Source
r/Ultralight•
GPruts

Message checking cost Garmin InReach Mini on "Safety" plan?

Question

Hi Everyone,

I've been looking for info about the Garmin InReach Mini and I saw that this subreddit was the main one where this product is being discussed.

I have a question that I can't find anywhere on the Garmin site. So I was wondering if you guys who actually use the product know the answer.

I'm thinking of getting an InReach Mini for emergency connectivity mainly. I was looking at the "Safety" plan, but this plan has a 10 cent charge for location pins and tracking points.

Now, I know you get 10 messages per month, and I would like to use them sometimes. And I know the device checks for messages once every hour. But what I'm wondering is: Is the message checking 'ping' also charged at 10 cents when you're on the "Safety" plan? Or is that always free if you have the location tracking turned off?

The higher "Recreation" plan has the same charge as the extra 30 messages so the only difference is the free location tracking. I don't really plan on using that, I just use my own GPS logs on my phone anyway using the WikiLoc app. But if the "Safety" plan costs me 10 cents every hour I'm out and about it might change things.

Posted Feb 6, 2021, 3:22 PM UTC

1139
trailbaitGreat Smoky Mountains Nat'l Park•

When you send a free preset message, it includes a link to your location. That's a free way to ping your locale to your contact.

31
cortexb0t•

This. I do not use tracking, ever. I just send frequent preset messages to tell that I'm ok, and location is automatically attached.

Weather forecasts count towards your message quota but they are pretty much the only reasons that I use non-free messages. That, and occasional free-text messages home if needed.

18
valinor223•

This is exactly how i use it. Send mostly preset messages with a few custom ones here and there.

7
cheapseats91•

This is exactly what I bought it for. I figure manually sent presets are fine 99% of the time, and if there's a real emergency I'm not going to fret about the 10 cents per interaction. The only time this wouldn't work is if you want someone to ba actively monitoring your progress and you're worried about becoming incapacitated

6
GMkOz2MkLbs2MkPain•

Last I knew it was $0.50 / msg $0.10 / tracking point USD fwiw

1
cortexb0t•

Right, it's not an enormous price, although tracking with a short interval can surely add up. Or leaving your Mapshare web interface public and allowing people to freely ping for location and send messages to you.

The battery drain would be a bigger concern for me, though, if I accidentally switched sending track points on.

3
Jsamu8ta•

And you can customize what the presets say (before you go via laptop) to accommodate how and what you like to say.

8
GPrutsOP•

That's a really smart point, thank you!

3
WalkItOffATAT'18, PCT'20?•

Pro Tip. Have a message "SOS used for someone else. I am fine."

3
NeuseRvrRat•

That situation would be so rare, I don't see wasting a preset on it. If I get in that situation, I'm not sweating 50 cents.

6
WalkItOffATAT'18, PCT'20?•

Correct. Your emergency contacts are sweating 50 cents.

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

18
GPrutsOP•

Thank you!

4
[deleted]•

Tracking is fine it's when you turn on Send Interval. If you send then that is charged. Tracking, log interval is ok. It does take the battery power down pretty good depending on how often you log.

3
t_dtm•

the only difference is the free location tracking. I don't really plan on using that, I just use my own GPS logs on my phone anyway using the WikiLoc app.

Fair enough if you don't want to use it, but the purpose is different. It's not a GPS track for you to trackback or to overlay on a map or Relive or whatever when you get home. It's for your location to be shared with a safety contact. If you only share your location manually (ie sending a "I'm okay"), the lag between the last time/location you sent it and your actual current location if a SAR effort has to be initiated can be significant.

As an example: if I'm backcountry skiing and I hit a tree, or have a bad fall mountain biking, or just hike, trip and hit my head badly, I might not be able to manually hit the SOS or other buttons. A SAR effort would instead be triggered by your safety contact if you're overdue. Then, the most helpful thing for your safety contact/SAR would be to have a recent last known location. The more recent it is, the smaller the search area. Which the InReach's location tracking would provide; but not Wikiloc.

12
OutdoorPotato•

Does tracking really help your rescue if you are unable to hit SOS button? Sincerely, I rather doubt it, unless in some specific* situations. I am afraid that mostly it just helps body recovery, like Recco with BC skiing. It would have to be activity with known danger, tracking frequently and somebody checking your location frequently as well.

Would have to be quite a miracle that you can't hit SOS but are still in a survivable state for hours to days before SAR arrives. In most of your examples, you could succumb to injuries or hypothermia long before anybody figured out that you were out there unconscious and not just enjoying the view.

But I am not dissing it entirely, sometimes miracles do happen and more importantly, it gives my beloved some peace of mind.

*: e.g. expeditions and big climbs, where somebody is always checking your tracker and there are often other known parties in the vicinity with comms to go and help, like happened when Sergi Mingote fell on K2 this year (sadly, he didn't survive his injuries, but the tracker did help a lot with speedy rescue by other expedition members).

4
WildlifeWest•

Tracking can save your life, if you use it properly. It needs to be paired with regular check-ins and a safety check who knows what to do if you miss a check-in.

This is how British Columbia natural resource industries keep employees safe... You determine the severity of risk of what you're doing, then evaluate the probabilty of that happening, then develop a risk plan based on those. Here's an example risk assessment.

The standard I do when I'm doing something like ski touring is 2-hour check-ins if in a pair.

Having tracking on will give your exact location rather than your location 2+ hours ago. That certainty can be the difference between getting a helicopter in the air just before sun-down or having to wait until dawn.

Of course not all activities would require such a rigorous safety plan but it's something to consider.

7
t_dtm•

True, it does depend on the activity and whether there's a trip plan, someone monitoring, what the activity and risks are, etc. Unless you can't press SOS because you got separated from your device, you're right that being unable to manually activate it means survival chances are likely to be low anyway. So it'll tremendously help recovery. But that's something not to be discounted, especially this year where SAR teams are being utilized a whole lot more including several strung-out searches.

2
You-Asked-Me•

Thanks for pointing this out. This is how I use mine, with a long tracking interval, but I do not send tracking data automatically, only when I send preset messages, usually at the beginning and end of my day. In an emergency the search area could be narrowed to maybe 3-4miles of the trail rather than 30-40 if not tracking, I think that this is misunderstood by a lot of people since there are so many different settings and different plans.

3
GPrutsOP•

Good point! I'll give that some thought. But I'm not getting that far off the beaten track. I just want it in case I fall or something and I'm out of coverage. Most trails in my area have very spotty coverage.

But good point, in the case of a long hiking trip I should change the plan.

3
mdrider•

I make it a practice to send a message about every hour (this gives a location update).

Granted, I have only used my device for single day adventures so battery drain hasn't been an issue. Of course if I'm worried about battery life I'd likely have the device off except when checking so 'tracking' wouldn't work anyway.

1
chickenscratchboy•

No.

3
GPrutsOP•

So there is no cost? Thanks!

2
chickenscratchboy•

“No” means “no,” buddy.

-5
GMkOz2MkLbs2MkPain•

No charge monetarily to check your messages does use up a bit of battery power. You do get charged if you receive a message though or send one on the safety plan, unless it is one of your free preset messages you are sending.

3
GPrutsOP•

Thanks! One more question if you don't mind: Do I get charged for the messages only if they actually are downloaded to the device? Just worried about someone sending me loads :) I wonder if I can avoid being charged by turning the device off.

2
GMkOz2MkLbs2MkPain•

I believe it is if they were ever sent to you if you download them or not although I am not positive about this?

The InReach Mini doesn't let you contact it unless you have reached out from the InReach Mini first to that phone number / email address. The exception to that is from another InReach device if you hand out your "InReach address" which is found under Account when you login on the desktop site. Other InReach mini or full size devices can send messages to you.

Your InReach address is whatever email address you linked your Garmin account to combined with '@inreach.garmin.com' in place of whatever your actual email address has for a domain. So if you used [email protected] to sign up for your Garmin account your InReach address would be [email protected] for messages from another InReach device to yours.

So since there is no way to block messages that I am yet aware of you have to be careful to not contact family members who are well meaning and infuriatingly add you to an inane family group text that racks up some huge financial bill for yourself? (Bit unlikely where you have to reply not sure that specifically could actually happen but you do need to make sure someone isn't going to spam you with unwanted messages racking up a bill)

2
LancairDriver•

Are you all using the yearly “safety” plan, $144 + $30 activation fee, or the monthly plan, which is close to a wash for a full PCT thru? Anyone know how much the “federal Universal Service Fund fee and applicable state/local taxes” adds to these plans?

3
GMkOz2MkLbs2MkPain•

I'm on a monthly plan as I've adjusted between suspended, safety, and the tier above it depending on my expected usage relative to the per use fees.

$14.95 becomes $16.02 / month with those fees now in 2021 per my first invoice on just reactivating it. These fees put it at $15.75-$15.88 in 2019

In 2019 the tier above actually billed at $37.17 / month I would expect it to be a little bit higher in 2021.

2
LancairDriver•

Thank you, much appreciated.

2
WildlifeWest•

I went with an annual safety plan because it turned out to be more economical for me. The activation plan is a one time fee, not annual, as long as you don't let the coverage lapse.

You can go up or down tiers when you have an annual plan at any time. This made more sense for me because I can have it activated all year and just grab-and-go on the weekend. Then if I go on a longer trip where I want tracking, more messages, or weather I go up a tier and take it back down to safety after to trip.

2
LancairDriver•

Interesting, I thought with an annual plan one could go up a level without incurring a fee, but not down.

2
WildlifeWest•

I thought so too! But so far no fees. I used recreation for 5 days in November and was charged $3.78 more than the safety rate which equals the difference of $0.66/day plus tax. I was pleasantly surprised! I think it's because with an annual plan you avoid being locked into the plan that you change to for 30-days like you are with freedom

Edit: on my account there's a series of debits and credits and those 'credits' are carried forward to the next month, not refunded to your credit card

3
LancairDriver•

Brilliant, one last question: does changing the plan reset the annual contract? Doesn’t really matter if one intends to keep the active.

2
[deleted]•

[deleted]

3
FroggattEdgehttps://lighterpack.com/r/l8iy0•

I'm sure I've read on a previous thread on ultralight somebody say that they gave their family members the account log in, and that from a desktop etc at home they can effectively trigger a location ping in real time, to get an up to date location from the hiker in the field.

2
GPrutsOP•

How would that work though? The device doesn't listen to the satellite. It just checks in once in a while (it uses the Iridium SBD - Short Burst Data protocol). If there's any queues messages it gets notified then, but there is no proactive comms from Sat to device.

3
FroggattEdgehttps://lighterpack.com/r/l8iy0•

My bad, I remembered it wrong, anyways here is the thread i was thinking of (comment number 6 specifically), in case it's of use full thread here

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
kitesaredope•

I find myself not using tracking as well. I do send messages.

I have the safety plan and found that when I’m out in the backcountry, I’ll often have conversations with my wife about how her day was. I usually get charged overage for that month but 1) the cost the rest of the year when not in use is super low and 2) it makes my wife feel good to know she can get a hold of me.

Funny story, I went in a camping trip with my brother. He didn’t acclimate well to altitude so I gave him my inreach and taught him to use the map feature to get back to last nights camp, and then out the next day. I’d push to finish the loop and meet him in the parking lot.

I forgot to turn the tracking off. So every 10 minutes it would ping, mostly at his campsite.

That was a $73 bill lol. Whatever. Live and you learn.

1