InReach tracking interval preference?

[cornfedkiller]

Looking through Garmin's new inReach plans and comparing the "Essential" and the "Standard" plans.. Essential gets you 50 texts, which is plenty for my upcoming trip, but I noticed that each tracking point costs 10 cents. Standard plan gets unlimited 10-min tracking.

Does it send tracking points all throughout the night if I don't shut it off? If I have my tracking interval set to 1 hour, will it send 24 per day ($2.40/day)? There's only a $15 price difference between the two, so it wouldn't take many days to cancel out the savings..

What tracking interval do you guys like to set yours to, or what do you consider necessary?

 

[homers]

I’ve switched the the Enabled plan for $8/month when not suspended. I send a check in msg nightly with location. I don’t have tracking on. I give my contacts a link to my Garmin page, password protected, and if they need to locate me they can request it via the web page.

 

[GunsAreFun]

I’ve switched the the Enabled plan for $8/month when not suspended. I send a check in msg nightly with location. I don’t have tracking on. I give my contacts a link to my Garmin page, password protected, and if they need to locate me they can request it via the web page.

I highly recommend using the 10-minute tracking, from when you leave camp until you are back for the night. As the recent case in southern Colorado shows, a few text a day still leaves a massive search area that could take a week, if ever, for you to be found. There are plenty of situations where you coikd be seriously hurt or killed and unable to use the SOS.

In this recent case as an example where the device is suddenly destroyed, at ten minute intervals, that makes the search radius something like 600 acres assuming a 2mph walking speed. Taking into account terrain and direction of travel, that search area goes down to probably only 10-20% of that area. What could be an impossible recovery could be something that a drone and/or dog team can cover in a couple hours.

 

[Marbles]

Tracking depends on what you are doing. I usually do not track, I turn it on when things get sketchy. How sketchy defines the interval. Places like avalanche terrain and glaciers get much closer intervals to make body recovery easier if I miss judged. Open alpine with exposure gets longer intervals as the splat should be visible.

The other reason is if someone needs to know my location to coordinate a meeting (my wife picking me up at the end of a race), 10 minutes is fine for that.

I use the cheapest plan and keep it active year round, this ends up being pretty cheap when averaged out over the year.

 

[OutHeavy]

You can turn tracking on and off, so it doesn't track continuously unless you have it turned on. Turn tracking off when you're not in motion. This will help you conserve battery life too. It doesn't sound like you're interested in tracking your mileage or route so, if it's a question of finances, you're better off sending a text with your coordinate every once in a while. I look at tracking totally differently, finding it most useful when traveling off trail and wanting to retrace my steps or track miles covered. I guess if I'm in a situation where I can't hit the SOS button, by the time someone figures out I'm in trouble and actually gets to me its probably too late.

 

[mtnbound]

Looking through Garmin's new inReach plans and comparing the "Essential" and the "Standard" plans.. Essential gets you 50 texts, which is plenty for my upcoming trip, but I noticed that each tracking point costs 10 cents. Standard plan gets unlimited 10-min tracking.

Does it send tracking points all throughout the night if I don't shut it off? If I have my tracking interval set to 1 hour, will it send 24 per day ($2.40/day)? There's only a $15 price difference between the two, so it wouldn't take many days to cancel out the savings..

What tracking interval do you guys like to set yours to, or what do you consider necessary?

The default tracking setting of 10 minutes is suitable, but if you will be mostly moving by walking, you can adjust the tracking interval to 30-60 minutes and turn it off at night to save money if you don't have an unlimited tracking plan. If you are traveling by boat, ATV, etc., keep the 10-minute interval and change it once you return to foot travel.

From a SAR perspective, if the last location is 60 minutes old, we would establish a range ring of possible distances traveled based on the travel method and terrain, which helps reduce the search area and speed up rescue times. Obviously, with shorter tracking times, it reduces the area even further and provides the best possible outcome if you cannot press the SOS button.

 

[doc holiday13]

if you have a wife or GF or Kids... just buy the unlimited plan. YOu'll blow through text faster than you realize. 50 text is NOTHING. Over a 7 day trip thats 3 text out and 4 in per day....

 

[Dos Perros]

I never use the tracking. I also just buy the minimum plan and keep it on most of the year. If you buy the Unlimited you'll use it, which will take away from the hunt, which sort of negates the entire point of doing it in the first place.