Buying Iridium Equipment in the U.S.

[hellosailor]

I wonder if anyone has marketing a drone with bearspray cannister attached. Not entirely kidding...

Considering the problems even in the ConUS with brown and black bears tearing apart anything that has the slightest "food smell" on it, one might also want to make sure there was NO FOOD ALLOWED on the dingy. Except perhaps some very well cleaned and sealed emergency supplies. In which case it might also pay to buy a "bear cannister" or "Ursack" to keep those supplies in. They are fairly bear-proof, so as long as oyu need a container...You know.

[CFS Klopas]

Someone told a story in another thread about a black bear swimming out to and destroying a dinghy in Alaska. That dinghy was being used to protect food from bears overnight.

[Catapault]

Random thoughts:

One of the best people to talk to about Polar Bear Safety, is the Sysselmann (government) in Svalbard. Safety both for you AND the bear.

IMO, Every trip should do everything it can to avoid EVER putting a bear in harms way from a tourist. The best safety is to avoid a situation where the encounter could turn dangerous.

https://www.sysselmannen.no/en/Visit...nt-and-Safety/

Also worth a read. And see the links on last page:
http://kho.unis.no/doc/Polar_bears_Svalbard.pdf

Some of the best bear photography I've gotten was from Zodiac. You can get reasonably close, but also back away quickly in case of issues. A friend does a lot from Snowmobile in Svallbard. Same principle.

Or from the Mothership.

If you are on foot and you can see a polar bear, (and it can see you !) it is probably time to leave, not take photos..

Note: The dinghy of choice for all Arctic and Antarctic expeditions I've been on (8 now), was a Mk V Zodiac. Inflatable hull and floor etc. That is too big for your avg sail boat, but there are smaller versions.

This is worth a read: https://www.amazon.com/High-Latitude...titude+sailing

When camping in Svalbard, they use an electric fence around the tents. I wonder if that might work for the Dinghy (random thought, no idea really).

Apart from bears, the big risk ashore is being stranded their by weather, unable to return to the ship. Do make sure you have supplies and most of all, shelter, with you. It should be onshore, not in the Dinghy floating. Katabatic winds can spring up insanely quickly.


Regards

Mark.

[Dockhead]

OK, so it seems like there are a bunch of military surplus or oil company surplus Iridium 9505A phones with the pelican cases etc. offered on the Flea for $300. Here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Iridium-950...EAAOSwa81aTkGI. The Go! also seems to be much cheaper in the U.S. -- new for $700.

What about the airtime? For the Go!, the choice is clear -- the unlimited plan for $139 a month is a great deal -- it includes 150 minutes of voice calls on top of unlimited internet and text messages. Looks like you can turn it on and off at will.

For the handheld, the prepaid plans don't look so good. But you can have a subscription (postpaid) plan for $49/month which includes only 10 minutes of voice calling. That would probably work since this phone would be only for emergency use.

Not only the equipment, but the airtime seems to be cheaper in the states.

Anyone have any experience with this?

[hellosailor]

Looks like a good deal. Presume the "working" battery should be replaced with a new one. And the plans that allow you to turn them on for just one month, probably have an activation fee associated with them. Also find out if you are on a 10-minute plan and you hit that wall...will they bill you for overages, or brick you out?

[Dockhead]

Thanks for the tips. Does anyone prefer the UK plans to the US ones? The ones I have seen appear to be slightly more expensive.

[CarstenWL]

... Iridium postpaid contract is minimum 3 months in the US (afik), in Germany 12 months ...

I would go for 75min Prepaid with 1/2 or 3 month validity.

Regards,

Carsten

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by CarstenWL

... Iridium postpaid contract is minimum 3 months in the US (afik), in Germany 12 months ...

I would go for 75min Prepaid with 1/2 or 3 month validity.

Regards,

Carsten

Yeah, that's what I was looking at.

3 months is what I need.

Looks like it would work out well to buy the equipment and take the subscriptions in the U.S. and then sell the equipment (or at least the handheld) in Europe after the trip.