Delorme has announced their long-awaited two-way satellite messaging device, the inReach. Unlike Delorme’s first SEND, which was a SPOT product that utilizes the Globalstar satellite system one-way messaging capability, inReach works on the Iridium system that provides full two-way communication, with obvious benefits. Get a firsat look at this new and exciting product that may change wilderness communications forever.

http://www.equipped.org/blog/?p=356

Great to hear. Maybe the SPOT company's most meaningful contribution to the market will be motivating the competition to do a better job than SPOT. And I say that as a SPOT-2 owner.

BTW the link on the ETS blog page is malformed.

Actually, the face of wilderness communications apparently is already changing forever. This is an interesting take: [url=http://http://blog.oplopanax.ca/2011/05/why-you-shouldnt-use-smart-phones-for.html][/url].

Certainly one of her main points, that the pattern of calling for assistance has changed due to cell phone usage, seems to be quite valid. I have read of several instances where confused hikers were asked to take a picture of their surroundings, thereby identifying the locality to searchers. This we could definitely not do in the old days.

Of course, cell phone coverage is not uniform and may indeed by spotty in wilderness. Well, the glass is either half empty or half full. I have been surprised at the places where my phone has worked. It will probably work even more consistently in the future. I just hope they get even better at disguising cell phone towers as trees.

As I get dragged kicking and screaming into the twenty-first century, dragging knuckles and all, I admit somewhat reluctantly that my phone is becoming part of my EDC, both in town and in the woods. After all, I go to the wilderness to seek solitude. What would Natty Bumpo or Nessmuk say?

Want.

I see an Android in my smartphone future...

Is it anything like the geopro?

http://www.geoprosolutions.com/geopro-messenger/


Or the nanopack

http://www.gmpcs-us.com/IRIDIUM/Nano-Pack-comprising-Handset-w-TracPlus.htm

The Geopro runs $700, the Nanopack $1200. They're aimed at corporate users and I suspect have a more expensive subscription cost as well.

One of the single most important steps (IMHO) in making cellphones more ubiquitous is the inclusion of a decent camera. I never carry my Nikon digital camera anymore, and I shoot a lot more pictures than I ever did. If they included a decent camera in that Delorme thing, I think it wouldn't be a bad marketing move.

My one and only question is are the batteries standard and changable?

While I think a device with the communication features is a step forward, I still have a hard time excepting the prices of such devices. Example is the excellent McMurdough PLB, reasonable price for the device and no subscription. However a battery pack is almost as much as the original cost of the device. I'd buy one if it were not for that aspect. The cost of ownership needs to be something near to reasonable. I don't see a pack of small batteries being worth $175!!

So, if you are listening manufacturers...get the cost of ownership down!

Here's what they say in the comments section of http://blog.delorme.com/2011/06/03/delorme-inreach-two-way-satellite-communication/:

I've got 5 letters for that: s-w-e-e-t

I hesitate to buy any electrical gadget these days unless it can handle all three energy sources. I really like to feed my stuff rechargeables.

Sorry chaosmagnet about the slow reply but you are right about the cost, if the Delorme can do it better for cheaper that would be nice but the delorme has to work with a GPS with it doesn't it and the others has a GPS built in, I need to do more research but if it will work with a garmin. I would like it to be built in one unit and not have to rely on 2 units. I'm still waiting to see how the new Garmin Montana will be.

Im certainly not a modern-day Luddite; I have a GPS nav unit in my car, but I also have maps (including two Delorme topos) and a dash-mount magnetic compass which I know how to use. I worry about the proliferation of electronic navigational aids and beacons. Dead batteries aside, in a marshall law situation, elements within the gov't will flip a switch and disable the satellites and transmitters that support these devices (and probably cell phones too). If the basic traditional nav skills and equipment are marginalized, they will be lost to the majority.

It would be interesting to stop and check everyone with a beacon, GPS, or nav unit and see if they have a traditional magnetic compass and map, and really know how to use them.

I believe that the inReach has its own GPS onboard if you're using it standalone. You won't be able to see where you are, but GEOS will if you press the SOS button.

I am 100% in favor of carrying a compass and a map, knowing how to use them, and confirming your location periodically as you navigate.

In the early days of GPS, around 1991 or so, I got a notice from Magellan that, oh, by the way, the GPS system was going to be out of commission for about three days just before Christmas (probably so that Santa could navigate traditionally). I am not sure just why this occurred, but there it was.

I think of that whenever I search out my trusty topo map, a piece of equipment I was familiar with long before GPS showed on the scene. GPS is very, very nice and it has simplified my life remarkably, especially in regard to locating archaeological sites, but i won't trust everything to a system that can be disabled or degraded (remember Selective Availability?) by The Powers That Be. You are absolutely right.

I've never had any issues with GPS. The units I have work well for me.

That said, I alway carry a map and compass with me in the backcountry and I know how to use them.

I teach backcountry navigation classes in the Pacific Northwest.

I try to impress on my students that land navigation skills are on a par with and just as important as marksmanship, tracking and physical condidtioning.

Blake
www.outdoorquest.biz
www.outdoorquest.blogspot.com

Me too, I'm definitely not abandoning Garmin for Delorme for my GPS needs, so getting an Android phone would seem to be the only option if you want to use this device (although I believe they are looking at supporting other platforms, but who knows when that may come).

Speaking of Android phones, I wonder if the new Casio G'Zone Commando might be good mate for this device given its supposed "rugged" design.

They now have an IOS application.

-john

I have used mine (not mine personally, but from work) in several environments now and have had no problems getting a message out. Return messages take a while sometimes. I have had it int the mountains of New Hampshire, scrub land in Texas, Linville Gorge in North Carolina and in some large cities. I have had no problems getting a location from it. I generally check it myself or have someone else checking my progress. I am using it with the Delorme Pn-60W GPS. I have deliberately tried to mask it with major terrain to the South of me, and no problems. That was the issue with the SPOT.

Both the In-Reach and the GPS unit use only lithium batteries though, but they do last a decent amount of time.

The iOS app makes this a lot more attractive for me.

Which app is that chaos? an iPhone/iPad app for the inReach?

Yes, DeLorme released an IOS application for the inReach called Earthmate.

-john

Very cool -- Earthmate