Grabbed it on sale over Xmas but probably won't use it until Hiking/Kayaking season. It's mostly for peace of mind when the wife goes hiking by herself, but it allows for pre-set one-way messaging ("I'm at the top", "headed home now", etc.), emergency communication, and SOS which will trigger a rescue. It can also link to your phone (offline) and guide you back to the trail head or a certain point if you get lost on downloaded maps. I can also track her location real time while it's on in case she is unable to respond or something.This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
You pay for the subscription during the months you need it, so probably 4-5 months a year and it's $12/mo or something like that. You can cancel for the Fall/Winter when you aren't going to be hiking or whatever.
Only thing I am not 100% clear on is when you hit the SOS button and initiate a rescue, do you get slapped with a $100K bill for a helicopter and rescue team? You are able to cancel the SOS and they try to contact you first, but it could be a costly mistake so I want to get a better understand of how exactly that works. I know some states have free SAR that gets abused all the time, but I don't think Canada does. There's probably insurance for that, but that's another cost.
There is a bigger, more expensive inReach that has a screen for maps, but if you have a smartphone the Mini does the same thing as far as I could tell.