spot - satellite personal tracker

“Pretty cool personal tracker. Cheaper than a locating beacon but more versatile. Looks great for thru hikers. Anyone have one? Says your family and friends can track you using Google maps. Would like to know how well it works!
http://www.findmespot.com/explorespot/spotmessenger.aspx
”

“Nice Phil...........I plan on doing lots of way off the path Backpacking trips and this is a nice item I don't have. Looking into this being delivered next week.”

“you could take your PDA along and track yourself......”

“I'd heard about that concept earlier this year. Since I'm perpetually later than I think I'll be, the best part for me would be the "Check in" feature. :)”

“Any one have a sattelite phone? I use a Globalstar and am thinking of trading it in on a Iridium. Any body got any input.
http://www.outfittersatellite.com/
last edited: 11/11/07 6:44:07 AM”

“Refrigerator - I rented a Iridium phone last summer for my Sierra hike. It worked great. I rented the extra battery and had 3 or 4 hours of talk time available if I needed it. It was like talking on a cell phone and connect time was very fast. All my research had told me to avoid Globalstar. Whole thing with batteries, manual, etc. was under 1 lb.

With what it cost me rent the Iridium phone for two weeks, I could spend $40 more and buy the tracker (plus add on the service).”

“Thanks Phil............”

“yeah, thanks for the info, phil....”

“FWIW I used one of these for a week in the Grand Canyon last week, and it worked GREAT! I am very pleased with the "ok" feature, and the ability to make your own map is very cool. I would definitely recomend this for anyone on an extended or remote trip, especially if you have nervous family members.”

“Thats cool...where do you get em? What do they run? $$$$”

“Check it out here: http://www.findmespot.com/home.aspx


I think Cabella's carries them too, but you can order straight from their site.”

“Thanks for the report meangreen.”

“no problem. They're really cool!”

“$169 purchace with $8/year service.....


I can see me getting one of these. $100K worth of SAR coverage in case you get lost. If I ever get to go to Big Bend again, I will have one of these.”

“My wife saw an ad for the Spot recently and thought it would be good for me. My day hikes and overnighters are usually solo. This would help give her some peace of mind. Good to hear from someone who has actually used one.”

“Out of the 4 people on the trip 3 of us had them. It was a seven day trip, and there was only one ok msg that didn't deliver correctly right away. Considering our extremely remote location, and being IN a canyon, I'd say that's pretty darn good performance.”

“Meangreen - where's the trip report and pictures?”

“go to Grand Canyon Thang 2008 thread and follow my link to Midwesthiker.com where I posted my TR, and prosecutor posted his pics. I'll have my pics up later tonight. There'll be a LOT, but they're worth the time. They turned out great!”

“Yeah, I was the only one on the Grand Canyon trip without a SPOT. I rented a satellite phone for a week. Cost me $100, and it was only used twice. Once to make sure Tango got back safely after the shuttle. The second time for Yogisan to have his wife bring his passport since his drivers license broke in half an may not have been acceptable to get him on the airplane. After see both in action, I have to agree that the SPOT unit would be better for most backpackers. Lower price and lighter weight give it the edge.”

“7.5 oz with batteries. batteries (Li-Ion) good for 1 year "on" and/or 1600 SPOT check OK messages. pretty darn good for th margin of insurance it provides.”