SPOT Messenger

I bought a SPOT Messenger before the November Coues deer season here in Arizona. Was planning to hunt solo, and wanted the peace of mind of being able to signal both my state of well-being (on a regular basis) and the need for emergent or nonemergent help (should the need arise) to family and friends for those places out of cell phone range. As luck would have it, I filled my tag on the first day, so didn't have opportunity to give the device a fair test. To date, though, I've used it (using the "OK" button) to signal my starting point/vehicle location for coyote calling and squirrel hunting here in northern Arizona. As long as there's open sky to establish a GPS fix and send out a satellite phone signal, it seems to work as advertised. A coworker used his last month to call in National Park Service rangers for a fellow hiker with an open tib-fib fracture from 600 feet below the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. The company is selling the units at present for $150 (with a $50 rebate), and annual connect fees of $100 for the basic service, which is all I felt the need for. My wife takes this unit with her, as well, when she rides horseback into the mountains.

Here's a link for 6 months free tracking too.

http://www.findmespot.com/muledeer/

My dad carries in his car. He travels several hundred miles a week across Nevada. He always hits the Check In button when he starts his trip there or back. That will send me an email and a text message to my cell. He also set up his tracking page so we can see where he is at all the time.

We took it with us on my antelope hunt this year. When I got my goat dressed out and loaded he hit the Check In twice. That was the signal letting everyone know I got one and we were headed home the next morning.

Dad will also be taking it on his moose hunt up in Alaska next month. Can't wait to see where his guide takes him. They will be travelling 100 miles by snowmobile. :o

I know a lot of the dual-sport motorcycle nuts over at ADVrider.com use the SPOT Messenger when on solo trips. The GPS portion of the unit doesn't seem to be the strongest and can be obscured by thick cover (woodland), but in the open it works well enough to get the job done. Definitely cheaper than those emergency locator beacon things that skiers and hikers tend to use.

Many of the riders on the Delphi Motorcycle Tourer's Forum have been using SPOT.

One of the computer savvy members set up a site so the different members as well as family members can track riders as they do long distance rides.

Few people use the SPOT tracking service - instead choosing to just push the OK button periodically.

I believe there is a group buy happening right now.

We used one on a back country elk hunt. We used the OK feature regularly to let our wives know where we were and that all was good (grizzly country). It worked flawlessly.

I rent one every year for a back-country solo canoe trip. It gives my wife piece of mind.....and, in case of extreme emergency, they will know where to find the body.

I used one on a bighorn sheep hunt here in Wyoming in 2012 and was successful in getting a text message to my family and to my employer that I was OK but would be late, packing out a nice ram!

Dad still uses his all the time. He's currently on a cruise in the bahamas. His cabin doesn't let it get signal all the time, but enough that I can see where he's at or at least been within the last few hours.

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/f...SOH8QNbkszMpIz