Garmin  inReach Messenger Plus

There is a one-star review that discusses the inReach as a substitute for mapping skills. This is not what I am using it for. It is a good way to communicate with coworkers and loved ones when one is out of cell range. Examples for me are working out of cell range and the need to inform a coworker of a situation or that I am running late. In my personal life, I sail and may be out of cell range for several days. I can communicate with my spouse to assure her that I am fine and can send her a photo. The content of the one-star review appears to be personal feelings about technology and communication than about the how this product functions. So far, it works well for me.

This is a communication device, something the very negative reviewer seems to not have grasped. My wife purchased this for me after I got stuck on a mountain in Costa Rica in foul weather for almost 36hrs, a situation that would not have been prevented nor resolved by a map and compass. If you're stuck, sick, injured, otherwise unable to move, or just downright lost, this can summon help to within about 10 meters. That is its primary purpose; it does more than that, but those things are less important. Should you get good at land navigation? Sure, it's a great skill. Should you trust your life entirely to your ability to read contour lines on a topo map accurately enough to identify your grid position? No! And the answer is definitely NO if there's no way for you to transmit those coordinates to anyone else in the first place.

I have been in the Spot ecosystem for about a decade, 2 years ago I bought a SpotX 2 way messenger and I was not happy with the service at all. When it quit working after only a couple weeks of use, spot customer service was of no great help. So I purchased this Garmin messenger plus and was up and running in less than 30 minutes. The message send and receive speed is barely distinguishable from standard text messaging vs SpotX that would take a minute or more when it actually worked. The interface is far more polished and it is small and light so it doesn’t add bulk and weight to your pack. Great way to stay in touch in the back country. Gives me and my family comfort I can summon help without cell service in the remote backcountry.

I was thrilled with this unit when I first used it because of how well it punched through the dense tree cover here in the Southern Appalachians (unlike some other things I've tried), but then I was really upset because of how fast the battery dropped... close to half the battery in a couple days. I thought the unit was defective. I worked with support staff at Garmin. Turns out, in settings, you can choose between "Performance" and "Low Power." Once I put it on low power the battery seems to last basically forever. Evidently, when the battery was draining so fast, I had it stowed somewhere where it couldn't send and connect, but it kept trying... and kept trying very often because of the performance setting. I'll put it on performance if I am ever in trouble and really want to get a message out fast. The rest of the time, low power is the way to go. When I was testing the unit for battery life after working with Garmin support, I left it outside for about three weeks... not only did the battery drop by only the smallest amount, but it seemed completely unaffected by the weather.

I go hiking quite a bit and I am planning to do some bigger backpacking trips this year. I bought the agar in Inreach Messenger Plus after doing extensive research on if I should get the mini or messenger. I really was looking for an SOS device I could message my family periodic updates. I didn’t plan to use it as a map. I still plan to use my phone and an external charger for maps, which is one of the reasons I love this little device can also charge my phone if needed. I hope I never have to use it as an SOS device, but I’d rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it. I do wish it had a way to strap it to the strap of my bag, but I don’t mind leaving it in the pockets and pulling it out when needed, or using my phone through it.

Compared to the InReach mini -- much better reception/sending message ability under tree cover or from tent. (Helpful for checking forecast during storm, for example). This would obviously be great in an emergency. It sent some test pics easily. I got the Plus because sending pictures and voice memos could be SO, SO helpful in an emergent or urgent setting. I was worried about not being able to clip the Messenger easily to my pack with a carabiner. (It does have a little hole for a loop of something, but it's so small that it's very impractical to use. Wish they'd made this a little bigger, at least enough to make it easier to get a cord loop through it.) Instead, I put it at the top of my pack as others had recommended. This worked fine for reception -- I had it on tracking with an hourly check-in, used about 12% of battery in eight hours (including sending/receiving some messages). But it would still be nice to be able to easily attach this small $500 device to something to make sure I hang onto it! The phone app interface was helpful for normal messaging, normal use. But there are times when you still need to use the buttons, such as if your phone battery died or you dropped it into a ravine. Or to turn it off and on. It is extremely hard to push the buttons, even more so when your hands are cold. As some of the situations in which you might find it necessary.

The Messenger is a wonderful piece of technology. Its ability to send and receive is impressive and far better than earlier generations of Garmin products. I used it on a 6 day wilderness canoe trip across the northern part of Algonquin Park. The only negative is that you can only send photos to five people at a time and the uploading of photos takes lots of time. I was sending photos to 43 people. Some nights it took two and a half hours for the photos to go through.

My wife and I are 68 years old and enjoy the outdoors and especially riding our sise by side in the mountains of Colorado. We decided to invest in the Garmin messenger so we have communication anywhere we travel. We recently tried it out in an area with no cell service and sent text messages, the unit worked perfectly. Hopefully we will not need it for a real emergency but it's good to know we have it. Thanks Garmin.

I have used it offshore fishing two times - worked well. Battery life is great. I did a bunch of reading before settling on buying this version - I bought it because it would send pics - thats the only difference I remember from the ones that were cheaper. What I did not know is the person receiving the pic via my messenger has to have the garmin app. Knowing that I would have probably opted for the cheaper version. Regardless of cost, cannot believe I have boated for all of the years without it - I am sure its a short term with the falling cost of Star Link but very happy to have it!

I bought this when I got my motorcycle and it was a good thing that I did. I went on a fire road and went over the side and thankfully I wasn’t injured. However, I was 8 miles from the nearest road and without cellular service. The in which messenger did what it was supposed to do and contacted search and rescue.