SPOT 2 Review

backcountryislife · Sep 1, 2010

Totally agree about how people just expect to be saved! That's why I like the spot, because I can call my friends to get help instead of sar, also I can call my wife & tell her it's ok so she doesn't call 911 when I don't get home (although she's with me 99% of the time anyhow...) I just like the options that it has instead of just calling 911.

And when I needed to use it last year, it worked PERFECTLY. They sent who needed to be sent, and when the beacon moved toward the trailhead they called off sar & just sent an ambulance & PD. Couldn't have been happier with how it worked & how well it was dealt with by the emergency services in my county.

redalfha · Sep 22, 2010

SAT phone doesn't work all the time because that don't have enough satellite to cover every minute of the day , you can get reception only the second 15 min of the hour and the last 15 min of the hour.

newmy1 · Sep 23, 2010

Just upgraded to the SPOT 2 as well. MUCH smaller, seems to find a sat much quicker and love knowing the message was sent. I paid $136 plus $4 shipping via <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w

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oNotOptimizeForBrowser/> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]-->[FONT=&quot]www.thehousewaresstore.com. Comes with a case (that straps to your arm for tracking if you wish, or you can take the strap off) unlike the old one.

I talked with SPOT about the issues they were having with the SPOT 2 when first rolled out. It was NOT battery issues as indicated by some on here, it was an issue with the light on the device (showing red vs green etc). They claim to have the issue fixed and have no reports of similar issues since the recall.

Hope I never need it but happy to have one!
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sled-fiend · Sep 23, 2010

redalfha said:
SAT phone doesn't work all the time because that don't have enough satellite to cover every minute of the day , you can get reception only the second 15 min of the hour and the last 15 min of the hour.

You need to get on a different network.

KFD070 · Sep 24, 2010

I used the SPOT 2 last season...when I finally got it back from the recall. Kept the unit strapped to the pad on my handlebars and it seemed to work very well. With the purchase I got the Tracking feature free for a year. I will likely re-new this option next year. I was able to look later on when I got home where we had been that day and was surprised to see how close we were to hidden meadows and lakes and such. My son and the wife both took road trips over mountain passes where there was no cell service and I was able to track their movement no problem. They could have called for help if anything went south too. Nice piece of mind for all of us. The one thing I don't like is when I sent "OK" messages, the cell phone numbers I had programmed into my SPOT got some weird "Contact Rogers support" message and the actual OK message was never received by my designated recipients cell phones. I have to look into that before the start of this season. E-mail recipients received the message just fine though.:face-icon-small-con Great device, I highly recommend it!

Trashy · Nov 25, 2010

Here is one for you guys.....

I'm trying to figure out who would be the best emergency contact to use. We almost always are riding in either Valemount or Revelstoke BC..... what did you guys use for this contact?

newmy1 · Nov 25, 2010

I use a mix of peeps from home (8 hrs from riding area) and locals that have agreed to help if needed.

Trashy · Nov 25, 2010

That's kinda what I was thinking of, Newmy....

I wonder how many contacts you can add...? Looks like quite a few.

heavy_haul · Nov 25, 2010

This from the SPOT GPS site:
Check-in / OK: This feature allows you to let your friends and family know that all is OK with a pre-programmed message along with your GPS location. With a push of a button a message is sent via email or SMS to up to 10 pre-determined contacts and your waypoint is stored in your SPOT account for later reference. Your stored waypoints can be easily integrated into a SPOT Shared Page or SPOT Adventure account site:

Snowjunky · Jan 2, 2011

We just tried my spot 2 out yesterday. I put the spot in the clear pocket above the nitrogen canister of my ABS bag and off we went. Just like clockwork it logged a waypoint every 10 minutes or so. The longest delay of the day was 13 minutes. I also sent some "im okay messages " along the way. All messages and waypoints were spot on. Once home I veiwed the data from my Garmin 530 which I kept in my seat and the two sets of tracks were near a perfect overlay. I was skeptacal at first but some of the points it recorded were in deep cover. In a emergency where I needed help I would pull it out of the backpack. Other than that no changes anticipated.
I give the SPOT 2 a full thumbs up.

Trashy · Jan 2, 2011

I used the tracking feature once. More just to see if it works. And it did!

since then however, I leave the spot powered off throughout the ride, but during stops along the way I turn it on and send the OK message. These go to my wife and the significant other's of my group. They all appreciate the reassurance of knowing everything is all good. At the end of the day, once we are safely down from the mountain, I send two OK messages back to back. They know that this means we are at the truck and done riding for the day. If there was cell service I would obviously just send a text, but some of the areas we ride are an hour drive from cell service. Or more.

Doing things this way seems to work for us, but I am always looking for new/better ideas, so any comments or thoughts are always appreciated.

Snowjunky · Jan 9, 2011

I would leave it on if I were you. If something were to happen and you couldnt get to the spot to turn it on what then. The batteries last long enough. Why take away the ability for someone to say " He hasnt moved for 4 hours and its 9:00 at night. Here is his GPS cordinates lets go find him" At the beginning of the year we had 2 friends lost in the snowies. If we had spot tracking then Billy would have had them out by lunch the next day. Or the SAR guys later the same afternoon. But it darn sure would of been faster and their toes wouldnt of been Purple!

soreloser · Jan 9, 2011

that spot "connect" looks promising if it comes to be. You can actually text the problem through your phone and send it over the spot system to your contacts.

thats seems like it would be much more useful, you can then tell them exactly what the problem is. ie NEED GAS, beer, whatever.

says on the site it should be released the end of jan.

Trashy · Jan 10, 2011

Snowjunky said:
I would leave it on if I were you. If something were to happen and you couldnt get to the spot to turn it on what then. The batteries last long enough. Why take away the ability for someone to say " He hasnt moved for 4 hours and its 9:00 at night. Here is his GPS cordinates lets go find him" At the beginning of the year we had 2 friends lost in the snowies. If we had spot tracking then Billy would have had them out by lunch the next day. Or the SAR guys later the same afternoon. But it darn sure would of been faster and their toes wouldnt of been Purple!

Question for you.... why didn't he just send a "help" message?

Isn't that the point of the Spot in the first place?

The last thing I want is to be depending on someone following my moves and hoping they will respond accordingly. Are they supposed to just guess what is happening? What if they dispatch S&R only to find that no one is even there? The batteries had died.... or the spot had fallen out of my pocket.... or who knows.....???? Bottom line, it is a communication device and that is how I intend on using it.

I just don't find the "what if you can't get to the Spot" reason valid. I always ride in a group. We stick together. And most of us have a Spot of our own. In the backcountry it is important to expect the unexpected an be prepared, and my choice is to always have a full charge in those batteries so when I need it the thing is gonna work.

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SPOT 2 Review

backcountryislife

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redalfha

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newmy1

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sled-fiend

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KFD070

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Trashy

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newmy1

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Trashy

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heavy_haul

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Snowjunky

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Trashy

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Snowjunky

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soreloser

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Trashy

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