Review: Garmin inReach Devices
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We’ve owned and used the Garmin inReach satellite communication system for several years now, and it’s been a game changer for staying safely in touch while traveling in remote places. Straight from Garmin: with inReach satellite technology and an active subscription, you can send and receive messages, navigate your route, track and share your journey, and — if necessary — trigger an SOS to a 24/7 global emergency response center over the worldwide Iridium satellite network. It’s amazing.
It’s now something we don’t start an adventure without. We’ve used it many times (fortunately never to call for help) — most often just setting up the tracker so family and friends can follow along and check in when we’re otherwise unreachable: offshore, in the mountains, or on a remote gravel road in the woods. A few times we pulled weather forecasts while sailing, which was a real help when we were second-guessing conditions.
Think of it as a backup to your skills, preparation, and intuition — something that can help emergency personnel find you if things go very wrong, while giving your loved ones peace of mind when everything’s going right. Cristen loves her solo adventures, and we all feel better when she heads out with the inReach Mini clipped to her hydration pack: safer for her, and we can see where the pedaling takes her.
Garmin is building inReach into more and more of their devices, which is great. Which one is right for you depends on your needs and what you do (and don’t) want to carry — more features usually means more size and weight. Nothing is huge, but it’s worth considering. We mostly use the inReach Mini for its small size and easy pairing with our phones via the app, which unlocks a lot of features. If you’d rather not carry a phone into the field, a rugged unit like the Garmin Montana 700 series — big screen, onboard maps — might suit hikers and hunters better.
Not hiking or hunting? Garmin also makes inReach-equipped devices for boaters (with waterway charts) and even for aviation. The hard part isn’t finding options — it’s choosing just one.
Once you pick a device, you choose a subscription. Plans are month-to-month (pause or cancel when you’re not using it) or annual, from the simplest level up to an “Expedition” plan with faster tracking and unlimited texts. We leave ours running, because it doubles as a backup when a natural disaster takes out land-based communications: family in Florida have used it during hurricanes, we use it during tornado season in Missouri, and family in Oregon reached us during wildfires when cell towers were down. Not bad insurance, with plans starting around $12 a month — we keep it in our emergency kit even when we’re not actively adventuring.
We get a lot of questions about what we use for safety communication, and we hope this helps. Whether you want a great adventure communicator or a way to stay prepared when regular comms fail, Garmin inReach adds real peace of mind. Questions? Reach out anytime.
