spot x vs garmin inreach mini

Andrew Rational wrote:
All this about beacons, and transceivers, and radios, and SPOT and GPS devices, all that, is in my opinion, pure bullshit.

Being dead is pretty bullshit too. I imagine. 

Jason Halladay wrote:

Well, damn, the inevitable "off-topic" post has hit. Just when this thread was going so well...

I don't fully agree with you.  I do agree with self-reliance and self-rescue always taking precedence. Devices like PLBs and satellite trackers are no substitute for knowledge and care. But for that one time when the shit hits the fan so bad that you and your partner cannot execute a self-rescue before one of you dies, an InReach or other PLB is, quite literally, a life saver. 

I used to be like you and never took a phone or device with me but then have seen the consequences of an accident beyond self-rescue capabilities and I quickly changed my tone. Now I carry something with me and, perhaps just as importantly, stopped judging others for doing so.

I’m no spring chicken, and am no stranger to death and injury in the backcountry.

I’d highly recommend reading  “The Abstact Wild”  by Jack Turner.

Andrew Rational wrote:

I’m no spring chicken, and am no stranger to death and injury in the backcountry.

I’d highly recommend reading  “The Abstact Wild”  by Jack Turner.

We get it. You don't like emergency beacons. Roger that.

Don't you have some butter to go churn or beaver hats to shape?

Señor Arroz wrote:

We get it. You don't like emergency beacons. Roger that.

Don't you have some butter to go churn or beaver hats to shape?

Just made some elk sausage and creme fraiche last night, and I’m currently curing some deer pastirma. Time to pickle some mushrooms, and eggs, today, and finish up a batch of homemade mustard :) Might pickle some beets as well. 

Andrew Rational wrote:

If someone in my party bled to death from a surviveable injury, then I would have utterly fucking failed, and I would indeed feel mortified. Really mortified. 

That is why I carry a comprehensive first aid kit, and keep myself up to date on first responder practices. Calling 911, or punching a beacon, doesn’t really save anyone. If it is a real emergency, the first few minutes are the really critical part, and there will be no one there but yourself and the endangered party.

Sounds like no one is as capable a wilderness traveler as you and no doubt you can handle any situation. 3 members of our rafting party bought an inreach after a member had to be airlifted from the Grand Canyon to a hospital, they said he would not have survived the next 5 hours. We had an ER nurse, 3 EMT’s and a huge medical kit. If the problem could have been managed we were prepared to do so, but an inreach, a helicopter and well staffed hospital saved a life. Just owning a piece of equipment doesn’t mean you have to use it. But emergency gear is there for guess what , an emergency situation that would otherwise be catastrophic. 

Greg R wrote:

Sounds like no one is as capable a wilderness traveler as you and no doubt you can handle any situation. 3 members of our rafting party bought an inreach after a member had to be airlifted from the Grand Canyon to a hospital, they said he would not have survived the next 5 hours. We had an ER nurse, 3 EMT’s and a huge medical kit. If the problem could have been managed we were prepared to do so, but an inreach, a helicopter and well staffed hospital saved a life. Just owning a piece of equipment doesn’t mean you have to use it. But emergency gear is there for guess what , an emergency situation that would otherwise be catastrophic. 

Don’t bring logic into this. We want pure, unadulterated wilderness!

Jake wander wrote:

Don’t bring logic into this. We want pure, unadulterated wilderness!

Exactly. Again, I recommend reading “The Abstract Wild” by Turner. If the risk is heavily mitigated, is it really risk? Is it really wilderness if I can punch a button and get a helicopter rescue?

Andrew Rational wrote:

Exactly. Again, I recommend reading “The Abstract Wild” by Turner. If the risk is heavily mitigated, is it really risk? Is it really wilderness if I can punch a button and get a helicopter rescue?

Oh man... I was being sarcastic. I literally said not to bring logic into the argument and you agree with me?

Andrew Rational wrote:

I’m no spring chicken, and am no stranger to death and injury in the backcountry.

I’d highly recommend reading  “The Abstact Wild”  by Jack Turner.

“No stranger to death in the backcountry”. Personally I will pass on your advice. Doesn’t sound like you have all the answers. 

Jake wander wrote:

Oh man... I was being sarcastic. I literally said not to bring logic into the argument and you agree with me?

Pretty much. It is logical to want to have quick rescue at the touch of a button. I find the thought logically appealing, I must admit.

On the other hand, I want to experience wilderness and wildness. I’m no fool like Tim Treadwell, or Alexander Supertramp, but I go out to get away and disconnect and be self reliant. Oooh. I just realized that is a parallel to the beat-to-death-on-MP “if you don’t like bolts, just don’t clip them” argument...

Greg R wrote:

“No stranger to death in the backcountry”. Personally I will pass on your advice. Doesn’t sound like you have all the answers. 

I don’t, and I don’t aim to or claim to. If you want a safe, sanitized experience, go to a theme park. 

I got the inreach mini to stay in touch with my wife on multi day trips. If you program the preset messages, there's no need for a cell phone. When you send a message, the recipient has an option to click on the message, which pops open a map and very accurate coordinates. I've upgraded, downgraded and paused my plan without any of the billing issues others brought up with the spot. Great features and functionality. Never used the SOS. Highly recommend the mini.

Andrew Rational wrote:

I don’t, and I don’t aim to or claim to. If you want a safe, sanitized experience, go to a theme park. 

Orrrrr, go and experience the outdoors in a way that is comfortable to you and your loved ones.

Andrew Rational wrote:

I was timed out by MP for a while. 

Ralston was an unprepared dumbass.

Yeah, I’m that guy. I also ban phones, clocks, and boom boxes/radios/amplified music on trips that I’m in charge of. Wanna bring a guitar or harmonica or whatever? By all means. Wanna bring speakers? Nope. Not the experience I’m looking for.

You don’t wanna bring a speaker on your camping weekend? Fine. Be one with nature. 

This is very different than not bringing a beacon while skiing in avi terrain. 

curt86iroc wrote:

This is very different than not bringing a beacon while skiing in avi terrain. 

Save yourself the effort. Andrew notveryrational is either your ordinary forum troll, suffering from a massive amount of keyboard bravado, or is simply irrationally clueless.

I'm going to have to agree, although somewhat reluctantly, with A. Rational. Tech is literally ruining the wilderness experience and trashing our revered wild places. As an avid backpacker and mountaineer who came to rock climbing through those pursuits, and after perceiving the world through that lens of experience, I've grown to despise tech in the backcountry. Instafame and Facebook and the like are bringing hordes of illprepared, untrained, and uncaring folks into fragile areas, and having an easy SAR red button at your fingertips makes it all that easier to access them. At the same time, people may learn through these experiences to appreciate and someday develop an honest level of respect, admiration, and protectivness for wild places. But the rapidity of area information dissemination and the growing ease of access to trail beta, SAR location devices, and photos worries me deeply...and I see the impacts out on the trail.

Oh yeah, back to the subject at hand: SPOT vs. Garmin? I have no idea. I carry a map, compass and signal mirror and try to stay up to date on my first aid techniques. What happens when your GPS or SPOT batteries die, or you smash the damn thing on a rock trying to climb to reception? Tech is no replacement for self reliance.

Andy Bennett wrote: Tech is no replacement for self reliance.

And no one says it is.

Yes, let's discuss how technology is ruining the backcountry on an electronic forum attached to a  climbing guidebook that can be read offline on your phone. 

Oh yeah, back to the subject at hand: SPOT vs. Garmin? I have no idea. I carry a map, compass and signal mirror and try to stay up to date on my first aid techniques. What happens when your GPS or SPOT batteries die, or you smash the damn thing on a rock trying to climb to reception? Tech is no replacement for self reliance.

A GPS or spot with dead batteries is basically the same as not bringing it in the 1st place.  

This may have been said: spot is cheaper at the time of purchase but inreach device and service is less expensive over time.  I haven't owned a spot but do own and frequently use a garmin inreach mini.  The sacrafice with the mini is that you have to have a cellphone battery to use the mapping service (earthmate) or to send custom text messages fast.  The three or four preset and free text messages with the lower garmin plans work for me: tell the wife we made it to camp and are safe for the night, check in all is well, running late but okay, and oh shit....