Scary problem with Garmin InReach

[mgl45]

Recently I went on a trip to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. I was recovering from COVID so I didn't do any major adventures but there is no cell signal except a few developed areas so I decided to activate my InReach out of an abundance of caution.

In Rock Springs Wyoming I reactivate my InReach subscription and used the "test" function on the handset control panel. The test passed. Then I send a text message and email to my brother and when he didn't respond, sent one to myself, which I didn't get.

I ended up going through a rather frustrating experience with Garmin support that dragged out over the course most of my trip, in part because of the lack of cell signal, in part because of issues they were having and the bottom line turned out to be that they said my contacts table was corrupted, that happens sometimes, and fixing it requires doing a sync with the Garmin app on a laptop. (I have 3 contacts FWIW and haven't added any since I bought the device in March when it was working).

I expressed some concern about the situation, and the safety issues that could have happend if I had relied on their test function and not done my own extra tests and their position was that their terms of service advise syncing the InReach on a laptop before going on a trip. I thought that was kind of an odd place to put that kind of critical information rather than the setup instructions or user guide. I was just trying to make a point to them - I don't put myself in dangerous situation counting on the InReach to bail me out, I take lots of precautions many of which I learned from this group.

To their credit, despite their terms of service, after I made a little noise they did give me a credit for a month of service due to the hassle and me not being able to use the device for most of my trip.


In any event, I wanted to share this in case this is not a well known issue. And, I am curious, has anyone else had this issue? And, how many of you guys sync your InReach to a laptop before heading out? Maybe this is something everyones is doing and I was the odd ball. Just curious.


Thanks!

[Mtnman200]

I sync my InReach before heading out on a trip in case there's a software update. Sometimes, I've added waypoints in advance, which also requires a sync.

[dwoodward13]

Upon first purchasing my inReach I could send messages with ease but could not receive any responses back regardless of the contact or method of reply (text, messenger app, email, etc). I also stupidly didn’t test this until right before leaving on a trip. Garmin Support was decent and the issue was something on the back end, but due to the back and forth it didn’t get resolved until I was back.

It’s a good reminder if you plan to use the messaging feature to test frequently to a external device (ie not a Garmin test account), especially if new firmware has been pushed to the device.

[CarpeDM]

I sync my InReach before heading out on a trip in case there's a software update. Sometimes, I've added waypoints in advance, which also requires a sync.

Same here, for software updates and sometimes contact updates.

[Anima]

I had an InReach Mini break on me during a trip. It would get super hot when trying to charge it from my car (almost hot enough that it was uncomfortable to touch) and then it would try to turn on but would immediately die. I had even tested it before leaving which I normally don't do. After talking to customer service, it had something to do with not updating the firmware (whatever the hell that is.) It was a few months after the warranty expired but they sent me a new one for free anyway.

I've had other problems with the one that blew up and my new one not connecting / taking forever to send. Back in July during a backpacking trip I couldn't get a message to go through from Needleton until 10,200' along Noname Creek (roughly 6 hours / 6 miles due to my heavy ass backpack). I thought it had broken until I was finally able to get a message through. Ended up turning around because of it as I was worried I wouldn't be able to get any more messages through and people expect to hear from me every day or so.

The same InReach that broke also randomly reset one night while camping, and I had to set it up again as though it was brand new (which I was able to do in the woods without an internet connection.)

All just part of the game if you choose to use satellite communicators.

[SnowAlien]

Probably a different problem than yours, but my InReach battery went caput on Sleeping Sexton in the middle of a 4 day backpacking trip. The battery doesn't last more than 5 years, and mine lasted about 8 years with heavy use. Tech support helped to reset it, but after a few more such incidents, I replaced the device this year. So far, so good (knock knock).

[mgl45]

Thanks everyone for your replies!

[JohnnyLeadville]

Thanks for sharing. This would put me on tilt... sounds like a critical problem worth patching.