Report on Delorme SE I bought- impressive device!

[Okanagan]

As a courtesy to wife and family, I bought a DeLorme SE a few weeks ago to replace my SPOT device.  I did NOT get it for the SOS feature which calls search and rescue, but for the two way communication.  I can compose an appropriate message at the time and send it, such as that my vehicle is broken down, need help packing out an animal, etc.  It also will give my family an idea where to find my body.  It uses satelites to send a text message from anywhere on earth to any cell phone or email address (polar regions excepted).  It is a stand alone device, not needing a smart phone nor anything else to send and receive messages.   

I bought it from REI because I've heard DeLorme has poor customer service but REI is tops.  My one call to DeLorme was very helpful however.   I had trouble figuring out how to use it so went back to REI and a manager took it outside to open sky with me and spent 20-30 minutes figuring out how to use it while I took notes.   It has lots of bells and whistles like connecting to cell phones and Twitter and smart phone maps, tracking my progress etc. that I don't use.  All I do is send and receive direct text communications. 

I tried it at home from my dining room table and then remembered to go outside under open sky as the directions recommend.  I sent another message while leaning on the hood of my car.  Both messages went through:  one showed on a satelite picture like Google earth that it was sent from a spot on my roof right over the dining room table.  The other showed it as being sent from five feet in front of my car's bumper.  Impressive.  Each message sent shows the location from which it was sent. 

On our high Cascades backpack hunt, I went in a day early to scout and set up camp.  I texted my son to bring an item I'd forgotten and told him that I was camped in a different place than planned.  It worked from under fairly heavy tree cover in a deep canyon.  It also worked under heavy tree cover with a foot of fresh snow on the branches, and in the same forest in heavy rain and overcast sky.  Sometimes it takes several minutes to send but so far it has always worked.  It receives messages back from people who send to it from their computer or cell phone. 

It worked on a whitetail hunt a few days ago in the Canadian Rockies, sending and receiving from inside my sleeping bag inside a vehicle. 

Cost is $299 plus a monthly plan.  I got the cheapest plan which is $9.95 per month for ten messages, plus a $25 start up fee.  More than 10 messages, sending or receiving, cost $1.50 each.  DeLorme has other plans with more messages that cost more, and says you can change plans at any time, but they add a hidden $25 fee to change back.  Text messages are limited to 160 characters including phone numbers and email address of recipients.

If it continues to work this well, it is a truly remarkable device, an amazing advance for wilderness communication.



 

[FinsnFur]

Nice. 
That'll give the family AND you a little piece of mind.

http://www.rei.com/product/857610/delorme-inreach-se-2-way-satellite-communicator

[KySongDog]

When I was looking at buying a PLB, I was more interested in the SOS performance rather than the text communication features.   The Delorme has gotten high marks in the text sending area and is rated a "editors choice" in that regard.   I opted for the ACR ResQlink 406 and carry it with me every time I head for the woods.

For anyone interested in a comparison of features and costs of these great little life savers, here is a link:


http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Personal-Locator-Beacon-Reviews

[coyote101]

I have used a SPOT for several years and really like it, but the two way communication capability of the DeLorme SE would be very nice.  Thanks for the review Okanagan.

Pat

[Okanagan]

Semp, good link to comparisons.  They don't compare the newest DeLorme InReach SE model, and wish they did.

I weighed your comments about reliability of the SOS feature strongly in my decision to buy, and know that the PLB is better for the SOS  function.  I wanted two way communication and let that be the deciding factor for me.

I spend a lot of time wandering out of cell phone range, often in a vehicle, and with my partial retirement will be doing even more of that.  Keeping in touch is my priority.  Letting my work team get hold of me, keeping my wife informed of changed locations and changed plans, and vice versa, having my wife meet me for dinner on my way out of the bush, plus minor problems such as vehicle breakdown, getting badly stuck (that happened to me in Sept.)... all of these routine communications.  On our high Cascades back pack hunt my wife texted me to ask if grandson Code could go with me on my safari to rattle whitetails to begin the day after I got home.

I even spent an extra $1.50 on an over limit message to say that my sleeping bag was a lonesome place...

[KySongDog]

I certainly wasn't trying to imply one unit was "better" than the other and I hope it wasn't taken that way.  They all have different feature sets but similar capabilities.  It just comes down to what a person decides fits their needs better.   Costs, satellite system, two way communication ability, ease of use, battery life, etc. all factor in to the buying decision and what's appropriate for the individual. 

These little devices can (and have proven to be) literally life savers.  I think anyone who goes off the beaten track would do well to consider investing in one.   

[Okanagan]

Semp, all good here.  Just wanted you to know that I give weight to your words and didn't ignore your comments on these devices several months ago, even though my preference went another direction.

[JohnP]

I have opted for a map, compass and letting my wife know where I'll be at and what time I'll be home.  That has served me well for the past 60 plus years.

[Okanagan]

Wise way to go.   I have always left a note with my wife saying where I was going, where I'd park, hike or hunt, with a first and second alternate if I didn't go where the first plan said.

  It's the "when I'll be home" part that has been the problem for me. 

1.  On a goat hunt I told my wife all of the above, said I expected to be home that night, but not to call search and rescue unless I did not come home by sundown on the second day.   I killed a goat that fell off the wrong side of a mountain range, spent the night with it above timberline sans sleeping bag etc. and managed to get to the nearest pay phone just at sundown on the second day.

2.  Killed a late afternoon buck in snow a half mile below a forest service trail, with poor shooting that cost me an extra hour and a half of tracking and finishing.  I would have spent the night leisurely with it but knew my family would worry if I didn't come home that night.  I boned out the buck and made it 7.5 miles to the trailhead at 10:20 PM, to a phone by 11:00.  My son was already on the way (four hour drive) to look for me/help me pack meat, but we were able to reach him when he was only an hour on the way.

3.  A good friend got rimrocked trying to drag a buck down a mountain ravine to a road far below, and spent the night in a terrible wind and sleet storm.  He is as prepared as they come, and spent a reasonably comfortable night, but his wife was frantic.  She phoned me by 10:30, search and rescue soon after.  At 3:00 AM at the trailhead the Search Master took me aside and asked about the lost man.  I said that he was experienced and well prepared and was OK unless he'd broken a femur etc.  The search master waited to give him time to walk out and he did by noon the next day, having climbed nearly to the top of the mountain to get out of the chute. 

[KySongDog]

Those are some great stories, Okanagan.  I've never come close to having to stay out overnight in the woods.  Hope I never have to either.   

[Okanagan]

It's the different nature of our hunting options.  We tend to roam over a lot of ground.  I like to hunt with a medium sized pack fairly empty, carrying just enough for a bivy out if I choose to stay out after game.   I use the tear open hand warmers with a minimal pad and usually a bit of tarp, no sleeping bag because I don't like to carry the bulk.  Have done that and stayed after game several times rather than walk a long way back to a camp and then want to be back at the same spot before daylight.  As a kid coon hunting with my Dad, sometimes if we got tired he would build a fire and we'd doze on a dry sandbar along a river.   The problem with that kind of hunting is letting anybody else involved know that you decided to stay out on purpose.

Hope you never have to... but it is a fun outing to do in mild September weather, and a confidence builder that you can do it if needed in a November snow storm. 

[Okanagan]

Those are some great stories, Okanagan.  I've never come close to having to stay out overnight in the woods.  Hope I never have to either.

Semp, thanks for the good words.  I've gotten to do many of the things I dreamed of when growing up on a sage brush  farm and reading Jack O'Connor.

Here's another:  Hunting lost cows in early December with an Indian friend, we hiked up a big canyon in several inches of fresh soft snow.  Late in the day and waaaay up the canyon, my friend suggested that we spend the night and keep going the next morning to fully check out the canyon for tracks.   We had warm clothes and plenty to eat with a log of summer sausage etc.  I agreed with his logic and under timber with no wind it would have been a pleasant evening.  Only problem was that if I didn't come home, I told him that my wife would call Search and Rescue. 

Interesting day.  We came on a fresh wolverine kill.  Huge struggle in the snow showing how much trouble it was for the wolverine to kill the button mule deer buck.  He had eaten quite a bit of it.  Very fresh meat untainted nor marked by the wolverine, and had we stayed over we were going to cut out the tenderloins and outer straps to cook over a fire.  The wolverine had turned the buck on his back and started eating down, bones and all.  He had eaten the entrails, heart and lungs and ribs down to nubs at the spine, part of both hams but hadn't yet touched the "best" cuts along the inside and outside of the spine.