Ep. 75: Sleeper States and Backcountry Emergency Devices, with Rehan Nana
Rehan Nana works in the Outdoor Recreation department of Garmin and is also an avid fly angler and upland hunter. In this episode, he tells me about the amazing fishing opportunities in his area of the midwest and how he believes the world record brown trout may one day come out of southern Missouri. Then we get into the importance of carrying satellite devices in the backcountry and some of the options offered by Garmin.
Garmin website: link
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Katie
You're listening to the Fish Untamed Podcast, your home for fly fishing the backcountry. This is episode 75 with Rehan Nana on sleeper states and backcountry emergency devices. just just to start so we could at least get a baseline in there normally when I'm talking to somebody from a company about a product, it's often not an actual fisherman. It's somebody who has like a tangential relationship to fishermen. So I was really excited to hear that you are also passionate about fishing. So we're going to get into how you got your start at Garmin, but I do want to start by hearing how you got into fly fishing in the first place.
Rehan
Okay. Well, I do want to preface when I saw your email come through about like, you know, I'm not in the Marine. I'm actually in outdoor, which are two separate kind of divisions. But I saw that email come through And I told the Marine people, I was like, no, no, no, no, no, no. I want to take this one because I don't get to talk about fly fishing often. So, yeah, my name is Rehan Nana. I work at Garmin. I work in media relations. And so I get to talk about our products, specifically kind of as it applies to outdoor products. But outdoors has always kind of been my passion. And to answer your question, like so many young, impressionable people, I saw River Runs Through It in theaters. And I was actually thinking about it in preparation for this podcast. It was, I was so scared. I remember when they were shooting the shoots and I went and saw it with my grandmother. I must've been like five or six years old. And she had this draw, like this really thick Southern draw. And she's like, the main character cannot die in the first 10 minutes. And I've always remembered that from that. But, you know, I was, even before that I was into fishing. And then like, there was something about fly rods specifically. Like I couldn't, you know, I was young, couldn't afford a fly rod. And my parents, the only ones that I really knew were, there was a, there were two shops here in Kansas city. There was K and K fly fishermen. And then at the time, Eddie Bauer, the store, Eddie Bauer had a fly fishing shop. And I just remember something looking at the fly rods. And even to this day, like there's something like so beautiful and something that I can't describe about why I love them so much, but I always just had this like innate draw to it. And I wanted a fly rod to start fly fishing. But, you know, I wasn't, you know, the only thing was, you know, Winston's or something. You weren't going to get a kid. But my parents somehow found like one of those starter kits, you know, $30 starter kits with reel and a couple of popper flies. And I got that under the tree for Christmas. And I will forever remember that. And I made my mother drive me out to the closest lake. It was frozen over and I was sitting there on Christmas Day fly fishing. And then ever since then, Missouri actually, a lot of people don't know this. Missouri actually has like a really great fishery, a trout fishery, because what it has is the ozark mountain range which is essentially the ozark plateau which gives like these really beautiful like spring fed creeks and there really wasn't like a obviously a natural population like at some point all of those were stocked and there's actually a pretty large trout fishing culture within kind of the park system that the Missouri department of conservation puts on and so like there are parks where it's like kind of you know stock but then the fish have been a naturally kind of reproducing fish and like there's so many beautiful rivers down here the jacks fork the current and niangua the north fork I mean the white the white river runs the border down there and the the type of fishing is really unique it's I wrote a story it's not really accurate one time, but it was called a yeehaw approach to fly fishing because it's in this really interesting culture, cultural area of Southern Missouri, Northern Arkansas. Um, and it's really the, the rivers down there, there's a variety of different rivers. And like, I used to live out in Colorado. So I fished all through there, you know, even up into Utah and then I lived out in the driftless area and fished there. And there's something about Missouri that the rivers here are really quite beautiful. And the other thing that a lot of people don't really know or think about is that like the eventuality that the world record brown trout is going to come out of Southern Missouri is very, very likely. There's a tailwater down there called Lake Tennycomo. And it's a, it's not really a lake. It's, you know, it's a tailwater fishery, but it's a pretty big body of water. And I think it was in 2019, one of the guys, Babler caught a 40 pound Brown down there. Um, I think like 10 years ago, 15 years ago, they actually found a dead world record. It was like a 44. And so like, I'm just like, I count the days until essentially, and hopefully it's still true that fishery is changing, but you know, I want people to know about Missouri as a fishery, but it's like, that's going to shake the world when the world record brown trout comes out of like this sleepy little town in Southern Missouri. Um, but it, it's pretty cool. And so ever since then I always was into fishing and I still am. And, and sadly I don't, you know, I don't fly fish as much as I used to. Um, but whenever I like talk to people about it, you know, I always say, you know, fly fishing for me is like, it's like an old friend, you know, you can, you always know you can pick up that phone and, and go out there. But I still probably three, four times a year, I make a trip. It's not being in Kansas city. The closest rivers are probably three. And then, you know, four or five depending hours away. And I've got a little six month old little girl now and, you know, bird dogs and stuff like that. So I don't get to as much as I, I, I used to, but I do love it. And there's something that's still just not to like wax poetic, but it's just like there's something still like I said to this day that's still magical about it
Katie
I don't remember who I was talking to recently I think it was one of the the SoFly crew guys and he talked about how he got invited down to Indiana to go fishing and was like pleasantly surprised or or maybe he didn't go but someone invited him down and he was just like wow you don't you don't think about some of these states that have like a really incredible fishery and then you you go there and you're like blown away and I think we were joking about how, you know, I don't, I'm happy living in Colorado. We've got great opportunities here, but sometimes I wish I lived in like a sleeper state where people, like millions of people weren't coming to live and to visit and to fly fish. Just because then I wouldn't have to worry about going out and like finding a place that other people aren't already fishing. So that sounds kind of nice to have a little bit of a sleeper state where you're not being overrun by people.
Rehan
Yeah, it's, you know, it is nice. And I mean, like, and that's not to say that nobody fly fish this year actually it does have a really healthy fly fishing culture but it's just one of those things where most people don't think about it and you know it's like there's other places where it's like you know kind of the driftless area like southeast Minnesota where it's like not a whole lot of people are like as a destination place but it is still like it's just fun to fish those things like walking through like you know essentially a pasture in a lot of those places and you're getting into it and they also have some other really cool you know terrain type fishing on that side. And in regard to like, you know, Colorado, it's interesting you say that because it's like, I, so I went to school out there for the fishing and it's like, I remember, and I won't, I won't mention the specific, you know, Creek river, but it's like, I used to skip class in the afternoon and bomb out to, a relatively close place, and fish because it was, it was small water and small fish and nobody, there were so many great rivers around there that nobody really fished it. And so it's like, you know, never would I see anybody out there. But that was like, I want to say, God, that's got to be coming on 14 years. That's quite a while. And like, I went back two years ago to that river. And it was like, it was just like shoulder to shoulder. I couldn't believe it. It was just so many people. And it really kind of rang true where it's like, A, you can never go home and B, you never step in the same river twice, I guess. Right?
Katie
Right. I've gotten very, very comfortable getting excited about smaller fish and smaller rivers just because I would take that and not see another person over big fish, but shoulder to shoulder any day. And because we do have a number of rivers here that you can catch really big fish, but I don't feel like fighting people for a spot. But I just have written a lot of them off and I just don't go there anymore. And so I've gotten comfortable just being like, look, I'm not going to catch anything bigger than 14 inches today. but that's fine. I've already accepted that before I go. And now I can just enjoy myself and I don't have to be shoulder to shoulder with people. I don't have to look for a parking spot. I can just roll up, fish for an hour or two, not see anybody and leave. And it's great. Like now that I've just accepted that. Yeah. That's what you got to look for.
Rehan
Well, and the other thing, like one of the things that I really did, what we don't have down here, our brown, or excuse me, our brook trout. And it's like, I, you know, it's like, I still think in Colorado, I did get out probably two years ago and did some kind of higher country brook trout fishing and that I think that's still an opportunity like there's still a lot of rivers there creeks that you can do that and I think that's totally correct where it's like if you you know it's either you know bigger I mean obviously for me well not obviously but for me like the ideal is big water small or big fish small water but obviously that's a rarity and if you're going into it saying hey listen I know what I'm fishing here and I know what I'm getting into and you're kind of saying I want to work on these technical aspects I need to improve on this this and this and go into it and just kind of enjoy it yeah I mean I think that that's you can a learn a lot but then b just enjoy the experience so much with it but yeah that we don't have brook trout here I do really wish that were the case but
Katie
I was going to ask what what else do you have you mentioned the giant brown trout but I assume you probably have a decent warm water fishery too which is something that I feel like we kind of lack here there is some down in the Denver area but not the same way that there is in the midwest for sure or the east coast so what what other species do you have to target
Rehan
you can really do I mean obviously fly fishing you can really do anything you'd want if you're not kind of down in the ozark range like the bass fishing the largemouth bass fishing up around here is really great obviously pan fishing kind of light light tackle is great as well really kind of a really a fish that people like have you ever fished smallies that's what I grew up with yeah so it's like I remember the first time I caught a smallie and I was like this is it I finally I got my 30 inch trout here that I've always been looking for and it turned out to be an 18 inch smallie and I was like my god like what have I been missing this whole time like you know so with that the the smallie is a native down here and it actually is the fishery for smallies is really great and people fish that on the fly as well and what's kind of cool is like there are some rivers where you know the spring will feed and you'll have trout in certain sections and then it blends into smallies so it's like if you do a proper drift you can get that get that going so yeah it is really cool and like I said it's always just kind of that southern Missouri side of it is just kind of a it is interesting and like and like I said check out like you know of a jacks fork and north fork you know the white runs in Arkansas and all of those ones I mean those ones they're like a lot of people would say like they're comparable to like I had a good friend that he was actually a Montana guy for a while and then he moved here and he was like man I'd put some of these rivers up against Montana rivers any day and one of the things too there's it's it's different but it's it is really cool
Katie
yeah I think since starting this show I've added about 10 locations that I would have never thought of for fishing onto my list of, okay, if I, if I end up there, like if I'm going to, it's not unlikely that I'd end up in a lot of these places for a wedding or something, where you just find yourself in a place and normally you, it wouldn't even cross your mind to like, maybe I should pack a rod. But, now I've got all these places listed. Like, yeah, next time I find myself there, I should, I should do a little searching around and see if I can get out for a day. Cause, yeah, like we were saying, It's just these sleeper states and then you go out and you're just like blown away by what is actually offered there.
Rehan
Yeah. And, you know, it's the same thing. And like I said, I'm kind of in the background as well as hunting and bird hunting, upland hunting and other hunting. But I kind of think it's true. I mean, it's with both of those. When you are putting yourself in places and terrains and areas that you're not familiar with, that's I think you're really improving your skill set. And it's kind of like, I always said this theory, and I don't know if it's right or not. Maybe I'm just kind of a crackpot. But it's like, you can kind of tell where people grew up fishing based on their cast a lot of times. And like here, you know, it's a lot of the rivers. It's a lot of overgrowth. So you're having to do really kind of tighter technical casting as opposed to bigger, longer casting with more open, you know, open casting styles. and so within that I think that you kind of learn you you adjust and you adapt to that type of stuff as well when you're when you're trying new places but again that's just kind of my theory that I don't know I've never never really run it past too many people
Katie
well I think that's an argument for uh like getting outside your comfort zone because I I'm sure you're right that there's people who can only like cast 60 feet at a time and are really uncomfortable trying to just like dap a fly on the water and there's other people who probably can't even do a false cast because they've never had to and like roll casting is all they're they're able to do and I think kind of putting yourself in diverse situations to to force yourself into trying new techniques it like it would make you a better a more well-rounded angler by doing that yeah and please talk to somebody who's way better at fly fishing than me I thought you were here to give us all the answers
Rehan
no not at all not at all whatsoever but what answers I can give you I will I will give you on that side
Katie
well I'm guessing oh go ahead
Rehan
well I was gonna say it's like how is I mean like you mentioned it's like shoulder shoulder like without giving up spots like oh actually I do have a question for you I haven't fished like one of the rivers I fished forever was the Thompson like and I haven't been out there and that place just holds like a kind of a special place for me like how is it fishing now
Katie
when you say the Thompson do you mean the big Thompson in Colorado the big T?
Rehan
yeah
Katie
I have not fished it in probably five years so I don't know I feel like I'd be giving you a answer if I told you. But I used to fish it. That was actually probably the first river I ever fished. Fly fished. Because I got my start fly fishing up in Estes Park. So that's, I started on a bunch of lakes up there. And then once I got comfortable with rivers, that's where I was. And I remember it. It's hard because I remember it from when I was getting started. So I would get frustrated on it a lot. But I'm guessing that today I would do a lot better than I did when I first started fishing it. But no, I can't honestly tell you how it's been fishing since I haven't been up there.
Rehan
Okay. I was there. So back when I was in, I fished that river a lot, but I actually happened to be there when the massive floods were there. And that was probably seven, I don't know how far back it was. I think it was 2013. 2013. Yeah. That sounds about right. Time passes, doesn't it? And I just have always kind of like, I haven't gotten back to fish it. So it's like, just tell me it's fishing fantastic and it's back to like where it once was, I guess.
Katie
I still have a bunch of friends who work up there over the summer and I haven't heard anything negative regarding the floods since then. So I think it's probably at least recovering decently well. I will say I remember seeing it. So I was I was up there in the years surrounding that flood, but I took a year off because I was studying abroad during that summer. I think it happened in the fall, but I was gone that year. and I remember seeing a photo from someone after those floods fishing right below the dam and they caught like a 30 inch brown trout right below the dam and I don't I don't remember how it was speculated that it got there like maybe it got washed in from the reservoir or what but it was it was like right after the floods hit like weeks after the floods hit a huge brown trout was pulled out right below the dam
Rehan
awesome yeah that's right below the dam so it's good yeah well so there's
Katie
That fish might still be out there somewhere.
Rehan
You know, God willing, the creek don't rise, I guess, right?
Katie
Did you do your fishing up in the meadows, up in the park, or were you more down in the canyon?
Rehan
No, I fished in the park a few times, but it was kind of more down in the canyon.
Katie
Okay, that's what I assumed when you said it for some reason, but I was thinking back, and actually I have seen quite a few nice pictures from up in the meadows recently, so I know that section is at least fishing pretty well.
Rehan
Yeah, no, it was pretty much just down in the canyon. Snuck up, yeah, but I don't know. Like I said, everybody has a river that they just like thinking about when things get slow.
Katie
Right, right. I can see that one being a good one to look back on.
Rehan
I guess looking back on one of them, I remember I was fishing the green one time. And I guess this will describe the fishing in Missouri where my buddy and I, it was just like gale force winds. We picked the wrong time to go. It was like gale force winds and freezing and cold. And we actually had to shelter under like an enclave. I was sitting there just like chattering. And I just looked at my buddy and I was like, Mark, I just wish I were back in the Ozarks on a lazy, lazy Missouri stream with the sun beating down on me right now. But so.
Katie
Well, yeah, you can't have the peaks without the valleys, right?
Rehan
Right.
Katie
Well, I think we could probably talk about fishing for the next hour or so.
Rehan
Do you want to?
Katie
I'd be happy. I would. But actually, the reason I had you on is that you work for Garmin. And I've been thinking about trying to find somebody to come on to talk about just satellite devices in general, because I went far too long, I would say, going into the backcountry, often by myself, not in cell phone service, probably making stupid decisions that could have gotten me stuck out there without or before I started carrying something that could actually save my life if needed. So I was like, maybe this would be a good topic for other people to consider as well if they making the same stupid decisions I was. So you're mostly here to talk about Garmin products, I think specifically the in-reach in regards to backcountry safety. And I guess a good place to start would just be, how did you go, or how'd you get hooked up with Garmin? Because you said before we started that you had a background in conservation, like hunting conservation organization. So how'd you get hooked up with Garmin?
Rehan
Yeah, so my background kind of mentioned has always been the outdoors. and I worked for I started in conservation in an organization called pheasants forever and quail forever which is a you know grasslands conservation organization and actually what's really funny I think they were not funny but interesting is the streamside buffers that a lot of what they do acts in I think is used in trout areas now because the the native grasses there act as such great filtration systems that it really cleans up waterways. But so I worked for them for a few years doing PR. And then I kind of made it back home to Missouri. And I worked in the capital of Missouri for an organization, nonprofit organization called the Conservation Federation of Missouri. And that was just to kind of educate people. Missouri is a really unique conservation state, a political conservation system and dedicated funding. And so the natural resources here are really, really robust. and the department really takes care of them. And so it was really educating people on what Missouri has to offer, which is why I always like singing Missouri's praises. But during kind of that whole time, I ran dogs, and I got into it because of the dog tracking with my, I've got an Irish setter named Annie, and it was always one of those things where, especially in upland hunting, you really have to have complete faith in what you're using. And I always used Garmin on that stuff. And so I guess I just kind of bugged them enough that eventually they gave me a job. And I'm really fortunate that I get to talk about the products that I love. And so with that, when you look at Garmin, like it was founded actually here in Kansas City, you know, in 89, I believe. And a fun fact, it was Gary Varel and then Menkau were the two founders. And that's how you get the name Garmin. And it's the combination of their two first names. Yeah. And in regard to satellite communication devices, I actually didn't use those prior to Garmin. But once I really started here and I started using them, I like yourself, like I was just like, my goodness, like, I don't know why I didn't start this years ago. Because I think that like, and for listeners, what we're talking about with the satellite communication devices, Garmin has a series of products called InReach. And what it is, is it's a two-way SMS, SOS device. So text and emergency communication that operates on something called the Iridium Satellite Service. And the Iridium Satellite Service is different than like your cell, you know, cell service. And so when you don't have cell phone coverage, it has that ability to you can keep in contact with people through text messages and a lot of other features functionality within it. But just for the moment, say, you know, text communication, two way and then SOS. And one of the things I always kind of tell people is, I remember back when I'm going out by myself. When I was younger, I would leave a note on the kitchen table and say, hey, I'm going here. I should be back by Sunday at 7 p.m. If you don't hear from me by 9, call my brother and the police. That's what we used to have to do. And by the nature of, of the outdoors, you know, if you look at anything that we do in the outdoors, there's an inherent danger with it. And especially like, like thinking about this podcast, like I think about all the dumb things that I did, like even fly fishing, you know, like I was notorious, like my buddies always made funny. I was notorious for always like slipping and like falling on rocks and falling in the river. And it's like, you know, I used to do a lot of winter fishing back when I was in Colorado. If I like one of my buddies would go skiing, I'd be like, hey, just drop me off here and pick me back up in seven hours and you'd go out. And it's like the inherent danger and not to be that, but it's something I think about now with everything that we do outdoors is present. And the thing that I've really learned is that nobody wakes up in the morning thinking that they're going to have an emergency in the afternoon. And that's why inReach is so critical, I think, to really have with you. From the emergency and to getting back to the texting and the SOS functionality, on every one of the Garmin inReach devices, there's a little button that it's got a housing, you can open it up. And should you have an emergency, you can hit that button. And it sends out a message to something called the Garmin International Emergency Response Coordination Center. And when that happens, that message, they'll send a message to you. But what they do is they work with local authorities around the world to kind of say, you know, if there's emergency in this area, you know, you're the person to get to and to get those individuals. So if you hit that button, let's say you fall and you break your leg, you can hit that button. The IRCC will communicate with you. You know, what's your emergency? And if you're not able to respond, I should also say where they will enact after, you know, 30 seconds, the message gets sent and they will interact. But if you cannot interact with them via message, they will proceed with the next stages of that. Hey, we need to coordinate here. And then they will coordinate with you. whatever the local authority may be to kind of coordinate assistance. And then they will also coordinate with the emergency contacts that you have within that device, stored within the device. And so that way there's kind of a three-point system to make sure that you're getting assistance when you need it. And I feel like I just rambled quite a bit, so I'm going to stop and pause and say, hey, do you have any questions?
Katie
That's fine. And I think we'll probably end up covering that a little bit again because I kind of want to go through later a step-by-step of like what happens when you when you have an emergency but I think it's important something you kind of touched on there just backing up a little bit about how you you don't wake up thinking that you're going to have an emergency later that day and emergencies could happen anywhere like you could be driving to get your hair cut and you have an emergency but I think something that's a little bit different just in the backcountry besides lack of cell phone service but the the odds that someone's going to come across you are just so much slower. Like I'm not that worried if I get a flat tire on the way to, you know, the grocery store, like someone's going to pass by. And if I don't, if I can't help myself and someone can help me. And when you're, when you're out, let's say fishing, I think a lot of people think, you know, this isn't, there's, there's a lot of people that like turn fly fishing into like an extreme sport and don't get me wrong. I like, I like pushing myself and trying to get way far out there and make it kind of a physical endeavor as well. But at the end of the day, I mean, fly fishing is kind of mild compared to a lot of outdoor sports. But it could just be something as simple as like you slip and fall and break your leg like that. Right. It could it could be something really, really minor in the grand scheme of things, but just that prevents you from telling somebody and getting out.
Rehan
Yeah. So, I mean, we talk about emergencies in different capacities, but in relationship to the Garmin inReach. But you're correct where it may not be as extreme as other things, but it's like it's still you still do have that element of danger of like, especially if you're out by yourself. I used to fish a lot just by myself. And it's like if you don't have anybody else there in your backcountry, it's like, like I said, who's going to come and get you on that side?
Katie
So I don't know what's going on back here.
Rehan
Yeah. That's my daughter. Can you give me one minute?
Katie
Yeah, no problem.
Rehan
All right. I'll be right back. so sorry about that
Katie
no problem, what was she doing chopping down a tree or what?
Rehan
it sounds like it doesn't know she had a little rattle and so she's banging it on the floor but anyways yeah no so there's the emergency aspect of it too but you know most times people aren't gonna press that button you know hopefully you never have to press that button and that's what's so great about inReach as well is that it's a communication device where it's just to be able to like and it's two-way communication device so it's just to be able to reach out and say hey it's gonna be home a little late so people at home don't worry you know after a long kind of if you are in the backcountry and you're you know spending a few days there like being able to like sit in your tent in a sleeping bag after like a cold long day it's like being able to reach out to home and just say, Hey, like tell the kids good night or like, you know, those are those things where I kind of think there's, you know, in, especially when it comes to things like fly fishing, where there are two types of technology, I think in the outdoors, there's technology that hampers an outdoor experience and there's technology that enhances an outdoor experience. So it's like the example I give, it's like if, you know, my nephew's on a, on his fun playing games while we're out hunting or what have you that's technology hampering outdoor experience but technology like in reach that allows you to stay safer and stay in contact with people you care about that's enhancing that outdoor experience and so that's why like I said there's the emergency side of it but there's also just like the ability to like we have that technology now to be able to stay in contact even when you're in the middle of nowhere it's like I like to say it's like take your friends and family with you even when you're alone you know and what's really cool there's you can set it up that and there's I think of it as a dual purpose where you can set up tracking on it on inReach devices so you can share and you can share where your location is and people can actually watch you like on a map where you're going and stuff like that and that's nice because there's the reassurance and people get to, you know, people back home get to follow along with you. But then there's also that side of it that if you're moving, you're supposed to be moving. Great. Um, but if you're not moving and you're supposed to be moving, people can reach out to you and say, Hey, you know, is everything all right? Are you doing okay? Or do you need help? And you can just send a quick message back. Yep. Doing great. Sorry. Just eating lunch right out. And then the other thing too, that a lot of people don't think about with that is everything can be fine when you're in the back country and you can be fine. But if somebody back home needs to get ahold of you in an emergency situation or just because, and you don't have cell service, that can create real problems. And so, like I said, it's people can reach out to you as well. So there's a lot to it from the communication side of it.
Katie
I'm really glad you brought this up because this, I think, is something that often gets overlooked with devices like this. Because I think people think of them as an SOS device. And at the end of the day, I'm trying to do, even owning one myself, I'm doing everything in my power to not press that button. Even if I'm in a terrible situation. Like I would call a friend or my partner and say, hey, like I can't walk. Come bring me some crutches and we're getting out of here. Like before I would press that SOS button, assuming that my life isn't in danger. And like you said, just being able to communicate, even if it's just like, hey, I'm fine. Good night. I like what you mentioned about hampering versus enhancing an outdoor experience, because I I was talking to somebody else about this recently that I like being at a cell phone service. It's fun to feel like you're disconnected, to not feel the need to check your email and constantly be on the grid. But I like the ability to contact someone if needed. And the contact, like the SMS contact via the inReach is slow enough that you don't find yourself glued to it. There's not like, oh, I'm going to have a back and forth conversation for an hour with somebody and we're just going to talk about whatever. Because the messages are, even with the Bluetooth app, they're difficult enough to type out. You're limited in characters. They take a while to send. It's not something that you just hang out and do. You want to have a reason to send something. So it doesn't really distract you in the same way that having the ability to text somebody with full cell phone service does, where you might just start sending casual text messages and kind of get lost in your phone. It makes it a little bit more deliberate, I think, when you contact somebody, which is like the perfect amount of communication.
Rehan
Yeah. And that's a really good way to kind of describe it. Actually, I really like that. And with that, and by the way, for people who are unfamiliar with the inReach devices, you can pair them into your cell phone as well. And you can use apps that are provided. So EarthMaker Explorer app and actually use your cell phone to type messages and stuff like that. And then it tethers back to your inReach device and then sends the message. And, you know, the message of the lay, obviously, we're trying to get that as short as possible. And it does take a little bit longer than just like an instant cell phone. But it's relatively, you know what I mean, still quick enough. But to hit your point, yeah, that is kind of a nice thing with it. The other side of it, or just another part of it, is I've never had to hit the button. But I've gotten myself into situations that weren't good, and they were unexpected and unplanned. And I remember in one instance thinking, you know, I don't need to hit that button, and I don't need to reach out to anybody at the moment. But there's a certain comfort fact to say when you're in a situation that is not good, you need to deal with problem one, two, and three. And so for me, it's like knowing that I've got that SOS and knowing that I can reach out to people if I need it allows me to focus more on something at hand, the immediacy at hand.
Katie
Like remaining calm there is going to be valuable.
Rehan
That's exactly what it is, is to be able to work through different problems in a given situation. Now, that said, one of the things that we always say is if you need to hit that button, don't wait. You know what I mean? It's easier to stop emergency services than to theoretically start it. And one of the things is we just don't want people to wait too long for that because it can, you know, how far you're in the backcountry, what's the closest locate, like major city where, you know, those things all, there's a whole bunch of different variables that go into it. So if you do find yourself using an inReach and you feel you need to hit that button, don't wait, you know, you can communicate with people on that side.
Katie
What other features, and this is kind of a rhetorical question for myself because I know what I've used it for, but tell me what other features the inReach has. Because so far we've talked about texting and SOS. I think we'll kind of wrap up with SOS and how that works since that's kind of the bread and butter of it. But I know I've also gotten weather alerts and things like that. So what other functionality does it have? And also maybe just cover the difference between the inReach and the inReach Mini because I've only had experience with the Mini. So I only know what functionality that has, and I'm not sure what the full inReach can do.
Rehan
Yeah, so first let's kind of talk a little bit about some of the different units that we got. There's the Garmin Explorer Plus. That's one of the older ones. And I think it was 2018, the inReach Mini came out. And for fly fishing, I think that's one of my favorite units. We actually just came out with the inReach Mini 2 here about a month and a half ago. Oh, really? I didn't know that. Yeah, yeah. And for listeners, the inReach Mini, it truly is a mini device. It's a palm size, you know, I think it's, jeez, about a few. It's just like, I'm messing up. Give me one second. 3.5 ounces, and it's just under four inches by two inches. So it's something you can clip on your pack and just go super, super simple, light, fast, far. And so the Mini was launched in 2018. There's the Garmin GPS Map 66i, which is a little bit larger. It was, you know, the GPS map series was Garmin's kind of flagship handheld, you know, GPS unit. And then it incorporated the InReach technology. So that one's got more robust mapping in it, you know, and other features on that side. There's the Montana series, which is Montana 750i, which is a larger one that people use for ATV, UTV. but still can be used as kind of a handheld navigator. And then, like I said, the inReach Mini 2. So those are kind of some of the other ones. And for people who are thinking about getting an inReach, I would really kind of recommend checking out the inReach Mini 2. So in addition to on that one, since you don't, well, what I'll say with that one is, is actually there have been, while that doesn't have the robust mapping on device like you'd find in a 66i or a Montana, there are new navigation features put into it. One of them that I really like is it has a passive track back to it. So from the moment you turn that device on, it is passively storing your route. And then should you ever need to get back to the trailhead or get your way back out, you can actually just hit the track back and it will guide you on screen.
Katie
Oh, that's nice.
Rehan
Yeah, I know. Yeah, it's really nice. I've always loved the track back feature with that one and the battery life on that one is it's two weeks now and 10 minute track mode. Right. So, wow. Yeah, I know. So it's I think that's tripling from the original mini or thereabouts. And also just another interesting thing for people is that GPS is a you can customize your track interval. So, but the default is a 10 minute track. So every 10 minutes it's dropping a point. But the faster you set that, the more battery consumptive it's going to be. And then if you bump that down to like a 30 minute track mode, you can get actually up to 30 days. But within that one, you know, it's got the track back routing. It's got digital compass on it. So a compass, even when you're stationary, the battery life's really pretty huge on it. It's got in-reach weather forecast. It does, you know, it's compatible with the Garmin Explorer app. And then I mentioned compatibility. It actually, something I like telling people as well is that Garmin has something called the ecosystem, which is that products work together with one another. And so something that I do often is pair my inReach device to one of my watches, one of the Garmin watches, and you can actually, you know, use the messaging features directly off your watch. But then should you ever be in the instance where you cannot reach your inReach and you need to trigger an SOS, you can actually trigger it directly off of your watch.
Katie
Does that work with all Garmin watches? Because I have a Garmin watch, but mine is more of a fitness-based one than an adventure-based one. And I'm not sure if that matters.
Rehan
Actually, I would have to check on the specific one you have. And actually, you can look at the compatible products on the product page there. Okay. And it will show you on that side. With that, kind of expanding a little bit further on the mini's stuff, is that now it's compatible with the Garmin Explorer app, which is kind of the all-in-one. So you can do, when that's paired into it, you can get really the robust mapping directly off of your phone within that app. You can plan store routes and kind of customize trips a little bit more. And so it's a really expandable to adaptable unit that's got a lot. Like I said, I call it the Mighty Mouse unit.
Katie
Yeah, I'm a big fan of the mini and I don't tend to use it much for the actual GPS functionality just because, you know, I feel like most hunters, at least, and probably a lot of fishermen too, have some sort of like mapping app that they use like OnX or whatever. And that's like quick and easy to use. But I have used the Garmin. I use the Garmin location or GPS feature a lot to just send my location to people because that, you know, I can't do that if I don't have cell phone service on these other apps. So I tend to use the other apps more for actually like viewing where I am, planning where I'm going to go, stuff like that. But having the ability to send my location or track my location from the device, even if I'm not really like looking at it, it's just like, hey, here's my campsite. Like meet me tomorrow or something like that. That's really easy. Kind of like a one button tap to send your location to whoever you want in your contacts, which is really nice.
Rehan
Yeah, that is. I mean, like, and I got to say, you should really check out the maps. And I think with Minio is using the EarthMate. The Explorer uses a different one is that starting, I think, with the 66i, it was the app was the Explorer app. But, you know, Garmin were pretty good at maps. Right. And the other thing, you know, and then the other side of it is EnReach actually was EnReach. It was Delorme, which actually did all the old atlases and stuff like that. So their mapping capability. So you don't overlook it and really kind of try playing around. with that one because the mapping is really great and that's one of the things with the explorer active worked really hard on so it is don't don't undersell it
Katie
I guess I had a mapping app before I had my inreach so I'd already had like a established system so I kind of had like no reason to switch but I feel like I have used I have used the app for texting I've seen like I've I've been able to see my location on there and stuff. So not to undersell it, but I just haven't used it. And the fact that the device itself is not super, like the mini specifically, it's not like you're looking at the device and seeing yourself on the device. It would be paired to the phone. But the device itself is not super map heavy. It's more of a communication device that could also be communicating with your phone to show yourself on a map there.
Rehan
Yeah. And so that's the thing with it. people are always like, well, what's the best in reach device for me? And it's like, I was just like, well, let's sit down and like, let's talk about what you like doing and what you really need. And that's what I think all of the different in reach units, they're also versatile and adaptable and they have those core features that, that you need and want. But if it's something you can really drill into, like, here's really what I like and what I like doing. And, you know, I'm going to place emphasis a lot more on mapping, for example, and other features within that, as opposed to I want a device that weighs 3.5 ounces, which is the Mini and the Mini 2 do. So it's really just kind of what it is that you're looking for, how you experience the outdoors and how you really relate to them and what an inReach device is going to be for you. I should also mention that, you know, the inReach devices, the way they work is through a subscription plan. So it's kind of like a sell plan in that sense. However, Garmin's unique in that it does month to month. So let's say you only fish during the summer months. You can say, well, I'm going to you only pay for three months. You can pay for one month if you want. and it starts at, you know, the plans, they're as low as $11.95 a month, depending on how you want to use it. And I always say, it's like, man, like $12 is like the cost of a gas station lunch these days. And so it's like to have that peace of mind of, you know, always knowing that I think it's a really great investment.
Katie
Like how much is your safety worth? Definitely more than $12 a month.
Rehan
I mean, mine is. So, yeah, so that's that.
Katie
Yeah, we really liked that feature. And I'm sure some people, the annual would make more sense for us. We have done the month to month, you know, the month of like April, for example. Like this month, we're not really doing anything super crazy that needs the in reach. But all summer, all fall. And sometimes during the winter, when we go backcountry skiing, we've thought about turning it on too.
Rehan
Oh, yeah. You should really use it for that one. And I like I joke, it's like, man, I don't go off my front porch without one of those. I just, you know, and especially the mini, the mini is actually great just to throw in, you know, throw in your car and, you know, a glove box if you want to keep it on. Like people know some people in like the mini, too. I know it's that you can keep it charged, you know, you charge it and then if it can remain charged for up to a year turned off, you know, so it's a great thing. like especially in Colorado winter and stuff like that as part of a car kit and stuff like that.
Katie
Yeah. And we had talked about that because I was there when we first got it, I was like, well, you know, we don't I don't need to take it. I'm not doing like a I think the situation that specifically came up was that I was going to drive around and just scout out some spots that we might want to hunt. So I was not really like leaving the car. I was just kind of driving around looking for where we could park and stuff. And I was like, well, you know, I'm not I'm not like hiking out in the middle of nowhere. I'm just driving around. But then I was like, well, but I won't have cell service? Why not take it? If we've already paid for the month, why not take it along? So if something does come up, maybe I just get stuck. Maybe I get the truck stuck. That way I could at least text someone and say, hey, I'm stuck. I'm not in an emergency, but I need some help. And if I didn't have cell service or a way to contact somebody, that situation would be really, really annoying. Even if it's not dangerous, it'd just be a real hassle to be stuck out there, need someone to pull me out and not have the ability to tell somebody that. So why not just throw it in the car so I have the ability to have cell phone service basically wherever I go?
Rehan
yeah and the other thing we kind of touched on it but the in regard to some people don't want to use you know some people getting the outdoors to get away from technology get away from computers and emails I think in reach is a little bit unique and all like I think all of garmin's outdoor products as well is that you and you mentioned this but it's like you choose how much you want to engage with that piece of technology. But with inReach, in my opinion, it's just critical that it's there. The inReach Mini 2, it weighs 3.5 ounces. You clip it onto your pack. You don't ever have to use it if you don't want to, but it's there if you need it. And that's kind of the critical side of it.
Katie
Well, I think an important part of that is that you could choose to not use your phone that has like full LTE and full cell phone coverage too. But a lot of things on that device are really designed to keep your attention held to them. Like it's hard to not check your email if you hear a ding come through, or it's hard to like not check, you know, social media or whatever. Cause they're designed to really suck you in. And the inReach isn't like, it's not an engagement platform. It's not like there to be like, Hey, we really want to suck up like four hours of your day every time. Like it's, it's got, it's got a different purpose. So you could always choose not to use technology but the difference is that other technology is designed to really really tempt you to use it whereas the inreach is there for it's like if you have a problem I'm happy to take to take care of it but I'm not here to like grab your attention all day long
Rehan
yeah I don't I don't like the report my phone gives me reports of like your weekly screen time I'm like oh no but yeah just you ask kind of about some of the other stuff like when you or some of the other features, but it's like, you know, 66i, it's got flashlight, battery life's going to vary on all of them, depending on what you want. Like we talked about weather, location sharing, SOS alerts, trails, so you can kind of see what people, like the, you know, hiking, cycling, and other trails that are popular. Preloaded topo maps, you can get bird's eye satellite imagery. It's got full ABC sensors, multi-GSS support. so there's a lot more to it and it's again it's that how far do you want to engage with it and what you need
Katie
right and I think maybe a good place to to wrap up since we did spend so much time talking about the non-sos features which I do think are the bulk of you know what people are going to use most of the time you go out you're not going to have to press the sos button but at the end of the day the the really good thing about it that can give you peace of mind is that if you if you fall off a cliff and are like completely incapacitated but can reach this device, you can call for help from professionals, not just texting your friends saying, I need help. When you go to press that button, what happens? What does the device do? Do you have a chance to say, never mind, I didn't mean to hit it? And what steps are taken after that?
Rehan
Yeah, no problem. So when you open up the flap on the side of it and you press the SOS, it's going to give you 30 seconds. And during that time, you can cancel it. And then after that point, it will send a message to the Garmin International Emergency Response Coordination Center, and they will coordinate back with you with a message to say, hey, what's going on? And like I mentioned, I think earlier, that's a twofold thing. One, to see if that you are fully incapacitated or if you can engage with them and they'll remain in contact with you because they'll try to figure out what's going on. What's the emergency? Is this medical? Are you lost? What's going on? Because that will help kind of dictate what assistance is being coordinated on that side. And I think, as I mentioned earlier, if you don't respond to that message, that will, after the 30 seconds and they message you, it will, that motion, it's in motion. During any of that time, you can cancel it. You can let them know, hey, we've worked everything out. It's all right. But like I said, it's just important that if you're in an emergency situation, you think you need to hit that button to hit it because you can know it's canceled on the back end of it. The second part of that is that, and this is all kind of happening simultaneously and 24-7, is that they are going to get in contact with whatever local authority would be appropriate for that area to offer assistance. That can be, you know, local sheriffs, search and rescue, what have you, throughout the world. And then the third part of that is that when you set up your inReach, you're setting it up for you. And so you can say, I want to, you know, here are my emergency contacts. And they will send another message to the emergency contact saying, hey, an SOS has been triggered for this individual. You're the emergency contact. And the purpose of that is to let your emergency contacts know, but then also if they can provide any other information or assistance that may help with, you know, the assistance of that individual who's triggered that as well. And within that, those are kind of the three parts that are going to happen through the Garmin IARCC. They'll remain in contact with you as local authorities are going to come to your spot. And it also sends the GPS coordinate so that people are aware. And you can trigger it actually for somebody else. So if you're with a friend and that friend has an accident, you can trigger it for that individual.
Katie
Okay, that's good to know. I was going to ask that. And is it a subscription for you or is it for anybody?
Rehan
Yeah. So in that situation, it would be for the person who needs assistance. So if you triggered it for your friend, it would not, the cost of that would be not for you. That would be for your friend.
Katie
Good to know. And something I wanted to clarify based on what you said, you've got, when you press the button, you've got 30 seconds to cancel it. And so if you cancel on that time, I assume that like no signal even gets sent out. Like no one ever hears from you, but then you still have the chance to cancel it once you've gotten it started. Like say you press it, you've been in contact with them for half an hour, but then you get your situation resolved. You can still cancel at that point. It's just kind of a different kind of canceling because they've heard from you and you're telling them you're okay versus saying like, oops, I didn't mean to press the button. Like don't even send for help.
Rehan
Yeah. With it, since you're communicating with the IRCC and they're communicating with, you know, it's like you can say, hey, we've resolved the issue on that side and they will put the stop to that.
Katie
Good to know. And you said this is international, right? Like you can do this, you know, if I go up to Canada, I can still press the button and get help?
Rehan
Yep. With it, it's always kind of, there are some countries that the Iridium Satellite Service is controlled, you know what I mean? There are certain restrictions within certain countries. So we always say wherever you're going, please just make sure that Iridium is okay to use within that country. But yeah, if you're going up to Canada on that side, absolutely.
Katie
I would actually love to go to Canada this summer. So I'll let you know.
Rehan
But hopefully not press OSS or press SOS while you're there. 100% on that side. Cool.
Katie
Well, I think that's a pretty good overview. Is there anything else that you think is worth mentioning or any final thoughts about just satellite devices in general? Anything like that or anything that you think we should have covered regarding specifically Garmin devices?
Rehan
No, I really appreciate you having me on. One of the things that I just tell all the listeners is, you know, really check it out. You know, check it out because it is something that, you know, as a lifelong outdoors person, it's something that it's a critical piece of gear for me now. Like I said, I don't really go anywhere without it. And once you start using InReach, you kind of never want to stop using it. You find so much value in it. And so I'd say check it out at Garmin.com. You can go and we've got all of them listed there with all the features and everything like that. And I'm so sorry if you can hear my dog.
Katie
I can, but that's okay. I'm just lucky no one showed up to my door or mine would probably be going off too.
Rehan
Yeah. Well, that's, that's, that's what I know exactly which pup that is.
Katie
Well, maybe that's a good time to wrap up. I think he or she is saying it's, it's time for you to go back upstairs. So I really thank you so much for coming on and talking. It was, it was great to get a fellow fly fisherman to come talk about this because like I said, sometimes for the product stuff, I just get, you know, someone who's never actually spent time in the outdoors. So it's nice to talk to somebody who has firsthand experience and then also like the technical know-how. It's really nice to have both.
Rehan
Well, I sincerely appreciate it and really enjoy the conversation. So anytime, I'd be happy to talk about fishing or other Garmin products.
Katie
Yeah, maybe I'll reach out to you in the future just to talk fishing. We'll see.
Rehan
Sounds good.
Katie
All right. Thank you so much, Rehan.
Rehan
Thank you.
Katie
All right, guys. Thanks for listening. don't forget to head over to the website fishuntamed.com for all episodes and show notes and also please subscribe on your favorite podcasting app that'll get my episodes delivered straight to your phone and also if you have not yet please consider going over to Apple Podcasts and leaving a rating or review that's very helpful for me and I'd greatly appreciate it other than that thank you guys again for listening and I will be back in two weeks bye everybody
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