I looked at the cost of a Satellite Phone, and finally came to the conclusion that they cost more than I care to spend. I ended up buying an InReach from REI. They had a $50.00 rebate, pluse at REI you get 10% credit, so final cost was 175.00 plus tax. Not so much more than the Spot.
I signed up for the most basic plan. Since I am an "occasional" user, the extra $5.00 for tracking is small, and the 10 messages/month is likely adequate for me (they do count messages to their advantage. One message to two people counts as two messages). So, my monthly cost is really on $9.95 plus a bit more for those months where I use the unit, and so in the final analysis is similar to Spot in total cost. Plus you do have the option of two way communication, and I do think the Iridium Satallite System is better than GlobalStar.
I used the InReach on my recent hike up the Mountaineer's route, down the Main Trail. You can see the
tracking info in the picture gallery.
