DeLorme inReach

[Vector32]

Good info here. Thanks guys !!


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[blackdawg]

Ordered the orange one last week at that killer price from REI, should be enough extra bells and whistles to keep me busy figurin that sucka out for a few years. Looks like it could be nice backup for gps.

 

[dreamingbig]

FYI the Delorme bad model is $225 on Amazon too should you want another option to rei.


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[dreamingbig]

I have the SE(yellow) and it works great for what I do,it was the best piece of equipment I bought last year.

Do you get cell service in central Idaho? I was wondering if I will in Verizon or if I should pick up a Delorme inreach so that I can text the wife.

 

[IdahoElk]

Do you get cell service in central Idaho? I was wondering if I will in Verizon or if I should pick up a Delorme inreach so that I can text the wife.

Where I hunt there is no cell coverage but if you're familiar with Ketchum(not sure where you're hunting) all you have to do is be in sight of the ski mountain to call out,that's where the valleys cell towers are located.
I would use the inreach,that's 100% your message is getting out no mater where you are.

 

[dreamingbig]

Thanks. Enough said! I will get one ordered!


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[unsuccessful]

I bought an explorer in the clearance cave at the south Denver Cabela's for $290 in April. They had at least one more when I bought mine.

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[joshmo]

Hey guys - I am actually the Western Sales Rep for DeLorme (and yes, now Garmin!) and I saw a few questions about the inReach so I figured I'd chime in.

The inReach SE (Yellow device) uses the iridium satellite network to allow for 2-way texting anywhere on the globe. You can text friends and family on their normal cell phones as well as with their email addresses. If you're in the field with buddies who have an inReach, you can text their devices as well. On the device itself, it has a small virtual keyboard (think 90's cell phone) that you have to click thru and find each letter. It does have predictive text to guess your words, and with some time, it does get pretty easy to use. Like many of you have said though, if you bluetooth your smartphone to the inReach, it becomes way easier! You download the EarthMate App from your app store and login with your credentials you used to set up service. Your phone then becomes an extension of your inReach screen. It also allows for you to use all the contacts already stored on your phone rather than inputting them into your inReach. I live in Idaho and have cell service many of the places I hunt. However, just last week while bear hunting, I got down into a valley where I had zero service while looking for a bear and let me wife know that I would be home after midnight and not to wait up. That same scenario would have gotten me in trouble if I didn't have my inreach!

Another cool feature is the ability to download high detail maps to your paired smartphone. You can download worldwide maps, including North American Topo maps and NOAA ocean charts. These are all free and are cached in your phone so if you are off the grid, they still work. Your position will be shown on these maps (the inReach becomes a wireless gps receiver for your phone or ipad) and if talking to a buddy on their inreach, their position can be overlaid on your map too!

The biggest feature on the inReach in my opinion is the SOS. Regardless of where you are in the world, you can activate your SOS during an emergency and help will arrive. The button actually contacts GEOS, a global rescue coordinator who then contacts emergency resources in your proximity. Because of the two way texting ability, GEOS also text you on your device to see what the emergency is and to update you on the rescue. We have had rescues that have needed days of coordination because of location and weather, so you can imagine it must have been somewhat comforting to know about the delay ahead of time for the victim, rather than sitting there stranded, wondering if the message was even received!

Finally, the tracking feature allows for you to leave a "breadcrumb" trail behind so you can backtrack if needed. You can also have this trail synced to your mapshare page so friends and family can monitor where you're at. And for you guys wondering....yes this feature, along with all other tracking features CAN be disabled!

Now for the Explorer (Orange device) You get everything listed above plus navigation features. By navigation, I mean you can drop and assign way-points in the field or on the computer ahead of time. You can draw or trace routes on the computer when "satellite imagery" scouting and have them sync to your Explorer. You also get a digital compass and small map page. The map page is a very basic gridded background that shows your routes, way-points, and tracks you have left behind. When partnered with your smart phone, these same routes and points are now overlaid on a nice high detail map.

DeLorme has also released a hunting map upgrade (39.95 upgrade) which includes all 50 states that will allow you to now download Aerial image maps, Game Units (GMU broken down by species), Public Land boundaries, Private Parcel Data with boarders and owner names, and USGS quad maps. Its a pretty awesome combo!

About one month ago, DeLorme released a pretty slick Weather feature that is available on both devices that give weather forecast at your current location, or if you're traveling, you can get an updated forecast for a different location. All of this can be done while you are well outside of cell range.

Plans are broken down into two categories. Annual Contract and Freedom Plans. On the annual contract, you are committing to a year of service and plans range from 11.95 per month to 49.95 a month. The latter is our Expedition(unlimited everything) plan and the first is our Safety plan, designed more for sos usage. However, the safety plan still includes unlimited "preset messages" and 10 standard messages.
The Freedom plan allows for month to month contracts, but the monthly charge goes up a bit. The saftey plan goes from 11.95 to 14.95 a month and the Expedition plan goes from 49.95 to 64.95 per month, but they are only 30 day commitments. The Freedom plan also has an annual fee of 24.95. This is basically buying you out of your annual requirement.

That was a ton of info, and I did it on only one coffee, but hopefully it answers some questions! If you have any specific questions, ask away and I will try to answer! I also just did a podcast on the hunting features of the inReach if you'd like to listen at http://southerndraw.podbean.com/e/episode-2-the-beginning-of-southern-draw-delormegarmins-inreach/

Josh

 

[colonel00]

Great info, Josh. I'm really looking forward to see what Garmin and Delorme can do in partnership now.

 

[Kawabunga]

I have the SE, only used it a few times but like it so far. That map upgrade sounds awesome, need to look into that now, great info, thanks.

 

[joshmo]

Great info, Josh. I'm really looking forward to see what Garmin and Delorme can do in partnership now.

Thanks Brad...and I am too!

 

[oenanthe]

Thanks for all the info - it's good to see that Garmin is developing the Inreach platform.

A couple of questions:
1) the map upgrade is for a coupled phone, right? Is there any chance you will release a standalone map package for the Explorer? I use mine without a phone as there is no cell coverage where I normally hunt.
2) Are there any plans to make the barometer more useful? I would like to be able to check the barometer when I wake up in the morning to see if it has gone up or down (basic wx forecasting). That is really tedious right now. I'd also like to be able to use it more effectively as an altimeter, but again the tedious interface makes it difficult. Thanks for your time!

 

[joshmo]

Thanks for the questions oenanthe!

1. I cant speak to map integration yet on the explorer, but remember, even without cell service on your phone, it will still fully function within the Earthmate app. All of the maps are dowloaded ahead of time for the area you will be hunting in. Also, the GPS in your phone should work without cell towers and if it doesn't the inreach will provide the location service to your phone via the bluetooth connection. We actually recommend turning your phone onto airplane mode when off the grid so its not wearing the batter down looking for service.
2. If you do the latest firmware update on your device and update the app, you now should have full access to weather, including barometer readings. Here is the link to more info... http://inreachdelorme.com/product-info/inreach-weather.php

 

[gelton]

Wow. The weather feature alone is worth the price IMO. There have been many occasions when I would have made different decisions had I known what was in store weather wise. Also the maps feature seems really nice as well. Going to have to sell the spot and pick up an inreach.

 

[joshmo]

Wow. The weather feature alone is worth the price IMO. There have been many occasions when I would have made different decisions had I known what was in store weather wise. Also the maps feature seems really nice as well. Going to have to sell the spot and pick up an inreach.

Its a solid feature for sure gelton!

 

[dotman]

Wow. The weather feature alone is worth the price IMO. There have been many occasions when I would have made different decisions had I known what was in store weather wise. Also the maps feature seems really nice as well. Going to have to sell the spot and pick up an inreach.

Exactly what I did!

 

[Don K]

I have the SE model, and have Earthmate. Does the hunting map upgrade (39.95 upgrade) work on this unit? I have checked my Earthmate App and have the topo maps on there but can not figure out how to get this upgrade.

 

[Steve O]

Hey guys - I am actually the Western Sales Rep for DeLorme (and yes, now Garmin!) and I saw a few questions about the inReach so I figured I'd chime in.

The inReach SE (Yellow device) uses the iridium satellite network to allow for 2-way texting anywhere on the globe. You can text friends and family on their normal cell phones as well as with their email addresses. If you're in the field with buddies who have an inReach, you can text their devices as well. On the device itself, it has a small virtual keyboard (think 90's cell phone) that you have to click thru and find each letter. It does have predictive text to guess your words, and with some time, it does get pretty easy to use. Like many of you have said though, if you bluetooth your smartphone to the inReach, it becomes way easier! You download the EarthMate App from your app store and login with your credentials you used to set up service. Your phone then becomes an extension of your inReach screen. It also allows for you to use all the contacts already stored on your phone rather than inputting them into your inReach. I live in Idaho and have cell service many of the places I hunt. However, just last week while bear hunting, I got down into a valley where I had zero service while looking for a bear and let me wife know that I would be home after midnight and not to wait up. That same scenario would have gotten me in trouble if I didn't have my inreach!

Another cool feature is the ability to download high detail maps to your paired smartphone. You can download worldwide maps, including North American Topo maps and NOAA ocean charts. These are all free and are cached in your phone so if you are off the grid, they still work. Your position will be shown on these maps (the inReach becomes a wireless gps receiver for your phone or ipad) and if talking to a buddy on their inreach, their position can be overlaid on your map too!

The biggest feature on the inReach in my opinion is the SOS. Regardless of where you are in the world, you can activate your SOS during an emergency and help will arrive. The button actually contacts GEOS, a global rescue coordinator who then contacts emergency resources in your proximity. Because of the two way texting ability, GEOS also text you on your device to see what the emergency is and to update you on the rescue. We have had rescues that have needed days of coordination because of location and weather, so you can imagine it must have been somewhat comforting to know about the delay ahead of time for the victim, rather than sitting there stranded, wondering if the message was even received!

Finally, the tracking feature allows for you to leave a "breadcrumb" trail behind so you can backtrack if needed. You can also have this trail synced to your mapshare page so friends and family can monitor where you're at. And for you guys wondering....yes this feature, along with all other tracking features CAN be disabled!

Now for the Explorer (Orange device) You get everything listed above plus navigation features. By navigation, I mean you can drop and assign way-points in the field or on the computer ahead of time. You can draw or trace routes on the computer when "satellite imagery" scouting and have them sync to your Explorer. You also get a digital compass and small map page. The map page is a very basic gridded background that shows your routes, way-points, and tracks you have left behind. When partnered with your smart phone, these same routes and points are now overlaid on a nice high detail map.

DeLorme has also released a hunting map upgrade (39.95 upgrade) which includes all 50 states that will allow you to now download Aerial image maps, Game Units (GMU broken down by species), Public Land boundaries, Private Parcel Data with boarders and owner names, and USGS quad maps. Its a pretty awesome combo!

About one month ago, DeLorme released a pretty slick Weather feature that is available on both devices that give weather forecast at your current location, or if you're traveling, you can get an updated forecast for a different location. All of this can be done while you are well outside of cell range.

Plans are broken down into two categories. Annual Contract and Freedom Plans. On the annual contract, you are committing to a year of service and plans range from 11.95 per month to 49.95 a month. The latter is our Expedition(unlimited everything) plan and the first is our Safety plan, designed more for sos usage. However, the safety plan still includes unlimited "preset messages" and 10 standard messages.
The Freedom plan allows for month to month contracts, but the monthly charge goes up a bit. The saftey plan goes from 11.95 to 14.95 a month and the Expedition plan goes from 49.95 to 64.95 per month, but they are only 30 day commitments. The Freedom plan also has an annual fee of 24.95. This is basically buying you out of your annual requirement.

That was a ton of info, and I did it on only one coffee, but hopefully it answers some questions! If you have any specific questions, ask away and I will try to answer! I also just did a podcast on the hunting features of the inReach if you'd like to listen at http://southerndraw.podbean.com/e/episode-2-the-beginning-of-southern-draw-delormegarmins-inreach/

Josh

Josh, that is great info. I was ready to buy an InReach but I figured with Garmin buying them the GPS features will become much more refined. Are there any target dates for integrating into Garmin GPS?

Also, when you are in "suspension" of your monthly plan, does everything BUT the messaging and SOS still work? Will it still track you on the home computer? Can you still access the info from the new hunting platform? Can you still send routes and waypoints between the unit and the home computer?

 

[LiquidGib]

w0w, garmin acquiring InReach.. This will be interesting.

 

[id450]

Garmin recently bought Delorme. When I was at the Portland Sportsmen Show back in Feb, the Garmin rep and I were discussing this, and they commented on some cool stuff coming out.

Did he give any idea of when?


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