Which InReach plan do you use?

[lacofdfireman]

Looking at getting the Delorme InReach Explorer. Don’t really need the Garmin version as I like my IPhone for Nav and still have a Garmin 64ST that I’m selling.

I’d like to hear what others are using for their plans. I like the idea of the freedom plan but not sure about the minimal amounts of texting allowed. On the safety plan it says 10 texts allowed. Does that include both outgoing and incoming texts? 10 texts doesn’t seem like many if your out for a couple week hunt or trip etc. So I’m interested to hear what others have subscribed to.


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[Trial153]

Get the month to month unlimited plan if your married. trust me.

 

[Dinger]

You have unlimited pre-sets messages.....that can go a long way towards cutting down on your text quota.

I'm on the minimum plan most of the year just to keep it active... figure that if I need it for an emergency cost of texting becomes irrelevent.

 

[SummitsCalling]

During scouting/hunting I bump up to the unlimited plan, it's worth it.

 

[Back Country Hunter 2]

I have the freedom plan expedition. I don't want to have to count the amount of messages I send/receive. During busy hunting months 40 text messages are not enough!

 

[xziang]

I'm on the freedom recreational plan. The 'preset' messages are pretty decent so I can reply in regards to, 'on the move' & 'haven't seen anything currently taking break' & 'current location and staying here for a while probably my camping spot' think that is what I had.

What is nice is when you send the preset messages it'll drop a breadcrumb for those to see where you are or were at when you sent the msg.


*edited* I'm on the freedom for I only use/activate it usually in aug-sept when I head to CO.

 

[Blockcaver]

We change ours as required. From unlimited when I am on long hunts in the middle of "No Where", to the safety plan. Great system.....really keeps my wife informed. And you can change plans up to 12 times per year, and it doesn't have to be in 30 day increments.

 

[TXCO]

Freedom middle tier, cant recall exactly what it is. My only issue is when my wife texts me like one of her friends with a bunch short unnecessary sentences. It took a while to train her to write one long text not 5 short ones.

 

[mfllood3800]

I'm on recreation plan its like $ 25 a month.
I get 40 texts, which can add up quick if wife requires contact and hunting with buddies and need to stay in touch etc...

 

[lacofdfireman]

I'm on recreation plan its like $ 25 a month.
I get 40 texts, which can add up quick if wife requires contact and hunting with buddies and need to stay in touch etc...

So I have a question what happens if your on the 40 text plan and your at 40 and you have an SOS situation? Can you go over and it just charges you for overage texts or are you SOL? Would be cool if it had an option where if you went over it just bumped you to the next highest plan.


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[oenanthe]

I'm on the safety plan; which includes 10 texts per month. Any extras cost 50 cents each.

The preset messages are free, and those are normally what I send my wife everyday. One of them says "Making/leaving camp." I send that every morning and every evening. Another one says "I'm OK - just checking in." I send that one occasionally, so that she can check the location if she wants to. So ten texts a month is plenty for me, and if I go over I don't sweat the $.50 because it's probably important.

On the other hand my sheep partner this year had a lot of texts back and forth with his girlfriend... I should've made him get his own unit.

 

[mfllood3800]

SOS is a different part of the plan those are Unlimited

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[idelkslayer]

The message limit counts both outgoing and incoming messages.

I have an annual "Safety" plan, the most basic plan they have at $12 per month. There is a $0.50 charge per message if I go over my 10 message limit. So, I can send an additional 25 messages for a total of 35 before it costs as much as the next plan at $25 which gives you 40 messages. Most months I send 4-5 messages and a dozen presets. I have gone over my limit only once.

I view the Inreach as an emergency device and my wife sees it as a check in. I didn't get an inreach so I could text back and forth with anyone when I am out hunting/scouting/fishing. In a typical day of hunting I will turn the device on in the morning, stuff it in my backpack or my pocket and not look at it again until I'm in camp for the night at which time I send the preset "In camp for the night" text to my wife. She knows not to reply and use up the message limit. Then I turn it off and go to sleep. I use the weather report maybe 3-5 times a year at 50 cents each. I rarely use the tracking function, and when I do it is 10 cents per tracking point. That means I could use 130 tracking points before it costs as much as the next plan up, in terms of 10 minute intervals that's 21 hours of tracking so I don't ever anticipate using even a tenth of that. I might use the tracking feature 1-2 times per trip.

I'm in the back country nearly monthly so I went with the annual subscription instead of the freedom plan. The freedom plan on the safety level would cost as much as the annual subscription after 8 months ($25 annual fee + $15 per month). Since I use it more than 8 months out of the year it makes sense to go annual.

If you are going to use it for less than 8 months per year then I would go with the freedom plan. I would also advise you that the inreach can perform all the same functions whether you are on the safety plan or the extreme plan, there are just some additional charges involved. Evaluate how much you will use it and if the additional charges you anticipate will still be cheaper than the next plan. Otherwise you will be paying for services that you aren't using.

 

[lacofdfireman]

The message limit counts both outgoing and incoming messages.

I have an annual "Safety" plan, the most basic plan they have at $12 per month. There is a $0.50 charge per message if I go over my 10 message limit. So, I can send an additional 25 messages for a total of 35 before it costs as much as the next plan at $25 which gives you 40 messages. Most months I send 4-5 messages and a dozen presets. I have gone over my limit only once.

I view the Inreach as an emergency device and my wife sees it as a check in. I didn't get an inreach so I could text back and forth with anyone when I am out hunting/scouting/fishing. In a typical day of hunting I will turn the device on in the morning, stuff it in my backpack or my pocket and not look at it again until I'm in camp for the night at which time I send the preset "In camp for the night" text to my wife. She knows not to reply and use up the message limit. Then I turn it off and go to sleep. I use the weather report maybe 3-5 times a year at 50 cents each. I rarely use the tracking function, and when I do it is 10 cents per tracking point. That means I could use 130 tracking points before it costs as much as the next plan up, in terms of 10 minute intervals that's 21 hours of tracking so I don't ever anticipate using even a tenth of that. I might use the tracking feature 1-2 times per trip.

I'm in the back country nearly monthly so I went with the annual subscription instead of the freedom plan. The freedom plan on the safety level would cost as much as the annual subscription after 8 months ($25 annual fee + $15 per month). Since I use it more than 8 months out of the year it makes sense to go annual.

If you are going to use it for less than 8 months per year then I would go with the freedom plan. I would also advise you that the inreach can perform all the same functions whether you are on the safety plan or the extreme plan, there are just some additional charges involved. Evaluate how much you will use it and if the additional charges you anticipate will still be cheaper than the next plan. Otherwise you will be paying for services that you aren't using.

You answered basically every question I’ve had about this unit. I really appreciate the replies. Just one last one. How long is typical battery life if turned on and just in standby mode. Like throwing it in your backpack and just forgetting about it. Days, weeks? Thanks. Just bought a used Delorme Explorer. Didn’t need the Garmin version.


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[Blockcaver]

Battery life is great on my Garmin InReach (cheaper yellow model) but why leave it on? It fires up in very short order and downloads any incoming messages. I’ve used mine extensively paired with the phone and it uses about 20% as much battery consumption % compared to my iPhone 7. Bet I could send and receive a total of 200 texts or more on one charge. Note that I do not run tracks nor use the IR as a gps, I use GAIA on the iPhone for nav.

I just used the phone for 100 pictures, notes, editing photos, navigating and InReach for about 250 texts. After 9 days the phone and InReach were fully charged and I’d used 80% of a 6700 Mah battery pack that cost me $20 Canadian at Walmart. Not bad at all! YMMV, good luck with it.

 

[mfllood3800]

You answered basically every question I’ve had about this unit. I really appreciate the replies. Just one last one. How long is typical battery life if turned on and just in standby mode. Like throwing it in your backpack and just forgetting about it. Days, weeks? Thanks. Just bought a used Delorme Explorer. Didn’t need the Garmin version.


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Wouldn't do that. I have my phone for GPS, so my Garmin in Reach is not on until I need it. Which is rarely. I may turn it on and mark my camp, truck, good water hole source etc. I also do this on my Phones Gps/Map app, so I have redundant abilities. I never throw my In Reach in and forget it. I turn it on and off as needed. Doing this I can make the whole trip plus another and another. Battery life on the Garmin is great. I used to have a delorme in reach (orange one) and it too was good on battery. If left on continuously, not sure you could get 5-7 days.

 

[idelkslayer]

If you left the device on all the time I think the battery will die in about 5-6 days.

 

[rayporter]

for the same reasons listed by idelkslayer
i got the cheapest plan and leave it on all the time. the times I don't use it [even though I carry it] leave enough dollars left over to justify not going back and forth between plans or upgrading.

I carry it a lot just for piece of mind even when there it no need to call home [because mama is with me]

I don't think I have ever ran the battery out -but I do manage it by only turning it on for a few hours morning and evening.

we used it in early December and it sat for January and part of February and we got it out last week to ride and it had 80% so I threw it in the saddle bag and took off. we go to a lot of places with no cell service and feel it is great to have.

 

[lacofdfireman]

The reason for leaving it on would be in case something happened. I figured if I’m in the back country hunting and somehow fell and became unconscious after a day or so of family deciding something wasn’t right they could at least figure out a search and rescue start point? But maybe it doesn’t work like that? This is a worst case scenario of course. If the InReach is powered off they have no start point for a search.


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[AdamW]

The $15 freedom plan. I just go over on messages on longer trips and am still money ahead at the end of the year. If I used it more or did more long trips, I'd potentially bump it up.