I carried a first generation SPOT during our trip last month from PP to Kawnipi and back.  It worked fine when it was out in the open (i.e. sitting on a rock).  But when I stored it in the pocket of my day pack the signal didn't go through.

I have been reading reviews of spot and they are really mixed. The bottom line seems to be everything is fine until you have to deal with customer service. Almost to a person they said they are rude, unreasonable and completely unhelpful.

I wonder if their perspective would change if people started calling up their credit card companies and started contesting the charges. The first thing that happens is the money in question gets yanked out of the merchants account until the case is resolved. That creates all sorts of accounting problems for the merchant.

Once I picked up a pair of sunglasses in a mall and then walked outside and decided I wanted a darker pair. I went back in to exchange them and the store told me all sales were final. Option A was to get loud and throw over some of their display racks and then the police would come etc. etc..... Option B is usually much more effective.....I called the store manager who gave me the same line and then I calmly but firmly told him the first thing I was going to do was to contest the charges. He quickly gave me a refund. He would of been much better off to give me an exchange.....I took that off the table as I perceived this company was not worth doing business with.  

intrepid_camper wrote on Sep 26^th, 2010 at 3:23am:


Indeed IC. Many who were seeking customer service were not satisfied with how the product worked right from the get-go.

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Check out the customer reviews at REI. I found this more or less true for other sites as well. Mixed opinions on the results and then poor customer service if you get stuck with a lemon. Rumor has it they offer replacement insurance for $20 extra per year. Might be money well spent.

I will likely take my chances as the benefits seem to out weigh the alternatives. Hopefully I will be one that sing its praises. Time will tell.

I did opt for the replacement insurance on my SPOT, mostly because I was concerned that my elderly father could lose it or drop it in the ocean.
I have a first generation SPOT and after it is able to send a message it stops blinking two lights and just blinks one.  If you watch it a while you can see it send the message...the lights stay on steady for a few seconds instead of blinking.  So far it has been very reliable except that it often cannot send a message if there are trees or brush between it and the open sky.  I have solved this by checking it after a period of time and if it still hasn't sent the message I put it in a different location which usually does the trick.
I used it once to call for HELP.  I returned to Moose Lake a day early and wanted my ride to know I was ready to come home...it concerned my son Dan who was monitoring my signals, until he realized it was coming from the canoe landing and that I probably wanted a ride. 

Preacher wrote on Sep 27^th, 2010 at 4:45pm:

That's the reason I take one.  I'm usually out for about 2 weeks and my wife gets a bit nervous when I'm out of touch for that long.  In addition, I occasionally go solo.

I've used (a gen 1) SPOT for the past two seasons and over approximately 50 nightly transmissions, I can only remember 2 that didn't get through (and those were probably my fault because of impatience).  I used to watch the unit until I confirmed the first message was sent and then turned the unit off.  Now, I turn the unit on and let it send redundant signals (it actually sends 3 which are edited down to 1 by the SPOT service).  Before I walk away, I confirm that the OK and power lights are blinking in unison (alternate blinking means lack of a clear signal) and walk away for about a half hour. When only the power button is blinking, it has sent 3 signals.  Needless to say, I pick a spot (point, front of campsite, etc. where there is abundant clear sky (south is usually a bit better because the unit can reach more satellites ... northern only is probably the worst ... for the opposite reason).

My last trip:  100% success on messages sent.

The season before, I did use a sat phone.  I didn't care for the bulk and for a 2-week trip I also had to take along a solar charter ... another somewhat bulky item since it also contain C-sized rechargeable batteries.

dd