Best and cheapest Satellite phone deal for my needs.

[andben2]

I hike in rural Western North Carolina, most of the time due to the mountains there is no phone service.

I generally hike alone where there is no service. I do have a Garmin InReach device but I thought it perhaps may be wise to invest in a satellite phone. That way I can call for less urgent help if I happened to have a more minor but still debilitating injury (ex. badly sprained ankle).

I realize it might be somewhat redundant to have an InReach device AND a sat phone but peace of mind is worth it I suppose.

What would be the best Satellite phone solution for someone that would pretty much never use it, beyond a few test per year. I know where I hike has good reception with Iridium as thats what the InReach uses, and ive heard its the best Satellite network. Something like 66 sats vs some competitors that have a fraction of that. The mountainous terrain has valleys and may require more robust providers.

[conscript]

Nice to see someone posted finally, it's been 6 months and I thought this board was all but abandoned.
It seems redundant to have both, you can still call 911 from a satellite phone without having service.
From my experience the dense trees don't make it easy to get a signal unless you're at a clearing.
You can get prepaid minutes that expire after a set amount of time but it's not really cheap or feasible
if you just want it for emergencies and arn't going to use the minutes.
You can get an older phone like a Iridium 9500 or 9505 used cheap on ebay, usually $100-$200.

[andben2]

Nice to see someone posted finally, it's been 6 months and I thought this board was all but abandoned.
It seems redundant to have both, you can still call 911 from a satellite phone without having service.
From my experience the dense trees don't make it easy to get a signal unless you're at a clearing.
You can get prepaid minutes that expire after a set amount of time but it's not really cheap or feasible
if you just want it for emergencies and arn't going to use the minutes.
You can get an older phone like a Iridium 9500 or 9505 used cheap on ebay, usually $100-$200.

Looks like I would still need to buy minutes or be on some form of plan.

https://support.roadpost.com/kb/arti...-iridium-phone

I will probably buy one with some emergency plan or a pre paid card with some minutes. Eventually probably sell the Garmin InReach.

[conscript]

Interesting, I guess I was wrong.
Newer model phones like the Motorola 9575 will give you gps coordinates.