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TheJason
Well-known member
Whoever finds my carcass will get the added bonus of a Wingworks vest and a well used 16 gauge SxS. The smartphone should have some pictures of a drahthaar on point or retrieving a bird. Might even be a picture of the cliff I fell off of.
thatsjet
Well-known member
I've owned both the Spot and InReach, I prefer the InReach hands down. Larger initial investment, but you can stop/start your service on a month by month basis. If you plan to be outdoors/off-the-grid at all even once per year, the InReach will save you money in the long run. I just activate it for the month or two I plan to be in the field (at $35/mo) and that's all I pay. The Spot subscription is for a whole year and runs over $100/year.
LuckyGoose
Active member
Right, but you can't forget the $25 activation that is charged each year on top of the monthly subscription. It's still the way to go PLUS you can get weather and it's a GPS and the Earthmate app for your phone is invaluable. I use it all year long.
onpoint
Well-known member
Onx, sat phones, Earthmate, apps.......
Damn - I'm glad I was born when I was
.
At 13, took off on foot with a bolt action 20 gauge in the Superior National Forest, got lost a couple times, had to figure things out.
Not at all trying to ruffle fragile www generation feelings, just - there was a time (only a couple decades ago)....................................................
That Wingworks vest will likely still be usable by it's finder
When bird, fishing, and hunter orange vests come with a power source and a USB port, that'll be really cool.
Damn - I'm glad I was born when I was
.At 13, took off on foot with a bolt action 20 gauge in the Superior National Forest, got lost a couple times, had to figure things out.
Not at all trying to ruffle fragile www generation feelings, just - there was a time (only a couple decades ago)....................................................
That Wingworks vest will likely still be usable by it's finder
When bird, fishing, and hunter orange vests come with a power source and a USB port, that'll be really cool.
Focus
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Onx, sat phones, Earthmate, apps.......
Damn - I'm glad I was born when I was
At 13, took off on foot with a bolt action 20 gauge in the Superior National Forest, got lost a couple times, had to figure things out.
Not at all trying to ruffle fragile www generation feelings, just - there was a time (only a couple decades ago)....................................................
It's a matter of choosing to embrace new (and in a lot of cases, better) technology or not. Do you travel to your hunting area on a horse or in a pick-up? Do you pull an -06 out of the case or a long bow? Do you wear wool or something by Sitka or First Lite? Do you use a war-surplus Marine knife hanging off of a scabbard on your belt or a Gerber Vital? Do you carry and know how to use a map-and-compass or do you use OnX and a GPS? We're all somewhere along the continuum of technology with every piece of gear we choose to carry.
I'm grateful for the ability to message my wife and tell her about what time I'll be home. I'm grateful for the comfort of knowing if I happen to slip off of a deadfall and break my leg 3 1/2 miles from the truck that I'm a button-push away from having Search-and-Rescue coming for me with the resources to get me the hell home safe and sound (eventually). I'm grateful for the ability to know what's public and what's private (and who owns the private so I know who to ask if it looks bird-y). I'm grateful for the reach of a 30-06 and the vision of a Leupold 2.5-8x. I'm grateful for the Benchmade in my pack and the Sitka gear that dries in about 5 minutes after I take it off from the sweat-soaked hike up the mountain.
And for what its worth, I started following my Dad on bird hunts in the 60's, spent many a day tromping around in leather work boots that Dad "water-proofed" with that silicone goo that had the little mop on the cap, spent many a day freezing my butt off wearing cotton everything while hunting birds or sitting in a tree stand in a rain or snow shower, gotten misplaced a few times in the deer woods (including a memorable morning when I family I never knew before or since took me in and treated me to breakfast!), spent many hours over a USGS topo map figuring out the best place to hunt (and where my "guardrails" were in case I got "misplaced" again)............do I miss those days when things were simpler, cheaper and sometimes more fun than what they are now?.....you betcha!........but I'm not giving up this new technology I carry around with me now! Makes the hunt and the time out in the mountains that much better!!!
Jorge400
Active member
I've always rented sat. phones when out of reach for extended periods such as this.
This was the best explanation I have seen yet. My father likes to tease me for the new pack, or the few articles of sitka clothing. But when he is freezing cold and I am doing alright, guess who gets to hunt longer or harder. Guess who came to me asking for help on a pack out cause of the pack was suited for the job. To me these things make me more comfortable in many different ways and allow me to focus more on the hunt and my time in the mountains.
That is probably the best of ideas... I had no clue how inexpensive that would be...
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GrantK
Well-known member
I've used both sat phones and inreach on climbing trips way more remote than all but the farthest out hunts, for my money I'm taking the inreach over the phone every time, the phone rental is cheap but airtime pretty quickly pushes the cost way up, figure on using twice the minutes you think you will, they just pile up, everything is rounded up and by the time you get connected you can figure on using a minute plus every time you dial even if you don't get through, the phones also seem to be less reliable, I've had a couple of times with no comms with a phone for up to a couple of days, other parties were also in the dark with phones but an inreach a third party on the glacier had worked the whole time... I think that is less likely in the lower 48, most of my use has been in Alaska or South America where satellite communications are not as good but it is still something to be aware of...
the other thing the inreach has over the satphone is the emergency feature, I am on a local rescue team and we get a fair amount of calls through the integrated rescue service from inreach devices, they tend to be pretty accurate and well-vetted, which helps mobilize faster, and we know the patient location which is not always easy to get out of someone on a sat phone...
the other thing the inreach has over the satphone is the emergency feature, I am on a local rescue team and we get a fair amount of calls through the integrated rescue service from inreach devices, they tend to be pretty accurate and well-vetted, which helps mobilize faster, and we know the patient location which is not always easy to get out of someone on a sat phone...
Focus
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That’s good to know. Do you have any feel for time elapsed from button-push to getting the call-out (to whatever agency is first to respond)?
44hunter45
Well-known member
My wife likes me better when I've been ALONE in the woods for a while. If I had an InReach my work would no doubt find the number. I'd rather end up as bear poop.
Mrs. is a tightwad. She would rather bury an empty casket than pay sat subscriptions.
I did blow my Achilles in the woods a few years ago. When you have to save yourself, you just do it.
Mrs. is a tightwad. She would rather bury an empty casket than pay sat subscriptions.
I did blow my Achilles in the woods a few years ago. When you have to save yourself, you just do it.
glass eye
Well-known member
If you get an ACR PLB, I would put some duct tape around the trigger to prevent accidental activation. When I first got mine it appeared to me that it could possibly trip by accident so I wrapped it up.
This past June I was waiting my turn at a helicopter port in NZ and the heli port received a call from search & rescue inquiring if there was a certain person there. Turns out that the guy in question had his PLB activated inside of his backpack.
This past June I was waiting my turn at a helicopter port in NZ and the heli port received a call from search & rescue inquiring if there was a certain person there. Turns out that the guy in question had his PLB activated inside of his backpack.
GrantK
Well-known member
depends a lot on local resources and how they mobilize, when you push SOS it goes to GEOS, the dispatch center for inreach emergency, they ping you back to get more information about the emergency while they contact whoever they have listed for emergency services in the area of the SOS, for us it seems pretty fast, we usually have a location and are on standby before we even know what the emergency is, the faster you communicate back with GEOS and confirm that it is an emergency and what the issue is the faster a real response will be coming, otherwise expect a hasty team or overflight depending on where you are to determine what's going on... for other areas the lag between local dispatch being alerted and SAR being paged might be a bit slower, calls likely have to work through some bureaucracy to decide who is responding in most areas..
long answer to a short question but if you respond to GEOS and let them know what the issue is I would expect a rescue would be mobilizing within an hour or less, at least in the US..
Focus
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Thank you for the answer. Nice to know things start happening once the button’s pushed, without any substantial info. Nice thing about the Inreach is the 2-way communication from the victim to the responders. SPOT device that I used to run didn’t have that.
JohnDeereGreen
Member
warmer,
Was in your same situation a few years ago. Wife worried and unhappy I was solo hunting and out of cell service while doing so. Bought an inReach/wife doesn't worry/wife is happy/solo hunting no longer a source of disagreement.
If I have to spend $$$ and schlep along another device so my other half is not at home worried and wishing I wasn't hunting, easy choice imo.
Was in your same situation a few years ago. Wife worried and unhappy I was solo hunting and out of cell service while doing so. Bought an inReach/wife doesn't worry/wife is happy/solo hunting no longer a source of disagreement.
If I have to spend $$$ and schlep along another device so my other half is not at home worried and wishing I wasn't hunting, easy choice imo.
thatsjet
Well-known member
This. Exactly.
Quick "in Reach" story from elk hunting this weekend. My freind's f-150 got stuck in 4 wheel low while hauling a camper in and out of our spot. He texted a freind who was able to look up directions for getting it unstuck. Would have been hours of driving in 4 wheel low to get to get to a town or even cell service.
warmer
Well-known member
I want to thank everyone for the suggestions. You guys are great! But, I really want to thank Sytes. He sent me, a complete stranger, his In-reach to use on my hunt. It made my wife feel better that she could keep track of me and communicate with me if needed. Without it, she was not to happy with me going alone. I was able to fill my cow tag about 2 hours into my hunt.
Glad it worked out. Just wanted to say +1 on the in reach. I have a friend who rented one this year. I think all in it was less than $100 for our trip... I think there are several online places beginning to rent them in the same fashion as sat phones.
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