you can put the Inreach in the backpack and follow the route with the maps the Fenix 5X. from what I see, you can only send messages with the widget. This is my main question with the device. since I would not like to take the phone to see the route
From the watch, you can only send what are known as "preset" messages. Presets have predefined text and predefined recipient lists. You can have a maximum of 3 different preset messages. You set your preset message text and addressees on the inReach web site.
If you're not paired with the Earthmate app on a smart phone, you must use the device itself to send any other type of message.
In addition to the preset messages, there are also "quick text" messages. By default, there are 10 of these. Each has predefined text but no predefined distribution list. You maintain these on the inReach web site as well. To send one of these from the device, you select the message and specify the recipients. Recipients can come from the list of contacts (maintained on the inReach web site and stored on the device) or you can enter addresses manually. And painfully. See below.
You can also send a message with custom text. This option is to be avoided as much as possible. To compose the message, you choose one character at a time from a scrolling list which contains (at any given time) at least the 26 letters of the alphabet, some special-purpose items (like backspace and "shift" symbols), and some punctuation. To add a letter to your message, you must scroll to the letter using the up/down buttons, then press OK to add it to the message. As you can imagine, this is slow and painful. Recipient addresses are entered in the same manner (whenever the recipient is not a contact stored on the device).
Edited to add: The device does try to anticipate the word you are attempting to enter. Depending on the word, this does help. But it's still painful.
I don't have any experience with following a pre-defined inReach route via the maps on the watch. In fact, I'm don't recall ever checking to see if a route stored on the inReach is actually sync-d to the watch. Hopefully somebody with more experience with this feature will chime in.
