Delorme In Reach Explorer

[daletournier]

I've used one this year, its ok but wouldn't buy it again.
I suppose it depends on your plans. The tracker is good, folks at home love it. The text function is good. The weather isnt that great, much prefer grib files to get a better wider view.
If i had my time over I'd a purchase a iridium go, does everything the inreach does but also has gribs ( predicta wind), can send and recieve bigger files.
Personally for me this is a classic "the poor man pays twice scenerio" i purchased the inreach to save bucks but will now spend more by upgrading to the iridium go.

[accomplice]

We got ours earlier this year and it worked well on passage to stay in touch with family. Definitely pair with a cell phone to make typing easier.

We had one family member ashore helping us with weather routing. For our next passage, I'm considering using FastSeas -- anyone have any experience using it from an InReach?

Instead of OCENS paid service, consider WX2InReach - Home which is based on donations instead of subscription.

[Zigzagn]

Used a Garmin inreach explorer for a Northwest Passage from Halifax,NS to Greenland to Arctic Canada, Alaska ending in Vancouver last Friday. Worked perfectly however did not SE wx service but subscribed to a grin wx service. Yellow brick would have been good enoigh

[Rorzech]

Garmin bought it now and they call it "Road Post" from now on. So far Garmin is leaving well enough alone. But, if Garmin gets its way, they will create upgrades that they will use to force you to buy, if you want to continue using it. They will also degrade it with updates like Apple does with it's products until it becomes useless. With Garmin at the helm I can see no good coming to the people who now own a Delorme Explorer. Space X recently launched an 80 satellite network Which should be coming on line soon and may bring a whole new word of satellite communication. It's probably a good time to wait a year to see what's new coming down the pipe.

[Time2Go]

Originally Posted by daletournier

I've used one this year, its ok but wouldn't buy it again.
I suppose it depends on your plans. The tracker is good, folks at home love it. The text function is good. The weather isnt that great, much prefer grib files to get a better wider view.
If i had my time over I'd a purchase a iridium go, does everything the inreach does but also has gribs ( predicta wind), can send and recieve bigger files.
Personally for me this is a classic "the poor man pays twice scenerio" i purchased the inreach to save bucks but will now spend more by upgrading to the iridium go.

No comparison on cost
InReach less expensive to purchase and use
No contracts, I turn mine on when I'm out and off when I'm not. (Freedom Plan)
Sitting in my sock drawer until next cruise.
Standalone, Back Up GPS, Fits in the Ditch Bag
Cheers
Neil

[Mithril Bham]

Used it for trip down the Sea of Cortez. Worked great for our purposes.

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by Time2Go

No comparison on cost
InReach less expensive to purchase and use
No contracts, I turn mine on when I'm out and off when I'm not. (Freedom Plan)
Sitting in my sock drawer until next cruise.
Standalone, Back Up GPS, Fits in the Ditch Bag
Cheers
Neil

I could be mistaken but you can suspend the Go as well, just like i have done with my inreach. You can also take the Go with you just like the inreach.
Under passage it dosent work out cheaper using the inreach if you use Oceans. You pay for there service, iridium go has unlimited download.
I had six days of hardly any wind in the middle of the indian ocean, because i didnt have a grib i didnt no whether to head down or up in attempt to find it, my monthly inreach bill was $250 because i was pumping in waypoints trying to find wind.

Also alot found it difficult to respond to my emails but not the texts.

You are limited to 160 characters.

Look, i think its a good product depending on what plans are BUT it isnt as good as the Go.....you buy it over the Go because its intial purchase price is cheaper.

[sailorman7225]

Used mine for the first time in May during a 7-day passage. I agree with everything previous posters said; family/friends loved tracking us; paired with cell for easier typing and love the Freedom plan (pay for it when you need it and shut it off when you don't....no long term contract).

RM

[cajucito]

Im on a circumnavigation I sailed across atlantic from Ireland to Caribbeab. Luckliy im in Grenada now. Its a fantastic device. I have had unbroken comms with friends and family all the way so far. It never failed to work. I also purchased insurance against SAR cost or emergency medical evacuation costs. It seems good value but needs to be purchased by each crew member. You need to pair it with a phone or better still tablet to make messaging more practical. Typing on its tiny keypad is a pain otherwise. You can opt out and in of subscription when needed which is great. Buy unlimited texts its the best. Highly recommendrd

[wannacat]

Many of the above have make remarks of the easy and affordability of being able to opt in and out of their plans. Let's hope Garmin takes note, doesn't get greedy and change this or I'll probably "deep 6" mine!!!

[CaptTom]

Originally Posted by Rorzech

...With Garmin at the helm I can see no good coming to the people who now own a Delorme Explorer. Space X recently launched an 80 satellite network Which should be coming on line soon and may bring a whole new word of satellite communication. It's probably a good time to wait a year to see what's new coming down the pipe.

I have one, and love it, for all the reasons above. I'm not ready to pay for a "full" satellite phone plan. I think of it as a sat phone without the phone.

That said, I'm not a huge fan of Garmin's business model, pretty much as Rorzech said. I'm also not thrilled that they bought out DeLorme, a local Maine company, just so they could cherry-pick this technology and gut the rest of the company. It was a smart move on Garmin's part; this is a great piece of gear and pretty much the only one in its market niche. I don't see how any of that helps ME though.

Glad to hear there may be other options soon.

[mattyc]

Is there much difference between the Delorme Explorer and the newer Garmin version? A Delorme Explorer on Ebay sells at a substantial discount.

[belizesailor]

New Garmin version has full GPS functionality, including maps/charts download.

Old Delorme version has very limited GPS functionality. No ability to download charts/maps. Basic grid display (no maps/charts). You can see your lat/lon and create/navigate to way points.

[fritzdfk]

I have had an Inreach SE for several years and it has been useful and reliable. However on a recent trip I set it to track and it stopped working after the first day. Back home I have done all the resets, recent software etc and it will not get a fix or send messages. As I have had it for the communication features but also as a safety/emergency device this is worrying. It has always bothered me that as a emergency device it was a little complicated unlike a 406 EPIRB or PLB where there is only one switch to turn on. I think I will be getting a regular EPIRB. I may get a new Garmin SE+ for communication, I haven't decided yet. I am in Southeast Alaska and there are many places with no cell phone service or USCG radio coverage so the communication aspect of the Inreach is useful but now I am not sure of the emergency reliability.

[Time2Go]

Originally Posted by fritzdfk

I have had an Inreach SE for several years and it has been useful and reliable. However on a recent trip I set it to track and it stopped working after the first day. Back home I have done all the resets, recent software etc and it will not get a fix or send messages. As I have had it for the communication features but also as a safety/emergency device this is worrying. It has always bothered me that as a emergency device it was a little complicated unlike a 406 EPIRB or PLB where there is only one switch to turn on. I think I will be getting a regular EPIRB. I may get a new Garmin SE+ for communication, I haven't decided yet. I am in Southeast Alaska and there are many places with no cell phone service or USCG radio coverage so the communication aspect of the Inreach is useful but now I am not sure of the emergency reliability.

Several years is a pretty good run
But did you call Delorme?
They advanced swapped out my unit after
a key stopped working even thow it was 4 months
out of warranty.
I like my unit and think it's a great bit of kit
However I would never consider it a
replacement for an EPIRB