# Emergency communication at our cabin.



## Sturty7 (Aug 25, 2016)

My wife an I are proud owners of a log cabin! It's about 20 minutes away from the nearest cell service and that's spotty at best. We will be using this as a vacation and hunting place. She mentioned she would like to get a satellite phone for emergencies. I agreed it was a good idea. What would be a good reliable phone that hopefully never has to be used??

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


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## yooperkenny (Jul 13, 2004)

I'm under the impression that satellite phones are quite expensive, but might be wrong about that. 

As an alternative for emergencies, you might want to consider SPOT or Garmin InReach. Both allow you to contact emergency centers and require a subscription. I went with the Garmin because you can pair it to your smartphone and send texts. Lots of info online at their respective websites. Good Luck!


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## Sturty7 (Aug 25, 2016)

yooperkenny said:


> I'm under the impression that satellite phones are quite expensive, but might be wrong about that.
> 
> As an alternative for emergencies, you might want to consider SPOT or Garmin InReach. Both allow you to contact emergency centers and require a subscription. I went with the Garmin because you can pair it to your smartphone and send texts. Lots of info online at their respective websites. Good Luck!


I did look at these as an alternative. In fact I was leaning towards the garmin in reach over the sat phone. So far you experience has be positive??

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


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## yooperkenny (Jul 13, 2004)

This will be my first season using the Garmin so I don't have much real experience with it yet. It replaced a SPOT which was fine but I liked the idea of being able to text. If I'm not mistaken SPOT has since added that capability.

That said, I've owned Garmin GPS and fish finders and they're first rate including their customer support and learning resources so I'm confident it's gonna work out.


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## shanny28757 (Feb 11, 2006)

I’ve had a garmin INreach mini for 2-3 years. It’s one of the best pieces of gear I’ve ever bought. Not only does it give me peace of mind while out in the field, it gives my wife peace of mind while I’m gone. 

It’s extremely to use with your cell phone (not so much on the device itself) They offer a couple options for service plans that give you some flexibility to pay for only what you need then turn off the service when you don’t. The only downside is that you can only text. Depending on the type of communication you need it may or may not work for you. If you needed to contact an establishment Or somebody that doesn’t text it obviously wouldn’t work.


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## ranzuly (Sep 17, 2017)

FYI, your Cell phone can call 911 on ANY Network that is in range, so even though you might not have any Bars for your network, you will be able to call for emergency help,


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## Stand By (Jan 23, 2015)

Also, most of Michigan has text to 911 ability, check with your local county to be sure. E-911 is not yet here, but coming. That means you will be able to forward images, video, etc to local 911. Text messages tend to have better range than voice. If you get a hint of any signal in your area, there are Yagi antenna with repeater/booster kits you can find on line. A Yagi is a directional antenna. Point it in the direction of a known tower. The antenna is line of sight, so get it as high as you can to avoid trees or structures.


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## Joel/AK (Jan 12, 2013)

Sat phones have come a long ways. I used to rent them for hunting. Paid out my behind for 2 weeks of rental back in the early/mid 2000's.

I'd like to see some of the new phones, compared to what I used to rent. I'm sure its night and day.


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## shaffe48b (Oct 22, 2019)

I've rented a sat phone once and since bought an in reach. Sat phone obviously you can get right through to them and know you have them but they can be garbly. In reach can be slow both because submitting can take a few and you need to keep hitting check or it will only check every several minutes depending on the setting. It does, however, have an SOS function with a sort of proprietary 911 service and, best of all, your location is shared. Finally, sat messengers and phones don't work well indoors and perhaps even heavy overhead trees.

I would go with the inreach. To be honest though, these are sort of designed when you dont have access to a vehicle. You may well cover 20 minutes in your vehicle before you get help around with your inreach. Unless you are snowed in.


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