Garmin Inreach Explorer

[Kingman Cruncher]

Two guys in my hunting party are looking to move from the Rino units to these, my good buddy that I hunt with all season is looking to upgrade his GPS and was thinking about getting one. So that leaves me now considering one, so we can communicate in case of an emergency, stuck truck, buck down.

Where we hunt there is no cell service, even good radios don’t work well with the mountains, etc

I've talked to a few people about these, but looking for more input.

1. The GPS good enough to use as a primary? I have a Garmin Montana that I’m hooked on. It snaps into my snowsled dash so I map lots of roads and interesting things for hunting season. Has topics and sat image overlays. Don’t really want to carry two during season.

2. Experience on message delays! Getting a lot of feedback of delay on messages on forums and conversations.

3. Overall thoughts or feedback? I’d like to drop the cell phone, radio I carry on occasion and GPS for this one unit, but it’s a fairly sizeable investment, especially for a group to convert over too.

Sell me on it.

 

[longbow]

Interested to hear also. I think you will miss the big screen on your Montana though. I wish they would make one with a 6"x 4" screen.

 

[Kingman Cruncher]

Interested to hear also. I think you will miss the big screen on your Montana though.

Thays what I’m struggling with. I need that size of the Montana or larger for the snowmobile. Really for hunting it’s nice to have my tracks and points of interest but I’m really only using it maybe once a day maybe to pop me out on a road or truck.

I could get away with not using it for hunting if all the other features on the Inreach were solid.

 

[Pine-lock]

Shooterbuck and I have looked into these a couple times as we have similar issues with radio communication due to terrain. And carrying less stuff is always a plus. We haven't made the jump yet.

Most in our group run Garmin GPS's and like the maps and menus/useablility. The Inreach uses the old Delorme maps and controls which seem adequate but I definitely dont see them being near as good to the Garmin. If Garmin would add the satalite communication option to their existing 62/64/oregon/montana I think I would be first in line to buy one.

The Inreach Mini may be an option for you. It would give you the satalite communication option. I think it's dependant on a smart phone though. Spot has a similar unit. Neither would allow you to carry less. You woud likely just be trading the radio for the satalite texting.

I don't know much about the message delay. I can see that being an issue though.

 

[NorthMaine]

I believe the in reach can be paired to a smart phone making the screen size irrelevant no?

 

[Kingman Cruncher]

I decided yesterday I’m getting one. Sat night I got a demo by my friend Joe, and the fact it all just runs on the phone is pretty mint. I then rode solo into the NMWs and even though prepared felt a little uneasy, and figured the 20 mile walk out to a road to wait for a cutting crew on Wednesday would be miserable.

 

[longbow]

I decided yesterday I’m getting one. Sat night I got a demo by my friend Joe, and the fact it all just runs on the phone is pretty mint. I then rode solo into the NMWs and even though prepared felt a little uneasy, and figured the 20 mile walk out to a road to wait for a cutting crew on Wednesday would be miserable.

What do you mean it runs on the phone? Could you explain that?

 

[Kingman Cruncher]

What do you mean it runs on the phone? Could you explain that?

bluetooth. There is an app so all your communication, gps, maps, sat images are done on our phone. You basically only use the Inreach unit for sos and your link to the satellites.

 

[Shooter Buck]

KC which unit you looking at? The mini or the explorer? You'll have to give us a review once you get it all set up and get some time with it.

 

[longbow]

bluetooth. There is an app so all your communication, gps, maps, sat images are done on our phone. You basically only use the Inreach unit for sos and your link to the satellites.

How much do you think all that’s going to cost with the app and service subscription?

 

[longbow]

Why don’t they just put a couple damn towers up in northern Maine and then we could forget all this crap! LOL

 

[Kingman Cruncher]

Im planning on the Inreach Explorer. $400sh for unit. $35 a month for the months I’m going to have it active.

Likely too expensive for me to do it for just deer hunting, but 3-4 months of snowmobiling I could justify it.

This past weekend up here a kid needed the life flight for a snowmobile accident and my friend ride up on a guy that had been hit and couldn’t walk which appeared to be a broken hip. This was up near Pittston farm and he was just rolling around in the snow.

 

[Mainewoods]

I got a new laptop and was having issues installing my Garmin Mapquest software for my GPS. Called Garmin tech support, and after a bunch of "you need this, that, and the other", I was eventually told that they didn't support my unit anymore (extrex vista hcx) and could not unlock my maps. I was pissed and let Garmin know that. Anyway, they offered me a 35% discount on any new unit, but I needed to buy it from them and send in my old GPS.

An hour later and I had figured it out myself and got everything uploaded on my new computer, and now good to go. At Garmin's price, the Inreach Explorer is $449, so that's just under $300 with my discount, but I really don't want to send in my old unit, as it works great.

Got to think on this, cause the Inreach probably the way to go, in the long run.

 

[longbow]

Got to think on this, cause the Inreach probably the way to go, in the long run.

Unless some new technology or a tower gives you service on your phone next year. It's getting a little better every year by us. Seems to be more spots where you can get a text out.

 

[Russell Bro.]

I got a new laptop and was having issues installing my Garmin Mapquest software for my GPS. Called Garmin tech support, and after a bunch of "you need this, that, and the other", I was eventually told that they didn't support my unit anymore (extrex vista hcx) and could not unlock my maps. I was pissed and let Garmin know that. Anyway, they offered me a 35% discount on any new unit, but I needed to buy it from them and send in my old GPS.

An hour later and I had figured it out myself and got everything uploaded on my new computer, and now good to go. At Garmin's price, the Inreach Explorer is $449, so that's just under $300 with my discount, but I really don't want to send in my old unit, as it works great.


Got to think on this, cause the Inreach probably the way to go, in the long run.

Buy a cheap broken one on ebay and send that unit to them...

 

[Grandkid]

Did you get the InReach?

Roger-

 

[Kingman Cruncher]

Did you get the InReach?

Roger-

i didn’t. Not sure I will. I’ve talked to too many people and have been monitoring a forum where the service appears to be spotty and what seems like a lot of unit issues. I might consider the new unit that was just released if it gets good reviews. Undecided now.

 

[Pine-lock]

I like that the new unit uses the Garmin maps and functionality. It’s better than the delorme maps on the prior versions.

 

[Kingman Cruncher]

Update - I picked up the explorer + today at Cabelas. I had been saving my gift cards and trying to put big purchases on the cabelas cards for the points the last year, then along came a $60 off coupon so pretty much had minimal $ out of pocket.

Took literally 20 minutes to set up, activate, then pair with iPhone. Basically downloaded all the maps on my phone through the Earthmate app and can just leave the unit in my hunting pack or snowmobile and have full functionality of GPS, maps, sos, and satellite texting. Tested it all out, and seems ok.

Will use this season and report back.

 

[mbVT]

Thanks KC- do you use your phone then, while in your unit is in the pack? Could you just use the unit and leave out pairing with the phone?