[pct-l] Delorme inReach satellite two-way texting -- review

[Eric Martinot]

In November, Delorme came out with their "inReach" satellite  
communicator, which seems like the next generation of SPOT.   It's  
expensive, $250 plus $10-50/month, depending on number of texts, but I  
decided to try it anyway.  I just set it up and tested it.  It seems  
to work well, and would seem to offer completely reliable two-way  
texting from anywhere on the trail regardless of cell coverage.

Many people have been using the SPOT on the PCT but as everyone knows,  
the SPOT suffers from one-way texts only, and no confirmation that the  
satellite received your upload.  The Delorme, when paired with an  
Android phone just for the texting app, allows full two-way texting  
(to both email addresses and cell phones) plus you get confirmation on  
the device immediately that the satellite successfully uploaded your  
text.

I tried it out, and found that the recipient can just reply to a text  
on their cell and it comes right back to the Delorme device within  
minutes.  With email, in addition to the text itself, the recipient  
receives a web link to a map  showing your location and coordinates,  
plus a reply form that sends a text back.  Sending from the device  
took about 10-30 seconds until the satellite picked up the outgoing  
text and confirmed upload, but receiving was sometimes several minutes  
waiting -- I think you might have to wait up to 15 minutes sometimes  
with the device on, to receive incoming texts unless you also send  
something, in which case you get any pending incoming texts  
immediately.   The Android app itself is simple and clear.  And if the  
Android device runs out of batteries, you still have three pre- 
programmed texts (plus SOS) to send just from the unpaired device,  
same as SPOT.

My only complaint, until I try it on the trail this year, is the bulk  
and weight.  It is considerably larger in size than I was expecting.   
And with 2-AA lithium batteries it is 8 oz. I think.   And it just  
adds another gadget to make life that much more complicated.  One  
other thing, you can keep your plan at $10/month for off-season and  
then bump it up for free to a higher volume plan during the hike, but  
then there is an unreasonable fee to bump the plan back down to low  
volume afterwards.

However, daily updates to/from friends, regardless of cell coverage,  
potentially including receiving weather and fire info, and being able  
to reliably arrange trail-head drops or pick-ups a day or two in  
advance would seem benefits that might make the weight worthwhile for  
some sections of trail.  (I would not consider it a "must have" for  
most sections where there are lots of people around and even a solo  
hiker doesn't need an SOS, but definitely good for snowy off-trail  
solo navigation where you might want an SOS, or when nearing an active  
fire area to get real-time info via text from friends, and maybe for  
sections where I might be arranging a pick-up or resupply drop-off at  
the end.  Otherwise I'll bounce it along.)

I also bought the device for everyday emergency use, in case of severe  
earthquake (where I live) in which landlines, cell service and  
internet all go down.   In that case, I can still easily let family  
know I'm OK and get outside news via texts.  (With a solar charger for  
the Android device.)

For all you iphone users, you're out of luck, it only works with  
Android.  (Or a different version pairs only with Delorme's super- 
expensive GPS for texting).

Eric