not as good as good judgement, bushcraft, knowing your limits, respecting the weather, leaving behind the general coordinates of the area you are in and when you are going in and out, and the local contact number for local rangers with you peeps at home. Being prepared helps including your physical self. Extra credit? radio with scheduled transmission of all is well. and programmed with frequencies used by area aircraft. t. Solo backcounty Eagle Scout in North GA.
way better than any of that. i rather be a moron with a satellite communication device than have the skills i built up. have had people with medical emergencies or injuries on trails a few times. once had to call in for sar to get them out on a gurney. these are a safety net and a good one. doubt it will be needed and the more experience you have the less likely it will be. if someone has chest pain on trail none of your boyscout skills will beat a chopper to a hospital.
Well that's neat; I've been looking for something just like this so I can text my wife from PrepHole and let her know I'm not dead. GearLab gives it a solid "meh", but they say it does do what it's supposed to.
as long as it allows others to track and monitor your location via an online portal it's worth it. a device that offers limited features like SOS or SMS transmission isn't worth that kind of money plus the monthly subscription.
I might have a peek at some of the Garmin devices that offer SOS and messaging because a lot of them also offer real time mapping, routing, and track recording and might be a better overall value (I'm only assuming the Spot X doesn't do that but I could be completely wröng)
Looks like the Spot X is just a messenger. It has SOS so you can call a helicopter in for a sweet lake landing, but mostly it's for sending check-in messages and texting via satellite; I imagine that's why it costs half what a Garmin does.
I would make sure it has remote monitoring so if you fall off a ravine or get hypothermia or get stuck up a tree in your jammies with wolves waiting for you to slip you don't need to physically send an SOS for people to know where you are
Yeah because the real cost is the monthly subscription the mini has no fricking keyboard to type on.
Any newer iphone can send messages ONLY in an emergency but can contact satellites (14 or newer)
I assume some android devices have this as well.
You are going to pay out the ass for monthly fees and per message beyond that.
I gladly pay more to have the Garmin rescue system, they have aided in more than 10,000 incidents. rather know I'm going to get saved in place of saving 200$
Actually the battery on this one is fine, and I always have two battery backups anyways >phone breaks
never had that happen, I dropped one in water and that broke it but that was years and years ago and they have been waterproofed since
it has gps, it can summon SOS through satellites, it has everything you need >a new costs
most people have phone plans that include upgrades, they tend to subsidize it heavily for people on monthly plans
doesn't need to be new anyways, 14 and newer can do satellite SOS, but sometimes 14 isn't even cheaper than 15 because of ??
And I just don't know about android devices and satellite access, but if that's a thing that's fine too if you don't want Apple.
But these subscriptions tend to be $250+ a year for satellite communication if you want it on demand, like hey, if you've got money to blow, ok, but don't pretend that's necessary or more practical than a smartphone which most people already have
not as good as good judgement, bushcraft, knowing your limits, respecting the weather, leaving behind the general coordinates of the area you are in and when you are going in and out, and the local contact number for local rangers with you peeps at home. Being prepared helps including your physical self. Extra credit? radio with scheduled transmission of all is well. and programmed with frequencies used by area aircraft. t. Solo backcounty Eagle Scout in North GA.
>regards, Jim
way better than any of that. i rather be a moron with a satellite communication device than have the skills i built up. have had people with medical emergencies or injuries on trails a few times. once had to call in for sar to get them out on a gurney. these are a safety net and a good one. doubt it will be needed and the more experience you have the less likely it will be. if someone has chest pain on trail none of your boyscout skills will beat a chopper to a hospital.
Well that's neat; I've been looking for something just like this so I can text my wife from PrepHole and let her know I'm not dead. GearLab gives it a solid "meh", but they say it does do what it's supposed to.
as long as it allows others to track and monitor your location via an online portal it's worth it. a device that offers limited features like SOS or SMS transmission isn't worth that kind of money plus the monthly subscription.
I might have a peek at some of the Garmin devices that offer SOS and messaging because a lot of them also offer real time mapping, routing, and track recording and might be a better overall value (I'm only assuming the Spot X doesn't do that but I could be completely wröng)
Looks like the Spot X is just a messenger. It has SOS so you can call a helicopter in for a sweet lake landing, but mostly it's for sending check-in messages and texting via satellite; I imagine that's why it costs half what a Garmin does.
I would make sure it has remote monitoring so if you fall off a ravine or get hypothermia or get stuck up a tree in your jammies with wolves waiting for you to slip you don't need to physically send an SOS for people to know where you are
Scratch that, I may be moronic. It says it has a ten-minute GPS tracking interval.
get a pocket sized drone that has a long distance display and you should be able to ever get lost again also costs less and is fun
you can get a secondhand garmin inreach mini 1st edition for under 200$...
Yeah because the real cost is the monthly subscription the mini has no fricking keyboard to type on.
Any newer iphone can send messages ONLY in an emergency but can contact satellites (14 or newer)
I assume some android devices have this as well.
You are going to pay out the ass for monthly fees and per message beyond that.
I gladly pay more to have the Garmin rescue system, they have aided in more than 10,000 incidents. rather know I'm going to get saved in place of saving 200$
An AAC membership is probably more worth it than a subscription for barebones devices
also, iPhone batteries are shit, and the phone breaks notoriously easily. a new iPhone costs upwards of 1k
Actually the battery on this one is fine, and I always have two battery backups anyways
>phone breaks
never had that happen, I dropped one in water and that broke it but that was years and years ago and they have been waterproofed since
it has gps, it can summon SOS through satellites, it has everything you need
>a new costs
most people have phone plans that include upgrades, they tend to subsidize it heavily for people on monthly plans
doesn't need to be new anyways, 14 and newer can do satellite SOS, but sometimes 14 isn't even cheaper than 15 because of ??
And I just don't know about android devices and satellite access, but if that's a thing that's fine too if you don't want Apple.
But these subscriptions tend to be $250+ a year for satellite communication if you want it on demand, like hey, if you've got money to blow, ok, but don't pretend that's necessary or more practical than a smartphone which most people already have
these things are dogshit
had to use one while offshore for communicating, pay more for a better alternative
>offshore
Well that might have something to do with it; their coverage is probably limited to mainland US