Garmin 010-01879-00 InReach Mini, Lightweight and Compact Satellite Communicator, Orange

I often hunt and ride (offroad motorcycle and quad) alone in Northern Quebec areas where there are no cell phone coverage. I do same day round trips most of the times. So the relatively short battery life is not a problem for me. It seams to take about 40% of the battery per day when actively tracking. I use InrReach to notify my contacts when I start my activities, then again when I finish them.

batteries only last a couple days. Bring a charger! Texting feature is extremely slow and will not work at all if in the trees.

Sadly, returned this. Couldn’t figure out how to make it work. Bummer bc I need a device like this for hiking in remote areas. I may end up buying the same item again but will have to get it from REI or someplace with customer service assistance to help me complete set up so I can actually use it.

Works great on the Rubicon Trail. Great way to keep folks I care about informed.

The device works as advertised. The huge ownership experience problem for me was the customer service. At about the same time my year subscription ran out, the debit card it was billed off of was compromised. I hadnt used the device for months, but Garmin began an aggressive collection campaign for the last month of service. I acquiesced and paid for the last month despite not having used the device. They then locked my account, presumably out of spite. A year later I try to reactivate my Garmin and it cant be done until I contact someone in England and jump through a bunch of hoops. Of course, they are closed during my normal hours. What should have been a simple reactivation process has intentionally been made very inconvenient. Ill make do on future hikes without the Garmin. $350 brick sitting in my nightstand drawer because Garmin is the equivalent of a predatory cell phone company.

Device works fine, the registration process is fairly simple. The best thing about the device is the fact that it can be connected by Bluetooth to a smartphone, which makes it much easier to send text messages.

This is a great little device for providing peace of mind while on the trail outside of cell phone coverage. The user interface is a little primitive but functional. It really shines when paired to a smartphone using the Earthmate app.

Hands down the best thing ever

Theres a bit of a learning curve with this device, i.e. syncing your Inreach Mini with your smart phone and your Garmin Web Account. Having said that, its a great little device and does what its advertised to do. The Bluetooth connection is great.

We bought it because we like to bushwhack in the backcountry and liked the thought of having some insurance in case of trouble. Garmin urges buyers to always test before you go. We decided to test it in more realistic circumstances, i.e., on the trail. Over the past couple of weeks weve tested in five times, and each time we couldnt get a test completed until either wed returned to where wed parked, or were on top of some mountain or hill. I.e., it works fine in parking lots and wide open spaces. Doesnt work at all on trials and in the backcountry. We returned the one we bought, knowing that in an emergency it would be highly unlikely that wed be able to hike to find some clearing big enough for it to work. NOTE: although the web site doesnt mention it, if you return the item and then try to cancel your subscription Garmin will add a very hefty early termination fee even though there is no mention of any such fee in the details part of the website.