Satellite phones?

Happy new year,
Unfortunately i am a
Father of three young kids. I go camping whenever I can sneak outa of the madhouse.

at times it would
Bring a peace of mind other than having a 9mm to be able to call for emergency help or check in with the boss lady.

i like the idea and practical uses of a satellite phone. What
Your thoughts and suggestions on which product to buy? I am thinking of Garmin?

 

Interested as well, as I know nothing about these types of devices. We go WAY off the beaten path sometimes and this would bring great peace of mind.

 

I have considerable hands on with sat fones, here's a minor detail, price and monthly expense!
With one of these plans, you can stay in communication with dedicated satellite phone. Better yet, you can text, call, and depending on the device use all your favorite smartphone apps. phones run $350 upwards to over $1000.... Then you have to have a monthly plan.
Inmarsat has flexible airtime plans starting at $79.99/mo - 20MB.

The Iridium Certus pay as you go plan starts at $78.99 + MB rates.

Kymeta™ has airtime plans starting at $415.00/mo - 5G

 

It's not a phone, but Garmin's inReach product line does 2-way satellite texting:

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/c/outdoor-recreation/satellite-communicators/

You can see plan info here:

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/837461

"Expedition" plan is the way to go if you're expecting to do a lot of texting.

My wife used an older model out in the field in Alaska, worked great.

Bonus is that it doubles as an EPIRB in the event of an emergency.

 

I have a Garmin inreach mini. Costs about $125/yr for their basic plan, which is like 5 messages for free or something. I just pay it once a year and don't pay again. Never used it besides in the house. You certainly don't want to type a message out on it if you don't have to, but you can download premade messages onto it and whenever you send a message it includes your gps coordinates and a map which is nifty. You have to preprogram your contacts too which is kind of annoying. There's a SOS button that alerts everyone in your contacts plus local law enforcement supposedly. The battery life with it on frankly blows horribly, like a few days or a week, so I just leave it turned off and it's down about 50% after a year. We do a lot of offroading, usually alone, plus for things like road trips it's cheap insurance. Only real complaint is the battery life, you either need to always keep it topped off or turned off. Not hard to turn it on but just another step to perform in the event your arm got ripped off and you're bleeding out or something. I guess if the 30s to turn it on matters that much you're probably dead anyways though

 

Second on Garmin InReach. You pay a yearly fee then activate it when you are out. The lowest priced option is $14.95 per month and it provides all the capabilities I need. You can text or send updates on your location when you are out of cell phone coverage. If you are injured or in case of other emergency you can punch the button and they coordinate with EMS. I’ve used it for several years now and I’m very happy with it.

 

On the garmin sat phones, typically i can send texts to an I phone for example?

 

Your 1911 model is a 9mm?

 

No its a .45

 

I've been very happy with my SpotX. It's nice that it can automatically update friends and family where you are. Of course it's only a text option (no call). Their save-our-vehicle and SAR add-ons to the plan were appealing to me.

I've never had to use it this way, but I also carry a radio with me. If I had to call out for SAR, I could theoretically use the Spot to set up a frequency for radio comms.

I don't know about the Garmins, but with SpotX, you get a dedicated phone number which you can text any phone to and from.

 

Am torn when it comes to Sat phones. I probably need one due to the places I go, for an absolute emergency (i.e. need air lifting out of the mountains, 20 miles from the closest road).

However, to use it just to check in would be a huge NO GO for me. Even though inconvenient as it may be for some, it brings some peace knowing I am in an area that has no cell service and therefore am lifted from the burden of checking the phone for messages and/or responding to them. Even my >15 yr old kids comment on how nice it is to be able to have the pressure off.

 

I’d go for the emergency option like inreach and use premade messages

Sat phones cost too much

Another option is get a ham license and do messaging over that. Lots of repeaters out there with digital modes. You can see if there’s repeaters in the area you are.

But alone out in the wilderness and a family at home? You want some kind of sos button device for someone to come help

 

I have an iridium 9555 satellite phone, pay 15 a month through a program that gets phones to rural areas for cheap. Used it camping the other day for the first time and worked well.

Also have a zoleo which seemed to be the best option back when I bought it. It's It's incredible device and texting when you have no service, along with free weather updates, is pretty bomb. Highly highly recommend a zoleo over the rest. And this is from a garmin watch fanatic.

 

Zoleo works in partnership with a smart phone?

 

Yes they can go to any phone or multiple phones.