. Even the Forest Service radios don't work in much of the area around our house. My wife carries it whenever she hikes so that she can let me know where she is, tell me if she's delayed, or call for pickup on a one-way hike. In winter we keep it in the car when we drive out to the highway. We get a fair amount of snow in the winter and might not have a car come up the road for 2-3 days. Don't want to get stuck and have to walk 8 miles in the snow to the next house.

As noted above, it can take a while for the message to come through in some cases - 10 - 15 minutes. I find the interface pretty horrid, but you're asking about the mini anyway.

Supposedly the biggest difference between the Mini (1) and the Mini 2 is the UI (user interface, or 'user in-your-face'), with aminor that it uses a different app on connected devices. I had an early Garmin Trek unit and the UI was exactly horrid. A major PITA to use. Confusing, hard to get the idea what some of the menu items were for, etc, and lags at time after choosing something.

Oh, the Mini 2 has 'radically' higher battery life. 🤷‍♂️

 

You did not mention what your intentions are with it, that is important. I have the Garmin Explorer + and I love it. It gives me a real sense of security when I am off-grid. The Bluetooth connectivity with my phone allows me to basically text with my phone as I normally do with the exception of the time delay sending or receiving messages. I believe the mini has the function also as well as connectivity to certain watches. That being said, it is not fool-proof. You have to have access to open sky, deep woods, canyons and being inside building can cause problems. When I am on the trails my wife can follow along where I am at. I tell her as long as I’m moving don’t worry and if I stop for an extended period of time, I message her. Speaking of that, last summer I lost my alternator when I was at 12,000 Ft in American Basin about 2 hrs out of Lake City CO. I contacted her and she got a hold of auto parts stores and a hotel room in Gunnison, all while I was off-grid. Really saved my butt, she also had a towing service on standby if needed. Luckily it was not. As far as the subscription, I have the freedom plan which allows me to suspend my service when not needed, then activate it when I am on my trips. Hopefully I never have to use the SOS function. I highly recommend owning and learning how to use one.

 

You did not mention what your intentions are with it

I/we will be traveling more in the new year and I'd like to do more diving and travel bike tours too. I can see it being a benefit to have 'just in case', and just to keep track of each other. The wife is not sold on the cost, but it's like insurance I feel, you pay in case you need it, not because you know you will need it. I haven't had an incident where I've made a claim in decades (so insurance is a cash making endeavor for those companies for sure) but biking, have had some issues where getting help, or comforting the wife that I'm still not dead yet would be nice.

But someone alluded to the limitations, and they don't work in water, and if it's raining cats, dogs, and small farm animals, it's not likely going to work well. A thick over-coverage of trees and vegetation is going to have the same problems, as well as any roofed area, and the usual tall building forests that tend to jack GPS signals, but in an emergency, it's better than being potentially totally out of touch and not being able to get assistance. (Taylor Swift is Time's Person Of The year? ) But it's easy to get a big head and feed the fear and spend money on toys we don't need, but in the age of satellite location, and communication, if you can afford it, and think you need it, do it. I'm waiting for the price to go down again. Come on Garmin...

 

I have the Mini2. My use of it may not be directly related to your ask (considering the forum) but I'm an avid small stream fly fisherman living in PA. Whenever my schedule (and wife) allows, I hike to streams buried deep within thick canopy state game lands; always solo. An out-and-back or loop as long as 10 miles completely off the grid isn't uncommon during the longer light days. Quick count is about 75 solo trips over the past 2 fishing years.

I've been carrying a Mini/Mini2 for the past two-plus years and I absolutely LOVE having it with me. It provides peace-of-mind for me and my family and I'm confident it'll be an effective service should something go seriously wrong. In fact, when hiking I actually rely on other services/apps - AllTrails and GaiaGPS - to actually plan and navigate along my route. Here's some feedback from my experience:

Even though I don't rely on the Mini for navigation, I always activate tracking and compare my route to my primary navigation apps. Even in the densest cover, there's very good alignment between the tracks.

Battery life is exceptional. I estimate I burn ~15-20 pct of battery during a 9 hour trip in heavy cover with a track interval set pretty aggressively.

App-based interface is intuitive and the messaging support when off the grid is pretty good. There's certainly a bit of a delay especially when under cover but I often trade texts and send checkins to my wife throughout the day.

I love the size and if your budget allows, it's worth paying for the Mini2 vs. the mini. Lots of reviews out there but the big differences for me between the two is the messaging support and the USB-C interface on the Mini2

SAR insurance in integrated and cheap.

My bottom line would be if you're looking to pick one up for sattelite messaging and SOS, I don't think you'll currnetly find anything better. If I break it, I'll buy another one without considering an alternative. If you're planning on it being your primary NAV device, there's a lot to be desired relative to the screen size and on-device interface.

There's TONS of videos out there that walk you thru the good and the bad but here's a video absolutely worth watching about what actually happens when you hit the SOS button:

 

when my brother first got his a few years ago (he does a lot of solo backpacking in Utah and Idaho) he was testing out the breadcrumbs. out in the parking lot where he worked during his lunch break, he forgot and left it on the roof of his car. when he realized it he went out and it was gone. that night he grabbed his laptop, followed the crumbs to a house. told the guy that answered the door "you have my inreach".
he loves it though and it saves his wife additional grey hairs when he's up in the mountains for a week.

 

I have an inReach Mini. It is immensely valuable for me in the backcountry where cell service is either non-existent or unreliable. When I am camping without service I send 3-5 messages per day to keep my wife informed that I'm still alive and she gets a lat/long position of where I am. The preset messages (you get 3 of them) are by far the most useful feature and 99% of the messages I send are one of those three. I also really like the weather forecast updates which are customized to your current location. The battery life is enough to go 2-3 weeks in the backcountry without recharging if you only use it to turn on and send/receive messages (as opposed to leaving breadcrumbs as you travel, in which case expect to charge it every day). The integration with the phone app is usable but I rarely need it because mostly I send presets and it's easy to read the incoming messages and weather forecasts on the mini itself rather than the phone.

 

Either original or new Mini 2? How do they/it work for you? Do you use it a lot? When you have used it, did it function as advertised, or are there issues. (I get the indoors isn't likely to work well, but outdoors?) Looking for how it's worked for 'real people', and not specious canned reviews on other sites from people 'compensated' for their time. There are some other brands on the market that do the same thing, but the Garmin Mini seems like a better product. Is it? Thanks...

I think they are brilliant. We overland travel in Africa, often in foreign countries and in extremely isolated placed where there is no mobile telephone network. It allows us to keep in contact with our family at any time and we are also able to share the route with them, to keep them in the loop on our location for interest sake. Interestingly, you can also use them in flight to keep track of an aircraft