IPhone 15 or In reach ....

[remnnate]

Verizon is supposed to have the capability later this fall as well. Similar to upgrading your iPhone you will need a compatible Android phone. It appears to be normal texting and not just emergency texting. Search "Verizon and Sklyo teaming". There are quite a few articles on it. I'm not sure a backcountry emergency situation is where I want to be a pioneer on the bleeding edge of a new technology, but I am hopeful of the future and promise if it proves itself.

 

[AkTroutdoors]

Super excited about sattelite texting. You can still send emergency texts to EME without worrying if the person has a new iphone. Pumped to have everything on my phone including mapping without having to carry extra gadgets. If you loose your phone or break it that’s another story.

 

[Fartrell Cluggins]

I would be reluctant to have the confidence in the waterproofness of an I phone at this point. I interviewed the survivors of this case. https://www.fox10tv.com/2024/05/27/...water-hours-before-rescue-off-dauphin-island/ They all had waterproof phones. Only one worked after they went in the water, and that was only for a short time.

I have found that the touch screen on my phone doesn't work well when my fingers are cold or wet. That may or may not matter to you. The technology is getting closer to being reliable enough for me, but it's not there yet. In the interim, my PLB hits the back country with me.

 

[LoH]

I would be reluctant to have the confidence in the waterproofness of an I phone at this point. I interviewed the survivors of this case. https://www.fox10tv.com/2024/05/27/...water-hours-before-rescue-off-dauphin-island/ They all had waterproof phones. Only one worked after they went in the water, and that was only for a short time.

I have found that the touch screen on my phone doesn't work well when my fingers are cold or wet. That may or may not matter to you. The technology is getting closer to being reliable enough for me, but it's not there yet. In the interim, my PLB hits the back country with me.

So you interviewed them, did you also write the article you linked to? If so, I bow down to you for the absolute brilliance of the opener:

MOBILE, Ala. - As he was treading water for hours in the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday, Biloxi resident Easton Barrett made a short video on his cell phone.

“Well, the boat sank,” he said. “No bueno. Love y’all.”


That is downright British levels of understatement. Next time I have the occasion where I might normally deploy “FUBAR” I think I might instead say: Well, the boat sank. No bueno.

Its more syllables but way better IMO.

So this thread went from the nitty gritty of satellite messaging to more of a values discussion at some point. My comment is as an amateur experimental archaeologist, I am sensitized to the fact that over our history we’ve shaped our tools, and then inevitably our tools shape us. I’m no luddite, but I try to stay alert to how my tools are shaping me and whether I like or value it. For instance, I notice when I use sat-nav while driving I don’t retain the knowledge of how to retrace my steps and usually would not be able find my way between those locations again, sans sat-nav. Whereas prior to the ubiquity of sat-nav I could usually retain how to get between places after traveling that path once. My attention is just applied differently.

I know which one I prefer. Couldn’t cite studies that “prove” anything about it on a values- or concrete level (like it’s as beneficial as Vitamin C or something) And I’ll still absolutely use sat-nav in certain scenarios. While I try to also remember there was “Life before (X)” and we had robust low-technology techniques for not-dying-prematurely then, too.

Please don’t flame me. I’m just saying what I prefer and why.