Garmin in reach

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Murray's picture

Murray Gradidge
Nanaimo
Garmin in reach

Was wondering if any members are using in reach and if so is there a contact list to access their devices.To be able to access members that may be in the general area for assistance would be beneficial for all

fx4's picture
fx4

Jonathan
Victoria

I find the monthly fee far too expensive on those type of devices.

I just tell people where I'm going and bring enough supplies in case I get stuck somewhere.

Vancouver island's backcountry isn't very vast and is travelled quite frequently. Someone is sure to come by in a couple days if you sit tight.

Murray's picture

Murray Gradidge
Nanaimo

Plans start at$20.00 a month and can be hibernated when not required for a small fee -worth the piece of mind for me

fx4's picture
fx4

Jonathan
Victoria

Do you work for Garmin? That $20 a month will quickly turn into $30 after taxes and fees, and the garmin unit is $500 or more.

I'd rather buy myself a new 12g shotgun with that money.

theshanergy's picture
Admin

Shane
Alberni Valley

I carry an inreach with me as well - used to have a spot which was a bit cheaper but didn't do two way communication. It's a little pricey I guess but in the grand scheme of wheeling costs it's on the lower side of the spectrum. I've been places on this Island that are a combination of very remote or in the off season when you can easily hang out in an area for a week and not see a single person. Sometimes walking out wouldn't be feasible, especially if you were low on food or injured. Better to have it and not need it imo, like insurance. Plus I've found it helpful in the past for meeting up with buddies off grid where there is no cell service - it's nice to be able to just send your exact coordinates when camping and someone is coming late.

Anyway for those of us who do use them I think some sort of contact list would be a good idea. I've been mulling over a way to have inreach/spot users be able to send messages that could be directly posted to the site in the case that they need help/extraction, not sure of the exact details yet though.

iruninca's picture

Alex
Duncan

Shane, I’ve built some sms services before. Let’s chat about it! Not hard to build something like that using Twilio.

Sorry to highjack the thread with nerd talk :)

I’ve also looked at Spots or Garmins but can’t justify the monthly fee. Maybe I’ll regret that choice someday in the future!

theshanergy's picture
Admin

Shane
Alberni Valley

Alex most of the devices support sending email, so I was thinking IMAP since I already have an email server set up anyway - saves having to use another 3rd party service. Sms is an interesting idea though, hadn't considered it. The biggest issue so far is how to handle replies. In my mind I can imagine an @vioffroad.com email address that people can add to their spot/garmin and then send a message which automatically creates a post in a special section of the forum - then people on the site who reply generate an outgoing email to the sending address which should be recieved on the users device. A couple concerns though would be message limitations (the devices have small screens and low bandwidth availability), inability to have multiple senders (every message would look like it's coming from the same place), and also spam.. any spam messages that got through to the dedicated email address would result in a spam post on the site, and that's not to mention replies that could potentially hit someone with a number of incoming message charges. Anyway just some of the things I've been considering - let me know if you have any other suggestions or want to discuss further!

Also if anyone else uses these or other satellite devices let me know - I'm not sure if the demand is there to justify developing something like this, but if it is I'd be in to getting something going.

iruninca's picture

Alex
Duncan

Sweet! Sounds like a good idea. SMS would just help get the word out faster, instead of waiting for people to check the forums. Would also be cool if people with just normal cell phones could take advantage of the alert system. So if you do have cell service and you need help, you can quickly reach the community. We can chat about it more this weekend :)

theshanergy's picture
Admin

Shane
Alberni Valley

Oh yea that is a good idea, I wasn't thinking in terms of a broadcast system but that actually makes a ton of sense, also the ability for regular users to use the system would be great. Let's definitely talk more this weekend.

FlowShow's picture

Noah
Nanaimo

I don’t currently use a garmin, spot, or any satellite device, but if I was able to quickly message the forum for recovery help then I’d totally get one.

Canuck120's picture

Adrian Jay
Victoria, BC

I think the whole concept is a great idea! I am curious to hear all the options.

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