Hey guys....thinking of buying ans inreach explorer to replace the spot i have. Overall would you buy it again or not?....for hiking, mountaineering, and overland purposes in that order.
Thanks in advance
I'd say that the Delorme Inreach explorer (not SE) is well suited towards that kind of foot-mobile exploration, so long as you have good expectation management. Like others have said, the inreach itself doesn't have full navigational functionality like other Garmin devices (the big feature lacking is digital maps on the inreach). However, if you bring your iphone or other mobile device, which I always do, you can access digital maps (via the earmate app) and pretty much all the other functions (messaging, SOS, weather, tracking, waypoints) on there. The counter-point to that is that most people prefer to not rely on their fragile and relatively expensive phones for that kind of navigational use.
I've taken my iphone and inreach explorer on some backcountry hikes and camping trips; my inreach was strapped to the outside of my pack (it's waterproof and shock resistant, so I wasn't too worried about it, even when I fell into a creek), while I had my iphone in a waterproof bag inside my pack. The setup worked fine, but then again, I rely primarily on a map and compass and only use the inreach's GPS as a fallback. If you're going to constantly rely on your GPS to get to your destination, you might be a bit frustrated at having to pull out your phone, especially in bad weather...so a more traditional Garmin GPS unit might suit you better, but you won't have the messaging capabilities of the Inreach. Mobile phones also lose their charges very quickly in the cold, but then again so do GPS devices....there are tradeoff's to going with either option. The way I see it, as long as you have a good waterproof protection for your phone, the Inreach device paired with a phone works very well, especially if you use it sparingly and rely more on your map and compass work.
My 2 cents anyways...
I had the exact same thoughts and questions. I really don't like delormes maps compared to garmin's. A LOT of trails are missing that even show up on my factory Tacoma nav. However, what I found on garmin's site
https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/561269
•inReach Explorer+ device adds preloaded DeLorme® TOPO maps with onscreen GPS routing plus built-in digital compass, barometric altimeter and accelerometer
so it looks like they are sticking with delorme maps on the new Explorer+
Honestly, except for my travels through Canada, I've never had any complaints with Delorme's proprietary maps....after all, they are based on the Delorme paper atlases, which are well-regarded within the overlanding community.
The Eartmate app gives you access to several layers of maps which you can pre-cache on your phone if you're travelling off the grid: Delorme's digital topo map (which is basically the digital version of the paper atlases); traditional quad maps (paper versions of the old orienteering paper maps that backpackers use); satellite imagery (almost on par with Google Earth's imagery); US Nautical maps; a generic digital atlas map. IMHO, you get a much wider variety of options with Delorme's offerings than just about any other mapping company. Does Garmin even offer satellite imagery on their handheld GPS's? And the maps themselves are very detailed at various zoom levels.
My #1 complaint with Delorme's maps on Earthmate is that they lack good, detailed backroads maps for Canada. They have generic maps which cover most of the major, paved routes, but they don't cover many of the logging and hunting roads up there...nor do they have any quad or topo maps comparable to what Garmin and Backroads Map Book offer. Other than that, the Delorme map offerings are pretty extensive and hard to beat. Obviously I would like to see greater compatibility with Garmin's offerings, but if you're traveling in America, you'll be more than fine with what Delorme offers.
Edit: on a side note with the Delorme/Garmin merger, I was hoping to see greater functionality and compatibility with the inreach and Garmin's dog GPS collars, but so far I haven't seen any news regarding that. It shouldn't be too hard to add a new feature (like they did with the weather feature) where you can pick up GPS signals from something like the Garmin T-5. Honestly, the possibilities with something like the Inreach are almost limitless; you could potentially have an all-in-one navigation/messaging/SOS/tracking device...the ball's in Garmin's court to see what they do with this product.
