pasayten wrote: Tue Jun 25, 2024 3:08 pm
I have the Garmin Montana 700i combo gps and InReach... Have an extra battery also. Virtual keyboard on the gps screen is wonderful for sending and receiving messages.
How well has it worked when it is cold and very wet and your fingers are cold? Also raindrops play merry hell with touch screens.
Satellite communicators are doubtless useful and valuable tools but they have limitations and they aren't magic.
I have the Garmin Montana 700i combo gps and InReach... Have an extra battery also. Virtual keyboard on the gps screen is wonderful for sending and receiving messages.
One of the questions I have about this is "if she was seriously injured, was she able to respond?"
I have/had an older model (2012) Inreach that works through a phone app. You can send an emergency request by using the Big Red Switch on the gadget, but if you want to receive or send messages you need your phone working and paired with the gadget. If you are injured and can't get to the phone, if the phone's battery dies, or if you lose bluetooth pairing and can't get it back, you are out of luck on messaging.
The model I had lost bluetooth connectivity all the time, seemingly when you used unkind words about the gadget.
Also it wasn't easy to either test or practice with the device to make sure it was working without setting off an emergency services request.
Presumably later models fixed a lot of those issues.
IOS 18 will have this capability and that will make things interesting. It might also prompt a lot of Android users to switch. Although I suspect there will be a long a frustrating phase while all of the ergonomics and logistics of having this capability get worked out.
None of this even gets into the practicalities of using such gadgetry when it is cold and wet and you have numb fingers that are possibly injured. Touchscreens and hall effect buttons can work poorly when cold or wet, or even cool or wet.
Know how to use your device! It will save rescuers a lot of time and effort... plus get you help earlier.
Okanogan County Sheriff Office
Okanogan Search & Rescue Incident Release:
On Saturday evening Okanogan county sheriff’s office was notified by Garmin Inreach that a female had requested assistance in the Windy Pass area north of Harts Pass. She had reported that she had lost the trail and didn’t know where she was, and that she was wet and cold. Over the next several hours attempts were made to communicate with her through her Inreach, but she did not reply.
On Sunday morning the SAR Coordinator and a hasty team responded to Windy Pass area and subsequently located the woman, who was seriously injured. Okanogan County Volunteer SAR was able to walk her to a SAR UTV where she was transported out to the Harts Pass Guard Station.
If you have and use an Inreach device please know how to use it. If you send out a call for help respond to in-coming messages. That alone can save a lot of time and maybe your life.
David Bonn 
