Garmín inreach mini

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Garmín inreach mini

Postby db36046 » Mon Jan 07, 2019 2:22 am

Does anyone have experience with the Garmin InReach Mini? I have one and like it but have only used it in US and Mexico, (including some littoral waters) outside of cellphone range. It’s been doing the job for me, but if anyone has tested it in really remote areas (Amazon, Middle East, Sahara, Alaska, Sahara, Gobi or Kalahari, sailboats in blue water...) I’d like to hear your opinion. Thanks.
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Re: Garmín inreach mini

Postby db36046 » Tue Jan 12, 2021 12:12 am

Ok, no takers. Here’s my opinion after having one for a while. I like it. The system for sending text messages by satellite is very clunky but since you can link it to a cellphone and use the keyboard on the phone that’s not a problem. This works even when out of cellphone network range. With the Earthmate app installed this also allows you to see your position on a map even when you are out of cellphone range, which has saved my hide a couple of times. The inReach devices serve as: 1. a basic GPS navigator, 2. an emergency locator beacon/ satellite tracking device so my office/wife can find me a usherette in the world, posting my location to a map on a website. 3. Two-way satellite-based text messaging 4. An SOS system that will launch a Search and Rescue in a worst case scenario, with communication to a global emergency response center. I have not had to use that feature yet, thank God.
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Re: Garmín inreach mini

Postby Kurt » Tue Jan 12, 2021 12:40 am

Oddly the only time I have been outside of cell phone range in my recent travels has been in parts of Wisconsin.
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Re: Garmín inreach mini

Postby Darcy » Thu Feb 18, 2021 10:47 pm

Haven't tried it, but seriously impressed with my Garmin 60cx, that thing works anywhere, and has gotten me out of some serious jams. Garmin is the shit for aviation too. Most flight management systems can't compete.

I use mine for navigation when I get way off the beaten path (often), and I carry a separate ACR ResQLink for coverage. Would be nice to have both in one unit though. I'm pretty sure anything of Garmin's would be awesome.
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Re: Garmín inreach mini

Postby Ozymandias » Sat Jul 10, 2021 10:44 am

db36046 wrote:Ok, no takers. Here’s my opinion after having one for a while. I like it. The system for sending text messages by satellite is very clunky but since you can link it to a cellphone and use the keyboard on the phone that’s not a problem. This works even when out of cellphone network range. With the Earthmate app installed this also allows you to see your position on a map even when you are out of cellphone range, which has saved my hide a couple of times. The inReach devices serve as: 1. a basic GPS navigator, 2. an emergency locator beacon/ satellite tracking device so my office/wife can find me a usherette in the world, posting my location to a map on a website. 3. Two-way satellite-based text messaging 4. An SOS system that will launch a Search and Rescue in a worst case scenario, with communication to a global emergency response center. I have not had to use that feature yet, thank God.


Thanks, this is really handy! We're on the hunt for GPS navigation gear for an upcoming remote river kayaking trip in 2022. The setup we had for our Angola trip in 2016 was pretty crap (Garmin GPSMap 64 + Iridium 9555 satellite phone + Thuraya SO-2510 satellite phone). But that Thuraya was a piece of junk!
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Re: Garmín inreach mini

Postby RYP » Sun Oct 22, 2023 4:25 pm

I used an InReach in the Central Sahara. Worked perfectly. Sent some texts to folks and the local guys that chase Boko Haram put up some drones to watch while we suntanned for a while. Eventually I was rescued by Sand People in a giant sand cruiser who towed my truck with a chain for $500. Other folks drove in anew engine and replaced it chop chop. I wish we had the same can do attitude here. Either way an In Reach is cheap and you can turn it off when you don't need it.
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Re: Garmín inreach mini

Postby Darcy » Mon Oct 30, 2023 7:55 pm

I finally got one too for working up in Northern Canada and on the ferry trips through Central and South America. They work as advertised. Most of the guys working up North favour the Zoleo as the texts are almost instantaneous, but you require a cel phone to use it. If your cel phone is dead you're fucked, where as the InReach works as a Zoleo with a cel phone but also works as a stand-alone. Thats what cinched the decision for me. I got the intermediate plan and still don't get close to my allotted texts per months. Works great when I hunt and fish out of cel coverage too.
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Re: Garmín inreach mini

Postby Ozymandias » Tue Oct 31, 2023 5:44 am

We used a Garmin inReach Mini2 during our 750km+ source to sea navigation of the Mangoky River in May-June 2022. It worked exactly as advertised, and as a few people noted, it's great that it doesn't need a smartphone in order to be useable. The app itself is great if you do have a smartphone though! All our texts went through, and our logistics team & loved ones were able to text us back, so it was a pretty seamless communications system given our levels of isolation in the Malagasy bush. Also super cheap compared to getting a proper satellite phone, and love that you can just pause your subscription.

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/765374
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