Andy McKay

Apr 06, 2022

A tracker


I’m planning on travelling in lots of remote places and already do running and hiking in areas not covered by cell phone coverage. It’s pretty easy to get into those areas when you head off the beaten path in North Vancouver.

I decided since I’m doing some adventuring alone, it might be time to invest in a tracker. There’s basically two brands out there that I found Garmin and Spot. I’m kinda allergic to Garmin, because the stuff I’ve bought from them has not worked out well in the past and would avoid them.

In the end I went for the Gen 4 Spot. It’s the cheapest and simplest and that’s all I want. It’s got 4 buttons, you press them and its sends a signal to your contacts. It regularly sends your location to its home base. It’s powered by 4 AAA batteries, so easy to keep up to charged on long trips.

It seems pretty simple and I’ve used it around Vancouver so far with no problems. I’m not sure if there’s going to be an update on this one, unless I get into trouble.

It’s worth noting that Spot does have monthly plans, but thanks to the extra costs of activation and a flex plan it quickly works out not much cheaper than an annual plan.

The only downside is that if you do get into trouble you press the button and wait. There is no way to communicate with anyone. Just press it and hope help comes.

Update: the satellites do not cover Hawaii.