Phone, GPS, inReach, Onx... Help!

[Rawmeat]

I am going to start some back pack hunting this fall along with some multi day canoe trips and hikes this summer. I need some help sorting out all my location/map/emergency devices. Here is my situation:

I have been using Onx on my Note 4 phone for day hunts and and scouting purposes. It works pretty well aside from being a little slow. Maybe this is just my phone that is getting old. I really like being able to scout electronically on my computer and see way points on my phone. I have never used a hand held GPS.

My wife and I have decided that I should have some form of satellite communication when I leave the roads for days at a time. It is well worth the price for us to have communication in an emergency situation whether it is in the field or at home.

What I am trying to figure out is how to manage my mapping in the field. I really like having the landownership and all the other layers that Onx offers, and from what I understand there are no inReach devices that will take an Onx chip. So I am thinking I will most likely be taking my phone and inReach GPS with me, but I don't want to get wrapped up in trying to navigate with both of them.

Will I find myself just leaving the GPS in my pack and using it for communication only? or are there some good maps for the GPS that I might be better off using over the phone? I kind of like the idea of this to because of battery life and durability. What maps are you using if you are running and inReach GPS?

If you have experience with both, please share the pros and cons.

 

[pabearhunter]

I have only used inreach but it does everything I need it to do.

 

[pabearhunter]

I have only used inreach but it does everything I need it to do.

Wait for it !

 

[406LIFE]

I use my Note8 exclusively for my GPS. I carry a battery pack for it, but have never needed it. I sold off my GPS after last years seasons.

I use a Spot GPS Messenger. Not 2way comms, but $50 for the unit, $50 for a years worth of service. If I were buying something new, I'd look hard at the inreach or just getting a Satphone. But both those units are spendy.

 

[Don K]

For communication the Inreach is hard to beat.

If you dont want to spend the money to buy one you can rent one for your trip

 

[joelweb]

Inreach is great if you want to setup the expectation that you communicate with home every day while in the backcountry. I'm really resistant to that. Let's say you kill a bull just before dark and get caught up tending to the meat and forget to contact your wife. She freaks out thinking you fell off a cliff or got eaten by a bear. I'm fine with sending an SOS signal, but I don't want to setup the expectation that I text every day.

 

[Rawmeat]

Inreach is great if you want to setup the expectation that you communicate with home every day while in the backcountry. I'm really resistant to that. Let's say you kill a bull just before dark and get caught up tending to the meat and forget to contact your wife. She freaks out thinking you fell off a cliff or got eaten by a bear. I'm fine with sending an SOS signal, but I don't want to setup the expectation that I text every day.

Yes, we have already had this conversation about not "expecting" messges, or getting worried when she doesn't get one.

 

[JohnCushman]

Inreach is great if you want to setup the expectation that you communicate with home every day while in the backcountry. I'm really resistant to that. Let's say you kill a bull just before dark and get caught up tending to the meat and forget to contact your wife. She freaks out thinking you fell off a cliff or got eaten by a bear. I'm fine with sending an SOS signal, but I don't want to setup the expectation that I text every day.

It's too much of a burden take 30 seconds to shoot a text to your wife saying you have a bull down and will be busy...? How about when you shoot that bull and need some help from your friends to get it out...?

 

[dhoshour]

I try to text or briefly call my wife every day because I know how much it means to her for me to be thinking of her occasionally, and her definition of occasionally is more frequent than mine, but once a day seems to work well.

If I was hunting in grizzly country, say outside of Yellowstone, I think I would commit to texting her every evening before I turn in.

Thoughtful things, small payments if you will, have a habit of coming back around, and in the right currency. She's my lover, not my mom, but in the end, it doesn't make any difference, if it matters to her, it matters to me. Took me decades to finally learn and do that consistently and I wish I'd learned it a lot sooner.

 

[1_pointer]

Use the phone to navigate with and the inReach to pair to your phone for the communication. I only turn the inReach on when I need to use it. I have one of the preset message set to Everything is fine. It's a snap to send those on your list that. I've even done it when I've shot something right at dark. It takes longer for the device to connect to the satellites, which isn't long, than it does to send the message. The piece of mind for my wife makes it easier to get kitchen passes.

 

[406LIFE]

It's too much of a burden take 30 seconds to shoot a text to your wife saying you have a bull down and will be busy...? How about when you shoot that bull and need some help from your friends to get it out...?

Spot Messenger has a nice customizable message. I've set mine up to say something to the effect of "I'm ok. Just checking in. I love you." I push that at lunch if i remember, but certainly at night before I go to sleep.

 

[MTGomer]

After using an inreach, I can’t believe spot is still in business. That said, I’ll send you one for $20 and shipping if you want it. PM me if so. It’s a hell of a lot better than nothing.

I don’t have any expectation with my wife that I’m going to text her, though I usually do atleast send a preset message in morning and night. An inreach’s Value is in coordinating help if you get one, and making sure everything is okay at home. My great uncle died two years ago when i was hunting. If that would have happened on day 1 of a 10 day hunt, I would have missed the funeral without an inreach.

 

[JohnCushman]

I was in a similar position as MTGomer on an elk hunt. My wife was able to reach me to tell me she was sick and in the hospital and I was able to pack up and get home.

 

[Arcola]

I use OnX on my phone for all of my navigation and keep an InReach in my pack for communicating with my wife or potential packers. Absolutely love OnX on a smart phone. My battery lasts 4 days on airplane mode & have a small charger that gets me a couple more. I use the InReach app on my phone to send my texts, so I don't actually have to touch the InReach. Plus, if something happens to my phone, I have the InReach to fall back on for navigation.

 

[Rawmeat]

All right, you have all convinced me. Onx on phone, an Anker 10,000 mAh battery or two, and inReach explorer+. This is the setup I am going with.

 

[BrentD]

I haven't been here long but you guys have all but convinced me to throw my Garmin in the trash and go OnX on my phoen all the way. I'd never even heard of OnX until a few months ago. That's Randy's fault . Randy, you do sell product. No doubt about that.

 

[VikingsGuy]

I haven't been here long but you guys have all but convinced me to throw my Garmin in the trash and go OnX on my phoen all the way. I'd never even heard of OnX until a few months ago. That's Randy's fault . Randy, you do sell product. No doubt about that.

Being a member of HT can be an expensive proposition Onx, Gohunt, handloading, . . . . . .

 

[BrentD]

Being a member of HT can be an expensive proposition Onx, Gohunt, handloading, . . . . . .

No, it is actually very CHEAP. If I had been a member earlier, I could have saved myself lots of money buying the right thing first. That said, I gotta get you guys to reconsider some old tech once in a while.

 

[Colberjs]

I use OnX on my iPhone and never touched my regular GPS on my last trip to CO.

The Earthmate app that you use to communicate with your InReach device also has the capability of storing maps for offline use and I believe you can get landowner data on it also.

 

[BrentD]

Can you summarize what "InReach" is for us clueless folks? I've never even heard of it until today. I used Iridium, I think it was, in AK while moosing. Is InReach similar?