SPOT vs InReach vs Cerberlink?

[npaden]

Okay, I'm doing a solo one week backpack hunt this year and am more than likely going to get something for the "just in case" scenarios that could occur when you don't have a buddy to go for help.

I've been hunting a long time and never had to send a buddy for help, but you never know.

I've been researching the options and read several reviews on all of these, but was curious if any of you have used them. I know several have used SPOT, I've heard complaints about their lack of power, etc., but they are the cheapest option. You can get a basic unit for $100 and a basic subscription for $100 per year. For $150 you can get the SPOT connect and for $150 per year you can send custom text messages with it.

The InReach is a more powerful unit and costs more. I've found it for $225 online and the cheapest subscription is $120 per year and limits you to 10 text messages per month with additional text messages at like $1.50 each. It gets better reviews on reliability than the SPOT, but still not just glowing.

The Cerberlink is WAY more expensive at $500 and nearly $400 a year for the subscription, and it seems to be the most powerful and reliable of the 3. I can't justify that cost, but the interesting thing for them is that for $65 you can rent a unit with 20 messages for two weeks. Additional messages are 75 cents.

Right now I'm on the fence between buying the InReach and renting the Cerberlink. I think both of them offer 2 way texting, which sounds good, but I would hate to use up my available messages with someone sending me some silly texts not realizing I was out of pocket.

Anyone else used any of these products and have any input?

Thanks, Nathan

 

[oldman357]

I have the most basic SPOT unit, picked it up at a garage sale for 5$ charged it up with a subscription and so far every time I've tried to send a message someone has gotten it. that said it does seem to take quiet a while for the message to send. I've had it out many times the most recent time was out bear hunting. I pre programmed my messages to read.
I'm fine thanks for asking.
MEAT!
Ouch that hurt! some assistance please
then of course there is the send in the cavalry button.
I'll really put it to the test when i take it out for a week of elk hunting this November.

 

[blb078]

I have the inreach for andriod. I get the 4mth plan which gives you 40 texts to/from someone a month and extra texts are 50 cents each. It works pretty good, and people at home can track your movements w/the plan too. Also has topo maps if you ever wanted to use them. The only issue w/it is that texting back/forth can sometimes be delayed. I've had clear view of the sky w/no clouds and it's take over an hour to get to my gf(just happened this past weekend in WY), and other times it gets to her in just a min or two. I think w/any of these gps options communicating can be so/so just like a sat phone, sometimes they work great other times you have to move around a bit to get a signal.

 

[wyoming556]

The real PLB units don't require any subscription and they call search and rescue. They don't' sent text messages or any of that but if you want a serious survival tool they are the only way to go. In the long run they are cheaper as well. These are in a different class than the SPOT.

http://www.amazon.com/ACR-PLB-375-P...qid=1378498694&sr=8-3&keywords=personal+epirb

http://www.amazon.com/ACR-PLB-375-R...qid=1378498694&sr=8-1&keywords=personal+epirb

Here is a review of this type of PLB.

review is from: ACR Electronics ACR ResQLink™ 406 MHz GPS Personal Locator Beacon (Misc.)
I think it's important to site the differences between this unit and a competitor "Spot" which lets you send nifty "I'm OK" messages. Spot is not a SAR 406 MHz Personal Locator Beacon. It is a GPS communicator. The Spot Communicator has been fraught with problems where tracking and personal messages have not been successfully sent. Out of 91 users on REI's website 34 have complained that they have been unable to send messages. This works out to roughly 30% chance that your message didn't make it out. The statistics are even worse for the Spot Smartphone unit. Are these the kind of odds you want in a real emergency?

What I really want is a "Help, come get me" message that will work in the event that I am in an emergency. If I'm in trouble I want my message heard, and for that I'm going to rely on a SAR 406 Mhz beacon! This thing is lightweight and small, and it lets you test it once or twice a year to confirm that it's working. That's what the 12 messages are for, not for idle chit-chat with loved ones.

Yes, it's pricier than the competition at first glance, but there are no yearly subscription fees with this. You buy it once and it's good for years. With the spot you have to pay subscription fees at or over $100 a year. In the long run this ACR is much cheaper.

If texting with loved ones is what you want, buy the Spot. Just make sure you bring this ACR unit in the event of an emergency!

 

[npaden]

I forgot about the PLB's. My only thought on those was that the battery needs replaced every 5 years for $100ish.

Even those get some complaints of messages not going out in heavy cover type spots. My luck I would break a leg in a canyon that had lots of trees!

 

[blb078]

A Spot or InReach will work fine w/an emergency. With any of these devices you're going to have a possibility of issues. There's been numerous instances of people getting helped with a Spot(or InReach).
Just below the review that you posted about that PLB was this review.

It is a very high quality unit but I was counting on this PLB to activate search and rescue to my location if I were to have a snowmobiling accident in Minnesota while riding alone. I tested it in 3 different locations and found that it worked in only one of those 3 locations. These beacons must have a clear view to the Southern sky. My 3 tests lead me to believe that it must be a clear view to very low in the Southern sky, (like nearly to the horizon). It didn't work in an even slightly wooded/forested area in a river valley where I'm most likely to need it. I think it would work best in flat unforested terrain or on the water. Since it didn't work in the terrain I was most likely to need it, I returned it and the seller, (Gizmos for Life) accepted the return even after the 30 day return period had expired so I compliment them. Note that these PLB's can be tested only 12 times before the battery is considered too low to be reliable. Then you must replace the battery at a cost of more than $100.

To say that one is better than the other is completely inaccurate because both have instances of working great and not working so great. A spot will also call search and rescue, they just use GEOS instead U.S. Air Force Rescue Coordination Center which is what PLBs use. The benefit of the InReach is that in an emergency you can actually communicate back/forth via texting w/the SAR people to explain the type of emergency and what happened, which you can not do w/a PLB or Spot. Basically if you just want to hit an emergency button get a PLB, if you want an emergency button and to be able to say you're ok, go w/spot, if you want the above plus someone being able to talk back get an InReach, if you can't go more than a day or two w/o hearing your loved ones voice get a Sat phone.All of them work fine and all of them will have connectivity issues from time to time.

 

[npaden]

There is some difference in the units. The Wattage of the transmitter is for sure more powerful on the PLB's. The SPOT unit transmits at only .4 watts, the InReach at 1.6 watts and the PLB's are either 5 watts or 6.3 watts. Quite a bit more powerful. If the signal is blocked, it's blocked though, no amount of wattage is going to push through it.

Here's a comparison chart I was looking at.

http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Emergency-Electronics-Reviews

I'm not a renter kind of guy, but for $65 for 2 weeks, I'm really leaning hard toward the Cerberus. It is also a 5 watt transmitter.

 

[wyoming556]

A Spot or InReach will work fine w/an emergency. With any of these devices you're going to have a possibility of issues. There's been numerous instances of people getting helped with a Spot(or InReach).
Just below the review that you posted about that PLB was this review.

It is a very high quality unit but I was counting on this PLB to activate search and rescue to my location if I were to have a snowmobiling accident in Minnesota while riding alone. I tested it in 3 different locations and found that it worked in only one of those 3 locations. These beacons must have a clear view to the Southern sky. My 3 tests lead me to believe that it must be a clear view to very low in the Southern sky, (like nearly to the horizon). It didn't work in an even slightly wooded/forested area in a river valley where I'm most likely to need it. I think it would work best in flat unforested terrain or on the water. Since it didn't work in the terrain I was most likely to need it, I returned it and the seller, (Gizmos for Life) accepted the return even after the 30 day return period had expired so I compliment them. Note that these PLB's can be tested only 12 times before the battery is considered too low to be reliable. Then you must replace the battery at a cost of more than $100.

To say that one is better than the other is completely inaccurate because both have instances of working great and not working so great. A spot will also call search and rescue, they just use GEOS instead U.S. Air Force Rescue Coordination Center which is what PLBs use. The benefit of the InReach is that in an emergency you can actually communicate back/forth via texting w/the SAR people to explain the type of emergency and what happened, which you can not do w/a PLB or Spot. Basically if you just want to hit an emergency button get a PLB, if you want an emergency button and to be able to say you're ok, go w/spot, if you want the above plus someone being able to talk back get an InReach, if you can't go more than a day or two w/o hearing your loved ones voice get a Sat phone.All of them work fine and all of them will have connectivity issues from time to time.

I simply disagree. The SPOT is nice and has neat features like texting capabilities. It is not in the same class as the PLB's. There is a reason the Government, Military, and marine industry use PLB's. Compare the reviews and the PLB's are much higher. SPOT can fail and is more likely to fail than a PLB, plain and simple. Your life is your choice but don't group them in the same category, they are not the same and don't work the same.

BTW-Cushman would never carry a SPOT because then his wife would know where he is "hunting" all the time.

Articles on the two.
This one is good. http://bolty.net/2011/04/28/by-the-numbers-spot-messenger-vs-acr-resqlink-vs-mcmurdo-fast-find-210/

http://energyindustryphotos.com/a_guide_to_personal_locator_beac.htm

http://www.hikingcamping.com/blog/tag/plb-vs-spot/

http://www.theaccessroad.com/08/spot-messenger-vs-acr-plb

The article that Npaden posted sums up the differences quite well.

 

[dustinf]

I'd just rent an iridium sat phone. You can find one for less than $75 a week and $1.99 a minute to use.

Calls work just like a cell phone, and if the crap hits the fan you can actually talk rescuers in.

 

[dan.kirkpatrick]

ive been looking hard at the inreach se model and the 4 month "middle"subcrription plan as well,im still on the fence though.

 

[RobG]

I have a PLB but didn't realize that you could test it (some info here).

More importantly, I found this company 406Link.com which not only allows you to make sure you have satellite connection with your ACR, but you can send messages for only $59.95/year. I know nothing of this service, but it seems to smoke Spot and InReach. Opinions?

 

[npaden]

I have a PLB but didn't realize that you could test it (some info here).

More importantly, I found this company 406Link.com which not only allows you to make sure you have satellite connection with your ACR, but you can send messages for only $59.95/year. I know nothing of this service, but it seems to smoke Spot and InReach. Opinions?

Opinions? Yeah, the PLB's can send about 60 messages before the battery is dead on them and needs replaced at around $150. That comes out to $2.50ish per text message just in the cost of battery replacement, plus the $60 per year subscription. The cheapest plans on the SPOT and InReach are $100 and $120 respectively so that means you can send 16 - 24 messages per year to math out the same price per year. That doesn't include the fact that the PLB is more expensive up front that either the SPOT or InReach.

I don't think you can really send a custom message with the PLB's, just an "I'm Okay" type check in message.

I might be missing something on the price, maybe someone can replace the batteries cheaper, because I found a place that rents the PLB's and lets you add on the 406link service for only $20 per rental term. They ask that you only use the check in button once a day though or they will charge you extra.

 

[npaden]

Looks like my data was out of date. Got this off of ACR Electronics ResQLink site.

Q: How many Self Tests and GPS Tests can I perform?

New ACR 406 MHz EPIRB and PLB (Manufactured in 2010 or later) can perform 420 self tests over the 5 year life of the battery. The new AquaLink View and SARLink View PLBs (Model: PLB-350 C) can also perform 60 GPS Self Tests over the 5 year life of the battery. The new AquaLink and SARLink PLB (Model: PLB-350 B) are limited to 12 GPS Self Tests over the 5 year life of the battery. ACR EPIRBs and PLBs (Manufactured prior to 2010) can perform 340 self tests over the 5 year life of the battery.

- See more at: http://www.acrartex.com/products/catalog/personal-locator-beacons/406link/#sthash.aCYCWzwM.dpuf

Also in some of the literature it showed an iPhone that looked like it was sending texts, I haven't found that yet, maybe it was showing that it was receiving a text from the PLB unit.

 

[Don K]

A good option if you dont need it for the whole season is just rent a Spot. Much cheaper if you just need it for a couple weeks.

 

[npaden]

Yeah, for that $60 it just allows you to run a self test that your family can receive back home and that would essentially tell them that you were okay. No custom text or anything. Sounds like you have 2 choices, #1 - press the help button to get SAR coming for you, or #2 - press the test button that would send up to 5 people a text message saying that the locator beacon was working. Looks like for the $60 version they would get your GPS location too.

 

[RobG]

Yeah, for that $60 it just allows you to run a self test that your family can receive back home and that would essentially tell them that you were okay. No custom text or anything. Sounds like you have 2 choices, #1 - press the help button to get SAR coming for you, or #2 - press the test button that would send up to 5 people a text message saying that the locator beacon was working. Looks like for the $60 version they would get your GPS location too.

Actually it says you can customize the messages: http://www.406link.com/
You might be reading the $40 plan?

 

[npaden]

Yeah, I guess you can customize that test message to say whatever you want, but I think you have to change it while you are connected to the internet, I don't think you can type something up in the field and then send that like you can with the InReach or SPOT connect.

You would think they should be pretty close to getting that capability though. All it would take would be bluetooth.

 

[JohnCushman]

That was funny as hell, Rowdy

 

[JohnCushman]

With the Iridium sat phones, is there a texting option with them too?

 

[dustinf]

With the Iridium sat phones, is there a texting option with them too?

Yes. You can receive texts up to 160 characters.

You can send text as well, but you have to rent a different(more $$) phone.

I'm cheap so I call the wife for 45 seconds every other day.