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The ability to pull up an accurate weather forecast through the Mini 2 is a priceless feature when you’re deep in unforgiving wilderness territory. It’s visible on your maps as well, giving you a birds-eye perspective of the area. Once saved, the waypoint enables you to navigate to that location from any angle. It’s great for marking the location of a hidden spring or elk wallow, or camp, or that big bull you just killed deep in the black timber. The Mini 2 allows hunters to quickly mark waypoints, and I use this feature like a borrowed tool. You can message, track, trigger a satellite-relayed SOS and more from the paired device. In addition to your phone, the Mini 2 will pair with more than 80 different Garmin devices ranging from smartwatches to aviation systems. Pretty cool feature, especially when you and your hunting buddy are trying to find each other in a sea of wilderness. Or you can simply share your location through the inReach MapShare page. You can embed GPS coordinates in your messages so recipients know exactly where you are.
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An SOS button triggers emergency response, and the Mini 2 enables communication with rescuers en route. No matter which method you use, it’s comforting to be able to stay in touch with family, friends and loved ones while in the wilderness. That way you can select and send “All’s well honey! Love ya.” within a matter of seconds. Considering that, it’s a good plan to create some preset messages on your Garmin account. If you don’t have your phone along you can still text, but it’s a bit laborious to compose a message using the toggle buttons on the inReach unit. The Garmin sends and receives messages via satellite no cell service needed. Not to worry, just pair your phone with your Mini 2 and carry on. However, in many backcountry settings cellular service is non-existent.
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You can use your device to type messages, get up-to-date weather information, download maps, review your trips and so on.
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Garmin’s free Explore mobile app makes it easy to map, track, sync and share your trek via your phone. The interface has been updated and is more intuitive, both when using the handheld unit alone and when it’s paired with a mobile phone or other device. User interface is a big deal for me since I’m somewhat technologically challenged. The Mini 2’s updated features can change the way you hunt in the backcountry. Garmin’s new inReach Mini 2 offers enhanced interface, location tracking, battery life and capability. Both have served me well, but now there’s an even better option. For that I carried a superlight Mini device.
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My go-to inReach device has been the standard Explorer unit, except during hard-core backpack hunting. And should I become seriously ill or injured I can, with the push of a button, summon search and rescue directly to my location. With it I can text my friends and loved ones, check the weather, navigate, mark waypoints, save tracks and much more. Now I carry one of Garmin’s inReach satellite communication devices anytime I venture afield. It was awesome, but it was also dangerous and stressful for my family. No one would know where I was, or even if I was still alive. Years ago I’d disappear into the wilderness to hunt elk for 10 days or two weeks at a time.
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