GARMIN’S LATEST GADGETS TRACK YOUR LOCATION, MONITOR YOUR FITNESS, AND KEEP YOU CONNECTED

STORY BY STEVEN PAUL BARLOW

Whether you’re trying to summit a peak or achieve peak fitness, there’s a Garmin product that can help you to reach your goal.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF GARMIN

I had been using Garmin handheld GPS units for many years on my backcountry hunts. However, I wasn’t paying attention to all the recent tech products the company has been offering to wilderness explorers, off-road vehicle enthusiasts, and fitness fanatics.

Garmin continues to introduce new products and to add features to its existing product line, all with the aim of keeping you safe, in touch, and up-to-date on your personal goals, whether those goals entail making it to a remote mountaintop or reaching your peak in physical conditioning. Here’s a look at some of the company’s products.

1 GARMIN INREACH MINI 2

The Garmin inReach Mini 2 is a small device that recently brought big-time peace of mind to members of my family. My daughter Stephanie had about two and a half months before she was to start her medical residency, so she decided to tackle a chunk of the Appalachian Trail. We knew she would not have cell phone service along much of the trail, so my wife and I bought an inReach Mini 2 for her to take along. It proved to be a great way to maintain contact with her, share in her journey in a small way, and to provide her with a safety net in the event of an emergency.

The Garmin inReach Mini 2 is a two-way satellite communicator and tracker that measures just under four inches tall and two inches wide. It weighs a mere 3.5 ounces. The Mini 2 is the updated version with extended battery life. This newer unit can now provide up to 30 days of use before the battery needs to be recharged.

Most Garmin inReach Mini2 users simply attach the small device to the strap of a backpack.

My daughter was able to send daily updates to us through her inReach Mini 2. Most of the time, she simply sent a preset message that read, “Stopping here for today, everything is OK.” But along with that message was a link. We’d click on that and it would take us right to a detailed topographic map that would show her exact location with the coordinates.

The Garmin inReach Mini 2 is offered in orange or black.

If she had become injured or lost, she could have used the inReach Mini 2 SOS feature that triggers a connection to the Garmin International Emergency Response Coordination Center (IERCC) that’s staffed at all hours. Once the SOS has been activated, the IERCC can communicate back and forth with the inReach user, and notify the applicable search and rescue organization to respond. The IERCC will deliver a confirmation that help is on the way and provide updates on the status of the response effort. The IERCC may also reach out to the user’s designated emergency contacts.