Does anyone make a satellite communicator with a swappable battery?  It appears that all of Garmin's have non-removable batteries, which makes their use during SHTF seem dubious.

They make some really cool stuff, otherwise.

Garmin Alpha 200 and 300 series have removable batteries. They are for dog training and tracking but have inReach capability too. Spare batteries look like they run $50. I've been using mine for 2 years and still runs fine and I leave it in the device.

Interesting.  I wonder why that those are the only models that have swappable batteries?

Satellite aside the unit may be configured to do more transmitting with its VHF radio to other Alpha units. You can link them together to show where the other hunting parties are at 2 second intervals and it doesn't use sat for that. Can probably eat the battery faster than the occasional sat only comms that happen with minutes between.

The battery in it will last all day with hard use, screen constantly on, receiving signals from dogs, and transmitting corrections.

I mainly use mine for dogs

The nice thing with the Alphas is they support wifi and you can download and update the maps via wifi and select areas to download imagery data for.


I also have a inreach explorer plus. I have left it on for forgot about it for weeks. It'd be nice if it had a replaceable battery but as long as you aren't constantly playing with it the battery life seems good.

I kind of wanted something "offline" - something that I don't have to pair with a smart phone.  Reason being, if I'm in some kind of disaster and trying to communicate with a family member who is safe in another state, I don't want to have to maintain 2 different electronic devices in order to send on-the-fly text messages.

I have a pair of Rino 750 radios that I like, but obviously range is very short.

Derp:  the unit you named is a stand-alone unit, which is what I want.

Both the Alpha and the inreach explorer plus are standalone - because I wanted that as well.

Typing on the inreach explorer plus is tedious because you only have arrow keys to work with but the Alphas have touch screens

For inreach to inreach comes, what network does it use? What’s it’s efficacy in a grid down type situation?

inreach uses the iridum network. Comms between two inreach devices uses an email address. They can send and receive text messages to cell phones but the inreach device has to first send a text to the cell user to establish the initial contact and be assigned a temporary phone number. how long that number lasts i do not know.

the satellites themselves do nothing for message delivery and depends on ground stations for that. the iridium ground network is supposed to be very well supplied and is relied upon by governments.

I have a zoleo and have been pretty happy with it. I paid less than $200 for the unit and for $50/month and I get unlimited messages. It uses the Iridium network, has ~200 hour standby battery, and one button press for SOS. You pair it with your phone and you can text to first responders, but you do not need to have the phone for them to respond to your location. They even have a number you can text from the device for medical advice. I can also get a weather forecast with it wherever I am. There is another button you can press that sends an ok message with your current location to your three emergency contact numbers. For an additional fee they can automatically update your location to your contacts every 10 minutes.

I used it on a 3 week trip to Patagonia last month and it was excellent. I was able to text friends and family the entire time. Its not quite as sexy as an In Reach, but is cheaper up front cost and serves me well.

ETA: just updated subscription to the base for $20.
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