SPOT GPS Tracker

[Caleb]

Anyone use a SPOT? I've been thinking about getting one. I keep thinking about the what-ifs of getting stuck somewhere out on my bike and I'm riding solo with out any kind of cell reception. It's going to be a long ass hike to somewhere if that happens. I do ride with a GPS so finding my way to the closest form of help won't be an issue, but hiking 40+ miles will surely suck. So, anyone use the SPOT system?

 

[RockMonkey]

My dad uses one. I don't really know how well it's worked though.

 

[Greg]

It's on my Holiday Wish List. I'd really like to get one myself for the same reasons. My last big ride had me out in the middle of nowhere, where it would probably be days before anyone else came along if I couldn't self-extricate. Cell reception was out of the question 90% of the time as well.

There is now a SPOT II out, with more options than the original. You can find the SPOT II's for as low as $125 for the unit.-

http://www.emarinesupplies.com/spot2satellitegpsmessenger-silver.aspx

There was a couple guys from Denver riding North of Moab, around Thompson Springs. His friends on ADVrider.com were tracking him and the SOS button was pushed. His friends posted up on ADVrider looking for local help and since Thompson Springs is less than an hour from me, I volunteered to head out that way and help if I could. One rider piled up his bike and broke some ribs, then was having a hard time breathing. They ended up not needing my assistance, but I would have gladly helped. Pretty cool to have that kind of support system in place!

I like how you can send your friends and family a link to your SPOT track and they can follow your travels. Your friends can see exactly where you are and you can check in, letting them know you are fine, or that you need their assistance, or in a emergency hit the SOS button and alert rescue crews.

I do most of my riding solo, so one of these would be a very good thing. I have read about the costs for a rescue operation, but do you know how that is covered? Is that part of your subscription to their services?

 

[DOSS]

I do most of my riding solo, so one of these would be a very good thing. I have read about the costs for a rescue operation, but do you know how that is covered? Is that part of your subscription to their services?

Rescue is on you.. they do sell a rescue insurance so that is worth it if you are worried about rescue costs.

Just remember you still need to be prepared instead of some of the Yuppies that are using it

I know many people who use them and if you can get GPS reception even 2 sats they should work for you. The new version has some really nice upgrades from the old. Check out their site directly for all of the details in the differences. you can also get them for free every so often with the purchase of a 2 year subscription (basically the cost of a 1 year subscription to the service and the unit itself)

 

[Caleb]

It's on my Holiday Wish List. I'd really like to get one myself for the same reasons. My last big ride had me out in the middle of nowhere, where it would probably be days before anyone else came along if I couldn't self-extricate. Cell reception was out of the question 90% of the time as well.

There is now a SPOT II out, with more options than the original. You can find the SPOT II's for as low as $125 for the unit.-

http://www.emarinesupplies.com/spot2satellitegpsmessenger-silver.aspx

I was looking at that same one. I'm thinking about putting it on my Holiday list as well. What really got me thinking about it was my last ride I went out to the west side of the GSL and started thinking about it and it would easily be days before anyone came along, some of the areas if I had wrecked and was unable to walk it could easily be weeks before someone came by. The closest help would have been Delle and that was a good 30+ miles away (not far on a bike, but quite a haul on foot...especially if injured).

There was a couple guys from Denver riding North of Moab, around Thompson Springs. His friends on ADVrider.com were tracking him and the SOS button was pushed. His friends posted up on ADVrider looking for local help and since Thompson Springs is less than an hour from me, I volunteered to head out that way and help if I could. One rider piled up his bike and broke some ribs, then was having a hard time breathing. They ended up not needing my assistance, but I would have gladly helped. Pretty cool to have that kind of support system in place!

EXACTLY! Being able to send an email (predetermined verbage) to everyone on your list would be super nice.
I like how you can send your friends and family a link to your SPOT track and they can follow your travels. Your friends can see exactly where you are and you can check in, letting them know you are fine, or that you need their assistance, or in a emergency hit the SOS button and alert rescue crews.

I do most of my riding solo, so one of these would be a very good thing. I have read about the costs for a rescue operation, but do you know how that is covered? Is that part of your subscription to their services?

Same, I'm finding my self riding solo more than I like. I've actually been thinking of picking up a second bike so my brothers will come ride with me The SPOT is much cheaper than a second bike though. I'm pretty sure that any services that are used are your financial responsibility. I know you can purchase an additional service for $7.95 a year that covers rescue costs up to $100,000...that will be on my list for sure.

 

[rholbrook]

I set one up for my nephew. You really have only 3 options to send out an email. If your not able to push the button it won't help anyway. There is really nothing to the setup, you just need to remember that you only have those three options. It only worked half the time when the messages were sent out anyway. Hopefully the next version works better but there are additional subscription costs so beware of those.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

I've got one. I rarely take it with me as I'm usually in a larger group and we have plenty of means of communication... but for smaller groups, solo rides or trips into regions with no cell or ham service, its well worth the investment.

My buddy Dave did a big trip through the Americas in his Land Cruiser in 07'-08', traveling from Canada to the southern tip of South America. He was using the SPOT the entire way and it was fun to get a daily batch of updates from him. You could click the auto-link in the email and it would show you exactly where he is/was. He just got back from Baja and again we were able to follow along with him. Very fun and practical for this type of traveling.

IMO they do not replace more conventional forms of communication, but are one more tool to utilize. Some mentioned their spotty reception, which is true but at least you would be able to locate the reasonable area of a missing person for example. Think of the Aaron Ralson case, they knew he was missing, they knew he was likely in trouble, but they didn't even know which state he was in let alone a 50 mile radius to begin looking. The SPOT would be very ideal in these cases.

 

[Greg]

Rescue is on you.. they do sell a rescue insurance so that is worth it if you are worried about rescue costs.

Just remember you still need to be prepared instead of some of the Yuppies that are using it

I know many people who use them and if you can get GPS reception even 2 sats they should work for you. The new version has some really nice upgrades from the old. Check out their site directly for all of the details in the differences. you can also get them for free every so often with the purchase of a 2 year subscription (basically the cost of a 1 year subscription to the service and the unit itself)

Rescue insurance would be good, from what Caleb says below it's more than affordable to justify the possible expense.

I'm no Yuppie, if I need to bring in emergency services you better believe there is something drastically wrong and I'm in a bad position. I've walked 5+ miles out of the desert when a bike has broken down, ridden out of the mountains with broken clutch levers and flat tires, etc. I'm going to do whatever it takes to get out on my own, that's part of the challenge of getting out there IMO.

I was looking at that same one. I'm thinking about putting it on my Holiday list as well. What really got me thinking about it was my last ride I went out to the west side of the GSL and started thinking about it and it would easily be days before anyone came along, some of the areas if I had wrecked and was unable to walk it could easily be weeks before someone came by. The closest help would have been Delle and that was a good 30+ miles away (not far on a bike, but quite a haul on foot...especially if injured).



EXACTLY! Being able to send an email (predetermined verbage) to everyone on your list would be super nice.
I like how you can send your friends and family a link to your SPOT track and they can follow your travels. Your friends can see exactly where you are and you can check in, letting them know you are fine, or that you need their assistance, or in a emergency hit the SOS button and alert rescue crews.

Same, I'm finding my self riding solo more than I like. I've actually been thinking of picking up a second bike so my brothers will come ride with me The SPOT is much cheaper than a second bike though. I'm pretty sure that any services that are used are your financial responsibility. I know you can purchase an additional service for $7.95 a year that covers rescue costs up to $100,000...that will be on my list for sure.

I really like the tracking part, I tried to describe to my wife where I'd be on my 3 day ride but that wouldn't help me too much if I never came home or checked in. I would have been somewhere in a 300 mile radius with nothing else to pinpoint my location. Not good.

Yeah, a SPOT costs much less than a 2nd bike.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Bringing this back up from the grave. I think it's time I get a Spot.

What I want is a tracker that'll track my position every 10 minutes, give me the ability to send an "I'm ok" message, and give me the ability to call sos/search and rescue should I need it. It sounds like I can get the spot gen 3, the SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger (gen 2), or the spot personal tracker (gen 1).

I'd rather not have to rely on my cell phone to send a text out in an emergency (though I do think that's a cool feature), so I'm probably leaning towards the spot gen 3. Their website isn't the greatest, and I'm not 100% confident I understand the plans. Can anyone explain them to me?

Anyone have the gen 3 yet?

 

[sixstringsteve]

Anyone with any experience with the DeLorme inReach?

 

[Caleb]

I don't have any experience with the gen 3 yet, but will likely get one eventually. The plans are basically, you pay for a base plan ($99) yearly, then if you want anything on top of that you pay extra. The base plan allows you to send messages and that's it. If you want to be able to be tracked, you need the tracking plan in addition ($49). The only other one I've added on was the insurance that will pay for your search and rescue costs up to $100K. It was only a few bucks a year and would be nice if you ever actually needed it (like any other insurance ). The prices I quoted may not be accurate anymore (haven't checked recently) but that's what they were the last time I renewed my plans.

I share the same sentiment about relying on a cell phone to do anything with the spot. I got rid of my Spot Connect and just have the Spot Gen 2 now.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Cool, thanks Caleb. From my understanding, it looks like the annual service for the gen 3 is $150. So that's $150 to purchase, then $150/year to keep it going. Hm...

 

[Caleb]

Looks like the Gen 3 includes the tracking, so yeah it would be $150 each year you wanted to use your spot. Now you can use it, then not renew until you need it again.

 

[sixstringsteve]

hm... a personal locating beacon is about $275, with no contract or use fees, but can't send out "I'm ok" or tracking. I really only need my decide for SOS stuff.

 

[sixstringsteve]

[video=youtube;8m78j0TIeVg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8m78j0TIeVg[/video]

 

[frieed]

been carrying the InReach for a year now.

uses Iridium network for messages and some other system for emergency beacon.
The beacon itself can send 3 canned messages and SOS but will link with smart phone for more features.
Various levels of service: I have cheapskate package: 10 free messages a month and emergency beacon. (messaging goes unlimited if the beacon is activated)
Next level adds more messages/month and tracking.
Highest level goes to unlimited messages I think

 

[sixstringsteve]

If you don't mind me asking, what does the monthly cheapskate package cost?

 

[sixstringsteve]

This video is obviously biased, but it does discuss some of the downfalls of other options.

[video=youtube;iC2qN6xaxvs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iC2qN6xaxvs[/video]


From what I can tell, the PLB's sometimes take up to an hour to get the signal out, which can be a bummer in an emergency where waiting an hour or two is simply too late.

 

[sixstringsteve]

One more. I've decided to get a PLB. I love this guy's voice.

[video=youtube;Ov6rSV60it4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov6rSV60it4[/video]

 

[Tonkaman]

Overland journal had a nice write up on PLB and SEND devices in the winter 2013 issue , it's definitely worth reading