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  1. #101
    Registered User MikekiM's Avatar
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    04-10-2016
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    East of Montauk, NY
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    195

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    I see conversation is moving away fro the Spot, but I just took one on a solo three day trek..

    Tracking was accurate enough, though I track with GaiaGPS which is more accurate.

    Ok and checkin msges went out as expected and as far as I can tell none went missing.

    Kept my wife in the loop enough to allow her to relax and me comfortable that I could reach help if needed.


    Sent from East of Montauk
    _______________________________________
    The difficulty of finding any given trail marker is directly proportional to the importance of the consequences of failing to find it.

  2. #102

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    We had a "Spot Rescue" on the PCT last week. http://www.lewiscountysirens.com/?p=37935

    This woman tried to bypass a snowfield by walking across a scree field. Apparently, she became frightened when the scree started sliding. She sat down and activated her Spot. Numerous hikers offered her assistance, but she declined all help saying, "I have already called for rescue, so I am just going to wait here." In my opinion, she did not really need a rescue. But, she did show that the SPOT does what it is supposed to do. She got a helicopter ride.
    Shutterbug

  3. #103
    Registered User OldGringo's Avatar
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    08-02-2014
    Location
    El Paso, Tx
    Age
    54
    Posts
    50

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    Quote Originally Posted by MikekiM View Post
    I see conversation is moving away fro the Spot, but I just took one on a solo three day trek..

    Tracking was accurate enough, though I track with GaiaGPS which is more accurate.

    Ok and checkin msges went out as expected and as far as I can tell none went missing.

    Kept my wife in the loop enough to allow her to relax and me comfortable that I could reach help if needed.


    Sent from East of Montauk
    I had the same experience on my 3 day hike in Southwestern NM. The Spot worked as advertised, no missing messages and it kept the wife informed as to our progress. I don't use the "bread crumb" feature, instead turning it off until my next planned checkin.




    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

  4. #104

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    My InReach, battery life was as noted above. My first day, I had it set at the default of like 30 minute tracking, or was it even 10! That used up, IIRC, around 15 percent. I upped tracking to every hour. I turned it off every night. I'd hit a camp area, start setting up and then send the "i'm stopping here". I'd keep setting up. 30 minutes or so later, I'd look to confirm the message sent and then power off. I didn't bother to recharge it until the third night. I could have run it all day that fourth day, but had the juice in the battery recharger, had charged the phone and IPOD both so said "Why not" and charged the InReach up also.
    With tracking set at long intervals and shutting down at night, I'm guessing it will run 5 to 7 days. Shutting down during the day, could also extent the life of the charge. But it might need to be tested. Sometimes, powering this stuff up and down, consumes the same as just leaving it on for 8 hours. Just wondering about that.
    For a couple of bucks, get a weird haircut and waste your life away Bryan Adams....
    Hammock hangs are where you go into the woods to meet men you've only known on the internet so you can sit around a campfire to swap sewing tips and recipes. - sargevining on HF

  5. #105
    Registered User ChuckT's Avatar
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    07-17-2013
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    Cocoa, FL
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    78
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    828

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    One comment - I prefer using my Garmin GPS over my InReach Explorer if all I'm doing is tracking self. The utility of the GPS for this function is head and shoulders above the Explorer.

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk
    Miles to go before I sleep. R. Frost

  6. #106
    Registered User MikekiM's Avatar
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    04-10-2016
    Location
    East of Montauk, NY
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    195

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    Follow-up to my earlier post.. though I had used the SPOT successfully, I opted to buy the InReach SE and used it this past weekend with great success.

    I chose the SE for a number of reasons...

    I record all of my tracks on my Suunto Ambit. It has been flawless in this regard. At this point, I really don't need to review my track while on the trail, it's more for reference once I am back home. I suppose there might be a time I could benefit from having a bread crumb trail, but that's not me right now. I use GaiaGPS as my handheld GPS. That works perfect for me as I always have my iphone with me for camera functions.

    What I really needed, and where the SPOT fell short, is two way comm's with my wife. The SPOT allows me one way comm that made both of us feel good that I could communicate and get help if I had an emergency but that didn't help feel she could reach me if she had an emergency.

    I sent many preset messages to her throughout the weekend to keep her updated.. Truth told, I would love to have just one more preset message slot, but I'll make due with three. She was able to see my location on the map as I progressed and didn't feel or have the need to respond. I call that a win.

    The one challenge I am facing is how best to carry it.. but that's for another thread...

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