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Best way to carry an inReach Mini 2 when backpacking?

2256066
over 2 years ago

I'm planning to buy an inReach Mini 2 for a 10 day backpacking trip in July. As this will be my first satellite communicator, I'm wondering what would be the best way to carry it. In my pack, clipped to the outside of the pack, or clipped to my belt?  My plan is to have it send out 10 (or 30) minute tracking so family and friends can track my progress. Also, are there any recommended accessories?

Thanks for any advice with this.

Pat

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    The best place to carry any iR device is high on your shoulder. For example, clipped to a pack strap. The point here is to block as little of the sky as possible with your body.

    Depending on the fabric, you could probably get away with packing it in the very top of the pack bag. But you cannot put it under anything in the pack.

    Belt clip will also work, but is not as good as on the top of the shoulder. Both M1 and M2 are notorious poor GPS reception, especially when acquiring a fix. When you carry it low on your body, you are probably blocking nearly half the sky.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to twolpert

    Thanks twolpert.  I did a little searching and the Garmin tether appears to be a popular accessory for this. So that's probably the way I'll go.

    Thanks for the quick response. I appreciate it!

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to 2256066

    IMO, the lanyard is always a bad idea, It snags on things. And if you actually hang it around your neck, it's annoying.

    I keep forgetting that the M1 and M2 do not have standard Garmin spine mounts. What you need for my suggested backpack shoulder strap rig is one of these to provide the spine:

    https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/pn/010-12723-00

    and one of these to attach to the spine and clip the works to the strap:

    https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/pn/010-11734-20

    This also requires the spine mount and probably attaches nicely to a strap. But I personally do not like velcro (oops, I mean generic hook and loop). And I can't actually tell how this item works.

    https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/pn/010-11855-00

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    I made myself a custom mount, as I didn't like the Garmin offerings, this requires buying the the "Spine Mount Adapter" from Garmin.

    Find a Velcro strap you like and attach under the spine mount, include a backup lanyard so you can't lose the unit if the Velcro comes off (hasn't happened to me yet, but don't want to take the chance).

    It's rock solid on your pack strap, and keeps the unit accessible with a clear view of the sky, pics attached with link.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to arockclimber

    Thanks for the mount idea. I went ahead and splurged on the garmin backpack tether (and spine mount adapter needed to make that work). If that proves problematic, I may try something similar to your solution.