Garmin inReach Messenger Satellite Communicator (Black)

I bought this for longer mountain outings, but now I found myself packing it for roadtrips, camping, and even keep it in my ski bag. Knowing I can text updates and even get a hold of search and rescue is an amazing piece of mind! Its the size of a small cell phone so you can pretty much store it anywhere.

This could be much better

The Garmin inReach Messenger is an excellent device with great potential, but it could be much better. The messaging interface is unnecessarily complicated and not intuitive. More importantly, the advertised battery life can be misleading. With 2-minute tracking enabled, my battery lasted only about a day or little over a day instead of the expected weeks. Once the battery died, tracking and even the SOS feature became unavailable, which could create a life-threatening situation if users aren’t aware of this limitation. These battery-life tradeoffs should be stated prominently. It’s a fantastic safety device but only if you also have a reliable way to keep it charged during extended trips and have no trouble using its complex messaging system, one must consider this as a last line of defense. Situations like phone out of battery and battery packs out of charge should be considered to make this device a must to have life line item in your backpack when you are out in the vast area full of dangers and no cellular coverage. The five day trip to Isle Royale could have become a nightmare if iPhone 15 didn’t have the free satellite communication feature. Unfortunately despite loving this device so much I had to return this since I found it unreliable in multiple ways. You don’t need to consider my opinion if you are already in love with this device just like I was. Thanks.