I've literally had my butt saved by my Garmin inRreach Mini 2. And I've thoroughly tested its strength against pretty much everything its engineers would've never even thought of testing for, including leaving it in a river for half an hour, running it over with an ATV, a UTV, and my truck, and bashing it along every rock face I've ever fallen on after taking a tumble on a plethora of motorcycles.
It even survived the fall off Royal Enfield's Himalayan 450 and into a deep mud puddle during the most fun, gnarly launch I've ever encountered. And that's after two years of constant abuse and a lack of mechanical sympathy that I can only describe as vindictive.
And I've tested the Zoleo, as well as the Spot IM satellite communicators to similar extents, with the Zoleo being subjected to my exact same original test as the Garmin. The only reason I've put my inReach Mini 2 through more, however, is because I think the user interface and functionality are better than the Zoleo. But its function of being able to take a hit and keep on ticking until you need to press the SOS button, that's just as good as the Garmin, in my opinion.
What absolutely isn't, and what you shouldn't entrust your safety when you're out of cell service, however, is the easiest and most ubiquitous satellite communicator available at present: the iPhone. Apple's handy-dandy device in everyone's pocket is absolutely not to be trusted. But it's not because it's a bad idea. It's because it's basically made of foil and hopes and prayers.
Over the years, I've had numerous iPhones, and not because I'm some sort of techy snob that always needs the latest and greatest piece of kit. It's because I'm the hardest person on the planet on gear, and that includes phones. Case in point, during my early teens, my parents and I split a military-grade flip-phone because they thought I couldn't break it during my river-hiking fishing adventures. I proved them wrong within a matter of weeks.
And since that day, iPhones have come and gone in relative short order. The latest being a duo of iPhone 13s, which I've now shattered by just being. They haven't fallen out of my pocket all that much, they haven't been subjected to falls off motorcycles or ATVs or snowmobiles or anything in the realm of RideApart, and they've seen themselves with cases on both occasions that should've, in theory, protected them against me.
But that's not what happened. In fact, they've shattered in such spectacular fashion, I'm writing this blog to warn you against even the notion of entrusting your survival to this flimsy piece of tech. Because, if the worst were to occur, if you'd fallen down a drainage, if you'd been bucked off your dirt bike and impaled by an elk's antler, if you'd snowmobiled into the backcountry or driven your UTV deep into the woods only to roll it, that iPhone ain't surviving unless it's wrapped in bubble wrap and encased in a molasses jar.
I don't know about you, but I tend to keep mine in my pocket, not some sticky ass shock-absorbing tomb.
Here's the thing, though. I think that Apple's iPhone sat comms is a great idea. Not everyone has the money for an additional communicator. Not everyone would utilize a satellite communicator the amount I do or many of my colleagues and backwoods brethren. But everyone needs, and generally has, a phone in their pocket. And having something when you need it most is better than not.
There's a caveat to that, and that's durability. It's one thing for the satellite communications software to work when you need it and punch that SOS button. It's another for the hardware to be burly enough to stand up for whatever reason you're punching that SOS button.
What I truly hope Apple does is basically take the concept of the brand's Ultra watch, encase the whole thing in a titanium shell, one that's thick enough to take a dent or two, lose the glass it's currently using, and make an iPhone Ultra made for someone like me. Or someone like the folks I tend to hang out around. The people getting after it and needing something that'll work when the time comes.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to buy another new iPhone...
