I've got to say upfront that I had absolutely NO need of a GPS to navigate on this trip -- I was on the lower Au Sable river and was almost constantly near (too much!) civilization. However, the device met or exceeded my hopes for how I actually intend to use it -- showing my speed over ground and true direction of travel. I was able to prop the screen up on the thwart just forward of the seat so I could always see the daylight-visible screen. I found I used two screens, the first shows current speed (with the slight GPS lag, of course) and actual direction of travel -- not necessarily the direction the bow is pointing. The second screen showed how far I had gone and how long I'd been going. There is a navigation capability, of course, but what I really wanted was the real-time speed and distance measurement.
The other function that was a major selling point was the ability to send and receive text messages and that worked very well. I was a bit concerned that it would take minutes (or more) to send a message, but the actual time was always less than a minute. My wife received the texts via email and the email included a link to Garmin's map website showing exactly where I was when the message was sent.
The part that exceeded my expectations was the "basic weather" report. I had linked the InReach to my iPhone via Bluetooth and got an extremely helpful, albeit short, updated weather forecast for the next 24 hours plus. That took a couple of minutes to download, but the update was very nice to get since I was in a relatively narrow window of pleasant weather.
The device does require a monthly subscription for the communications part. I went with the cheapest annual plan at $11.95/month and don't expect to need anything more than that. Very pleased with this purchase despite the annoying subscription cost.
The other function that was a major selling point was the ability to send and receive text messages and that worked very well. I was a bit concerned that it would take minutes (or more) to send a message, but the actual time was always less than a minute. My wife received the texts via email and the email included a link to Garmin's map website showing exactly where I was when the message was sent.
The part that exceeded my expectations was the "basic weather" report. I had linked the InReach to my iPhone via Bluetooth and got an extremely helpful, albeit short, updated weather forecast for the next 24 hours plus. That took a couple of minutes to download, but the update was very nice to get since I was in a relatively narrow window of pleasant weather.
The device does require a monthly subscription for the communications part. I went with the cheapest annual plan at $11.95/month and don't expect to need anything more than that. Very pleased with this purchase despite the annoying subscription cost.