DeLorme inReach SE Two Way Satellite Communicator

This is a totally amazing piece of kit. I bought it to track a colleague who is competing in the Mongol Rally (drive London to Mongolia in a sub 1 litre car) https://share.delorme.com/johnthompsonIt is working brilliantly, the registration and activation process at Delorme is easy. The 30day rolling contract is in my opinion good value.Great value for money and very solid.

This device proved to be invaluable on a recent climbing expedition to the Indian Himalayas. Sat phones are not allowed in India at present which is why we chose the Delorme inReach. When our porter staff quit and left us high and dry we could communicate with the local agent and make new arrangements. We kept in touch with family and friends who could follow our progress as each tracking point and communication was plotted on the incredibly detailed satellite maps. Battery life seemed to be excellent although we never used it for prolonged continuous tracking. A brilliant device that worked very well. My only gripe is that on some occasions there was a delay in sending messages, up to 10 minutes. All in all an excellent bit of kit.

Bought DeLorme inReach SE since im doing solo hiking in areas without cell phone connection, like northen part of Sweden. It was easy to set up and register. Went outside to connect, which took about 2 min, and then sent the test message without any problem. I also checked if the gps coordinates were correct, no problem at all on that point. I have not yet tested it in remote areas, that is yet to come.I choose this instead of the Explorer version of the inReach due to the fact that you can see the gps coordinates in the SE version and it seems to me that the map in the Explorer version is not good enough to be used instead of a gps. I myself will go with a map and will use the gps coordinates provided by the SE, that is enough in my opinion.I would recommend this product to anyone that move around in remote areas. It is fairly cheap and the monthly payment is a cheap life Insurance.

I was looking to get a Spot GPS the 2 or 3 version, but I looked at some reviews and came across mention of this, DeLorme InReach SE. So glad I did. I'm sure the Spot is good at what it does, but it does not receive messages and this does.So, I bought one in time for my trip to the Isle of Skye recently. I knew that on at least 2 of my walks, there would be absolutely no mobile (cell) phone signal at all. I use a Garmin GPS for primary Navigation, but also carry a map and compass. In an emergency, the DeLorme via the Iridium Satellite network, sends your position and also allows you to text the Emergency folk at the other end.Just like the Spot, you do need to sign up for a subscription, but i don't think it's that expensive, especially if you are out and about on your own a fair bit, and there's the ability to sign up for a casual user pay as you go (effectively) which is a little more per month, but if you know you're only going to use it say, twice a year, works out cheaper.I found that as long as you didn't cover the antenna at all, it had no trouble getting position and communicating with the satellites. It can be set to send your position every 10 minutes or more and your friends/family can track you or message you from the Map Share page. You'll never be out of touch when you need to be. More info here http://inreachdelorme.com/#popI'm really pleased with mine, especially as you can use a smartphone to interface with the unit, making sending and receiving messages very easy. Updates can also be sent to FaceBook and Twitter, which allows all your friends to see where you are and that you're okay, or delayed, or finished depending on the message you send.Battery life? Well, I went on a 6 hour trip, put my InReach into tracking mode, switched on my iPhone and started the Earthmate app. I put the iPhone into Aircraft mode, then re-enabled bluetooth. Halfway through my in and out trip, I sent some status messages. At the end of the trip, the Inreach was on 94% battery and my iPhone? Well it was still showing 100%!! I know I couldn't believe it either, but it wasn't doing anything other than communicating with the InReach a couple of times.Incidentally, if you're using a smartphone, you can initiate an SOS from the phone, as well as the hardswitch on the unit, so as long as you can reach either, you're covered.Any Cons? Well, the build is a little agricultural let's say, but if that means it's bullet proof, all the better. I also bought a neoprene case for it, which allows attachment by carabiner (supplied) or by a clip (belt type) which the case locks into, a bit like the old button on the back of the older Garmins. It seemed fairly easy to detach it from the clip after a couple of practices. personally I used the carabiner onto my rucksack strap and also kept the lanyard attached, in case I dropped it off a Scottish Mountain, not advisable :-)

I bought the in-reach so that friends and family could track my progress whilst sailing from the Mediterranean to the Gulf of Mexico. It was delivered promptly, was very easy to set up and worked faultlessly throughout the trip. The text, through my ipad was very useful whilst out of mobile phone range. The SOS facility, untested by me, is comforting to have. An economical alternative to an expensive Inmarsat phone.

Like all the other reviews you'll read, I think this is a great product. I've used it on treks, including a long one around Annapurna and was impressed with the robustness and battery life - even in the cold. The problem is that I then suspended the service and now can't reactivate the device, despite reactivating the account. The device seems to be working OK but 2 mins after reactivating it, it suspends itself again. During those 2 minutes all is good - messaging etc. It seems to be a system problem which the helpdesk guys have been working on but to no avail and now it looks like I'm going to have to send the device back for them to sort, which is a pain as I'm about to go away on a desert trek.I wish I'd not suspended the service - would have been cheaper and I'd now have a device that works.

Feels a bit cheap but works superbly. Great battery life and easy to recharge with a standard USB port. Hard to use the on device controls (feels like a 90's mobile phone) but linked to the App on your mobile sorts that out. I've never used the rescue features but sending messages and live tracking works perfectly.