As I prepare for my first major backcountry hunt I am beginning to look at a lot of the gear I use and pair down to the things that are actually important. That second fork is out, so is the extra TP (“hello, leaves!”), the spare compound bow is definitely out, but the Garmin inReach Mini is 100% in.

Over the next 12 months I have two major backcountry hunts, several overnight hikes, an adventure taking myself and my wife to Canada, and a trek in the Himalayas — I say this in the hopes that the reader understands I am definitely a person who needs a device such as the inReach, but I never knew just how handy this little guy would be!

Taking the Garmin out of the box and getting it ready takes a little effort and there are a lot of blog articles, documentation and YouTube videos on that. Suffice to say, it takes a bit of effort. I will say that it’s very important to set up your contact list, write your preset messages, change your settings and ensure you have a plan selected before you take it out.

The thing that impressed me the most about the inReach Mini was the way the no-fluff design allowed it to function on the trail. On a recent hiking trip with my wife we tested sending text messages to her phone and reading them made us both feel confident that the inReach Mini would be a massive comfort to her when I was away in the back-country.

Last modified: June 10, 2019