by Scottk » Sat Jul 10, 2021 9:04 am
The 2 options for tracking are Spot and the inreach. They both do tracking which folks at home can follow if they have the web address. I bought the inreach as my wife was getting worried and it is the only one which can send and receive messages. It does struggle in thick tree cover but during a recent trip, the messages always got through-albeit, sometimes later.
There are 3 preset messages which you can send an unlimited amount of. Mine are-starting out, finished for the day and checking in everything is fine. You can change them from a pc but not once you are out and about. I think I will change one to ‘running late but all ok’.
Depending on the subscription plan you go with, it will come with no messages, 40 messages and unlimited. I went with 40 messages as this also comes with unlimited tracking.
I was lucky as I got the garmin mini for £150. I don’t regret the purchase and have suspended the subscription for the moment.
The spot unit doesn’t do messages but there is no subscription costs.
The message count for the garmin is for sent and received! Best to set the unit up and have a trial run before your trip as you need to enter contacts etc before you go. It has an app on your phone which you can use to type messages.
I’m sure there is a company which rents these units if you wanted to try before purchasing.