Satellite communicators worth the cost?

[MikeDeltaFoxtrot]

I have an inReach I bought in 2020, and I am very pleased with it. I would be carrying a GPS receiver anyway, so it does not really add weight. I used it even when deer hunting on the East coast. Plenty of guys get hurt falling out of deer stands. In the mountains out west, it is a no brainer as far as I am concerned.

I have a pouch for it mounted on my Hill People Gear Kit bag which I uses as a bono harness and to carry my pistol. Even if I take off my pack, the inReach is always on me.

 

[7mm-08]

A Garmin inreach saved my life this fall. We were packing our elk hunting camp into the Lee Metcalf Wilderness area the day before bow season opened. I was riding a green broke mule. The mule bolted, I fell off and went over a steep bank into a creek. I ended up knocked out face down in the creek. My son rolled me over and gave me a couple chest compressions. I threw up the water in my lungs and started breathing. A friend had an inreach and Sent a SOS. Search and rescue airlifted me out on a hillicipoter. I had a head injury, broke 10 ribs and punctured my lung. I was in ICU for 5 days and the hospital for another 4 days. I don't remember the incident but am told I was going down hill before search and rescue got there. It is unlikely I would have made it without the Garmin. I won't go into the backcountry without one from here on.

Glad to hear you survived and lived to tell the tale. Good on you for being a tough and fit man because that type of thoracic injury should have killed you. My inReach mini is on my person every time I venture offroad.

 

[hikenhunt]

Been a while since my SOS use of Inreach. I only had to pay $100 insurance deductible for ambulance. All hospital and associated costs were covered 100%. This was all covered by my health insurance. Not suggesting anyone not carry Garmin insurance, just reporting my costs.

From what I remember hearing, I believe its highly dependent on who's helicopter it is. Maybe someone with more knowledge will jump in though.

 

[kk11]

From: 98XJRC : I've tried the Apple messaging and like it, but it's not as smooth or consistent as a Zoleo (which I have) or Garmin

I agree, and I hope Apple will get it worked out better, but it works good enough that I didn't want to pay for the Garmin any longer.