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Remote hiking with inReach Mini 2, Forerunner 255, and Android phone

6125703
4 months ago

I'm starting to plan a series of solo day hikes where I'll be away from phone coverage until I get back to lodging at night. I've ordered an inReach Mini 2 for peace of mind. I don't plan to broadcast my position with live-tracking etc. Just the check-ins a few times per day or, in the unlikely event, an actual SOS. I'll be using the cheapest intermittent recreational plan.

What I don't really understand is "best practice" for juggling this device and companion app(s) alongside Garmin Connect Mobile. My Forerunner 255 doesn't have mapping, inReach pairing capability, nor Garmin Explore compatibility. But I am familiar with its offline tracking of hikes from a year of ownership. I turn the bluetooth link on only after I get back to civilization to sync the stored tracks.

Does data spill between the Explore and Connect worlds? Is there utility in having the inReach also track my hike at the same time as my Forerunner 255? Or will this lead to some kind of duplicated mess in my Connect profile?  Does tracking affect the satellite comms function, or does it already get its needed location fixes just by being turned on?

If I understand what I've ready so far, I need to do setup of subscription and contacts on the Explore website, and I need a phone app to sync those details to the inReach Mini 2. It sounds like the Explore app can do that and also the basic satellite messaging tasks, so the Garmin Messenger app seems redundant to me. But is the opposite also true? Can the Messenger app handle the device setup tasks without ever installing Explore? I prefer to keep a minimal set of apps to learn and maintain.

For background, I am the type who memorizes a route before I go, and I expect to complete a hike on that alone. Before smartphones and smartwatches, I often day hiked or mountain biked without carrying any maps. I did use USGS quadrangle maps when backpacking, but haven't done that in decades. I have good situational awareness and a pretty good eye for orienting myself and finding and following even faint trails. I use phone maps like a magically unfolding paper map. I don't use routing or turn-by-turn guidance.

All told, I don't see much point in the map function of the Explore app nor the inReach mini 2. If my phone is working, I think I'll stick to my familiar OSMAnd+ (with contour) and/or National Parks app offline maps. Maybe the inReach device maps are a third level backup if I get lost and my phone dies. My watch also has a breadcrumb trail in that case.

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  • 0 4 months ago

    Hello,Getting Started With the inReach Mini 2 the mini 2 does not directly coordinate with the forerunner or connect app for tracks. So there is not a way for them to combine anything automatically. You would be doing tracking with the mini 2 separately with the explore app, then your forerunner would be recording its activity with the connect app and neither would be talking to the other for these tracks or activities. Getting Started With Tracking on an inReach Mini 2.

    Benefits of Using Both the Garmin Explore App and Garmin Messenger App

    Comparing the Garmin Messenger and Garmin Explore Apps

  • 0 4 months ago in reply to Garmin-Leslie

    Just to verify: if I'm just carrying the mini 2 for the manual check-ins and emergency messaging, will it still work just as reliably if I'm never running a tracking activity?

    From all the docs I've read, it seems like I really don't have any use for the tracking or basic navigation on the mini 2.  I already get equivalent function with my FR255 in my Connect account.

    It also seems like I don't really need the Explore app much. It's main purpose would be to apply firmware updates or sync my subscription details to the device, and giving me the option to read/write messages on my phone screen.

    I don't think I want the Messenger app. It's whole design purpose seems antithetical to my use case of having the mini 2 only for safety. I go hiking to be offline, not to bring a chat system with me!  I'm not intending to send more than fixed check-ins, barring actual emergency scenarios.

    I don't really want or expect my contacts to send me messages on the trail unless there is some life-altering urgency. So, I don't really want to blur the line between satellite versus email/SMS with my contacts. I like the idea that there would be some ritual to it, where they have to dig up my alternate contact info to send me something via inReach.

  • +1 4 months ago in reply to 6125703

    The whole thing is complicated. If you look at Setup > Tracking, you will see 2 different "intervals". 

    The Send Interval controls track points sent via satellite in more or less real time. Available options vary from 2 minutes to 4 hours. (Intervals smaller than 10 minutes are only available with more expensive plans.) There is also an option for Off, meaning the points are never sent via satellite.

    The Log Interval controls local logging. These points are not sent by satellite. Options range from 1 second to 5 minutes, plus Off. They are stored on the device until you sync. At that time, the logged points are added to your account at explore.garmin.com. Also to MapShare, I think. This is what Garmin now calls "activity logging." Note that log intervals of 30 seconds or less run the GPS radio continuously. This is a battery suck.

    When you start tracking, the device does whatever combination of sending and logging you have set up.

    Outbound messaging (regular messages of whatever kind or SOS emergency messages) work the same way whether or not you are tracking at all.

    However, there is a safety downside to NOT sending track points. If you become disabled to the point where you cannot send an SOS, somebody will eventually report you missing. (You do have a periodic check-in plan with the folks at home, right?) If you have been sending track points, SAR has a starting place for the search. If not, the location of the last message you sent manually is all there is. /*soapbox

    The other thing is that sending a track point implicitly checks for incoming messages. This also occurs when you send a manual message. Sending or not, there is an hourly active message check which will catch incoming messages. But that's not always timely.

    You are not alone in questioning the utility of the Messenger app in back country scenarios.

  • 0 4 months ago in reply to 6125703

    Yes the mini 2 can be used in many different ways. You do not have to have tracking going in order for messages or SOS to work. 

  • 0 4 months ago in reply to twolpert

    Just to clarify the mini 2 does not have a log interval option, it will only have the activity option of standard or high detail. 

  • 0 4 months ago in reply to Garmin-Leslie

    Oops. That is correct. Not an improvement IMO.

  • 0 4 months ago in reply to Garmin-Leslie

    To clarify also regarding Activity:

    • High Detail will not record in high detail if inReach Tracking is enabled and Auto Track is on.
    • Standard detail activity recording will not honor the inReach Tracking interval.
    • Standard detail activity logging inexplicably switches between Standard 10min interval and High Detail without user intervention.

    These are long standing product bugs that despite support cases being logged still haven't been fixed.

  • 0 4 months ago in reply to Wombo24

    Hah, all in all it sounds like it's best to just treat this as a satellite communicator and get a better activity tracking experience from my watch. But, I also feel a bit like I've bought into the neglected terminus of a product line.

    I have a strong suspicion that many of us will find that our next smartphone will replace this satellite comms function entirely and with a much better user experience too.

  • 0 4 months ago in reply to 6125703

    The device is defective in that it does meet stated functionality.

    And for a product that's intended purposes include safety is very serious in many geographies.

    I bought one for my partner to enable detailed backtrack from wild off-track environments if needed in an emergency, and when it was called on it failed miserably on the first attempt. The defective gross activity intervals were completely insufficient for trackback.

    I was going to return it but decided to keep it as its alternate functionality still works well as a communicator, and I had (wrongly) assumed Garmin would resolve a defect of this nature quickly. It does mean however she now carries a second, separate device that can be trusted to provide the detailed activity tracking.

  • 0 4 months ago in reply to Wombo24

    If you are talking about the function which Garmin actually CALLS TracBack, you are probably correct. It does not use your recorded activity (even if the device was recording it correctly). Nor does it use the sent points. Instead, it uses an internally recorded path which records a point every 10 minutes. It records this path even if you are not sending points OR recording an activity. TrackBack is difficult to use, but it WILL get you back if used correctly. 

    The 10 minute interval can cause problems. For example, you might take the wrong branch at a trail junction. Eventually, it will become apparent to you that you are on the wrong path. Then you will back up, take the other branch, and proceed.

    As far as Garmin is concerned, it works as designed. There has been some pushback to shorten the recording interval. But I can vouch for the fact that it does work. OTOH, I have never used it in an emergency in the backcountry. I make it a point to test stufff like this to be sure I understand it and can use it if I need it.