Explorer+, Mini or 66i?

[Krieg Hetzen]

First off I am aware this gets asked a lot but its not often I see it for Alaska in specific. I’m looking for some sort of inReach so I can keep my wife up to date with hunting progress/issues that arise. In fact it’s so important that I do this that I can’t go on any of the solo hunts I want to do till I buy one (her one rule). I initially wanted to get the Explorer+ because it can serve double duty as GPS and communicator Incase I cant get my phone charged. Then I saw that the 66i had come out and does everything the Explorer+ does but better with the sacrifice of battery life and some bugs/glitches that appear to have been worked out. And finally the Mini comes into play as probably the most recommended inReach product I’ve seen on this forum with a lot of people running OnX, Gaia, BaseMap etc from their phones. So this brings me to my question:

For those living/hunting in Alaska, which device/app has the best maps for Units 6 (Prince William Sound), Unit 13 (Eureka/Denali HWY/Glenallen), Unit 14 (May-Su Valley), Unit 20 (Fairbanks) and Unit 8 (Afognak Island) AND which inReach device would you pair with it/run stand alone?

For whichever device I get, I’d most likely get the 3rd highest tier so I can text through my phone via the inReach to my wife quite a bit. From my research it appears that it isn’t an issue for any of the 3 devices but it is a big consideration to be able to do it.

 

[New Yoraska]

I personally have use the explorer+ while hunting in Alaska, unit 8 and 17. While looking into it myself I was told one of the biggest differences between the mini and the + was that the + has a better battery because it is physically bigger.

The problem with Alaska is that as a whole the state has very poor maps. I recently had hear a stat that the surface of Mars is more throughly mapped then Alaska. So I don't believe there is a company that has better maps than another. I know with the explorer+ you download more detailed maps for an area via a cellphone that is bluetoothed to it, I believe it is the same for the mini and that the 66 actually has a micro sd slot.

Hope that helps!

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

 

[Krieg Hetzen]

Yeah I have noticed the lack of accuracy with a lot of the map sources. The private ownership/mining claims are rarely up to date enough to use in a place like unit 14 with any reliability, I’m sure the native lands down in unit 8 aren’t reliable to use with most apps either. And any winter sat image is completely useless anywhere above 2000ft.

Thanks for your input... I’ll keep all that in mind. Probably going to snag one in a PFD sale next weekend. May just come down to a couple coin flips or whatever has the best battery life.