Dissapointed in Spot Messenger service plan options!

[Steeliedrew]

Yesterday I purchased a Spot Messenger Gen 3. I wanted to carry one to be able give my wife peace of mind while I'm on a 5 day elk hunt in a couple weeks. In the 10 years we've been together we haven't been out of contact for more than a couple days so I figured it was worth the money to get one. Not to mention the SOS button should Sh!t hit the fan. We will be hunting from a spike camp 6 miles in from the truck and the truck itself is an hour to an hour and a half from cell service so without the Spot, I'm off the grid for 5 days. sounds good to me!... haha, but my wife is gracious enough to allow me to spend some serious money gearing up for this year so I wanted to keep the communication line open. Also, we've got a 5 month old son now so I figure it's the responsible thing have something like a Spot while being in an area completely void of any cell service.

I was disheartened to learn that you have to Commit to a year long contract to use the Spot devices. It's $150 for the very basic plan, and goes up from there. They do give you the option to spend $15 per month for a basic service plan which isn't terrible if you don't want to drop $150 right away on a plan. My dilemma though is this...I'm not as lucky as some folks who are able to spend multiple weeks of every year out in the back country. All of my day hunt locations are within some amount of cell service, but where we hunt early elk is completely void of service. And i'm lucky to get a week in there every year. So, for me to use the Spot Messenger for the one week I truly would want it, I'd be out $150 for the service contract.

I just spoke with Spot customer service and was informed I'm not the only one inquiring about month to month plans and that they're working on that now. Hopefully they'll put some plans like that together soon. In the mean time I'm leaning towards the Older Delorme Inreach that is one step below the Inreach SE. It's on sale for $225 at Cabelas right now and Delorme offers plans with one month commitments! Anybody run one of these? http://www.cabelas.com/product/DeLorme-inReach-Smartphone/1620027.uts?productVariantId=3370753&srccode=cii_17588969&cpncode=35-244971025-2&WT.tsrc=CSE&WT.mc_id=GoogleProductAds&WT.z_mc_id1=03612830&rid=40

 

[NJDiverDan]

I had the SPOT for the last 2 years but moved to the Delorme this year. Not sure about the Gen 3, but my spot could only send a pre-determined message or the SOS. With the Delorme I get 2 way texting. This way if something happens at home, I can be alerted as well as me checking in that I am ok. Also, I really like the month to month Delorme offers. Even living in Idaho and spending most of September in the elk woods, the Monthly plan is more economical.

 

[Mark]

You might be money ahead if you rent a sat phone every year if you just need it for a week or two.

 

[Kotaman]

You might be money ahead if you rent a sat phone every year if you just need it for a week or two.

THIS...I rented for several years when I was doing just one trip a year. Worked out great. Now, with multiple trips I started with an In Reach but soon just bit the bullet and bought a SAT phone.

 

[Jeff Martin]

I did not/do not trust a 3rd party (SPOT) if my life depended on it. I bought a very small locator beacon managed by NOAA anywhere in the world. I bought the Fast Find McMurdo (link below) This is the real deal and no additional cost needed to save your life. The down side, you can not use it to txt or tell your wife that you are ok) It is a real deal beacon to save your life.

http://www.fastfindplb.com/us/

 

[dotman]

That is why I went with the Gen2 when the 3 came out, at $99 it isn't bad and I didn't need the extra tracks feature for the $50 which they force you to pay for on the Gen 3. But even with the delorme your cost per year goes up to close to the Spot when you add the annual fee and if you want to actually be able to use it more then 10 times a month.

So far in the few months I have had the Spot it has been flawless and sent the signal every time that it gave me a signal confirmation on the unit. Only time it didn't send was either if I turned it off early or didn't get both green blinking lights.

 

[Shrek]

As I understand the technology you get more reliable service from the inreach over the spot. Iridium network uses lower satellites that continually race overhead every 20 minutes or so while spot uses geosynchronous satellites at the equator. This means that if you break your leg in a place where a mountain blocks your view of the satellite you're screwed. With the iridium satellite traveling across the sky it much more likely you will get your message out at some point in the arc. The iridium satellite will drop your callse every few minutes but you can get a service window at some point in most places.

 

[Yellowknife]

As I understand the technology you get more reliable service from the inreach over the spot. Iridium network uses lower satellites that continually race overhead every 20 minutes or so while spot uses geosynchronous satellites at the equator. This means that if you break your leg in a place where a mountain blocks your view of the satellite you're screwed.

That is incorrect. Both use LEO constellations. Coverage varies, but Globalstar / SPOT are not geosynchronous.

Yk

 

[dotman]

Yeah the biggest diff was in age of satts and number in the air. Globalstar is putting up new satts and their network is improving as the iridium satts are aging. Not sure if iridium is launching new satts or not.

Shrek, some reading to help you so you explain things a tad better. http://www.globalsatellitecommunications.com/learn-more-about-satellite-phones/coverage-compare

 

[Shrek]

Ok , I was reading another article and it was saying the globalstar were geosynchronous. From reading the linked article it appears it was incorrect. The articles do agree that if you are going to the artic then iridium was the way to go.

 

[Zbowman1]

OP, Sounds like you and I live a mirrored life. I have been going back and forth between SPOT and the Delorme for months now. With hunting season almost here my wife has been urging me to make a choice. Personally I don't like either option but with a 5 month old daughter at home and at least one solo backpack hunt coming up I think its only fair to her to have some form of communication. I am going to look at the Sat Phone option.

For the guys that commented that you rented Sat Phones, Were from and what was the cost?

 

[Mark]

For the guys that commented that you rented Sat Phones, Were from and what was the cost?

In NV I can rent an Iridium 9550 locally for $75 per week. Text messages are $0.75 to send, free to receive. Cost of a phone call is $1.80 per minute. Those costs align with most that I've seen online but you have to pay shipping to and from if you can't rent locally.

 

[NJDiverDan]

One of my buddies rented a SAT phone last year (sorry Zbowman1 but I am not sure where I think just from Verizon). The reason I went with from the SPOT to the Delorme over a SAT Phone is that he could only received texts and or calls when the phone was actually on. It did not queue the messages. Now this may have been the type of phone, but I like that with the Delorme, I can turn it on once a day and get any messages that have been sent. For me the two way communication was the most important for upgrading from the SPOT, but I did not want to have to keep the device on all the time.

 

[JustOneMoreShot]

I just finished a hunt in AK and my guide had a Delorme InReach (I don't know which model) and it was awesome! Worked really well and was well used by several people during the trip. He said it works better in his experience than the Spot unit at a better price. I thought he said you can change the service plan every month. During the hunt his was unlimited texts for the month.

 

[Mtnboy]

Spot makes it pretty clear that you have to pay the subscription. Did you not know before you bought?

I bought a Gen 2 this spring and have been more than happy with it. Its sent every message I've tried regardless of where I'm at.

 

[Steeliedrew]

Spot makes it pretty clear that you have to pay the subscription. Did you not know before you bought?

I bought a Gen 2 this spring and have been more than happy with it. Its sent every message I've tried regardless of where I'm at.

I was told by the salesperson at REI that they offered monthly commitment plans. After hearing that and the fact that it was on sale for $50 off of retail price I was sold. I just can't justify $150 on a service plan for something that I'll use 1 week out of the year. I wish was in the back country WAY more every year but it's not in the cards any time soon.

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

I was told by the salesperson at REI that they offered monthly commitment plans. After hearing that and the fact that it was on sale for $50 off of retail price I was sold. I just can't justify $150 on a service plan for something that I'll use 1 week out of the year. I wish was in the back country WAY more every year but it's not in the cards any time soon.

I'm in the same boat with them. For the price I could rent a sat phone.

 

[nirvanafan]

I just can't justify $150 on a service plan for something that I'll use 1 week out of the year. I wish was in the back country WAY more every year but it's not in the cards any time soon.

Same thing here. My plan is to rent a unit, but I haven't decided on exactly what yet. I'm leaning towards the Spot.

 

[dotman]

Another way to look at the cost of the spot, you'll be close to the same cost if you rent/use a satt phone but that rental is only for a week or two. With the spot you have a safety device to put in a vehicle for family road trips and vacations. All it is is a safety net and could be used that way year round. Cell phone batts die, service can be spotty if in the middle of nowhere. So really you have to consider how it can be used year round. If my wife and kids are driving anywhere that isn't close I'll just have her keep it in the car. At $99 a year you can find other uses for it. Heck how many of you pay $99 a month for cable/internet. Try to find a Gen 2, I'm sure they are still out there and save $50 a year.

 

[Steeliedrew]

Another way to look at the cost of the spot, you'll be close to the same cost if you rent/use a satt phone but that rental is only for a week or two. With the spot you have a safety device to put in a vehicle for family road trips and vacations. All it is is a safety net and could be used that way year round. Cell phone batts die, service can be spotty if in the middle of nowhere. So really you have to consider how it can be used year round. If my wife and kids are driving anywhere that isn't close I'll just have her keep it in the car. At $99 a year you can find other uses for it. Heck how many of you pay $99 a month for cable/internet. Try to find a Gen 2, I'm sure they are still out there and save $50 a year.

That's a good way to look at it indeed. I ended up ordering a Gen 2 spot that I found for $80 on Amazon and will be returning the Gen 3. I'm glad to know I'll be able to stay in touch with the wife to some degree. I'll probably end up getting an in-reach in the next couple years.