Review: SPOT Gen3 Satellite Messenger

I love hiking in all its forms – day hikes, multi-day hikes, easy, challenging – but the type of hiking that truly captures my imagination is unsupported hiking in wilderness areas. Complete disconnect from everyday life and an unparalleled closeness to nature.

However, wilderness hiking comes with a certain level of commitment – long distances from civilisation, often on difficult terrain and with little or no cell phone coverage. If something goes wrong that requires medical attention, help could be many, many hours away, especially if you first need to hike up a mountain to potentially find signal, or get to the nearest town. The guys from No Speed Limit found themselves in just such a scenario in the Fish River Canyon – read all about it here.

Enter the SPOT Gen3 Satellite Messenger: A pocket-sized GPS device that enables you, amongst other things, to send out emergency S.O.S. messages from anywhere, without the need for cell phone coverage.

Quick Specs

Weight: 114g with Lithium batteries (136g with its strap and carabiner)
Size: 8.72cm tall, 6.5cm wide and 2.54cm thick
Price: Approximately R3000 (at time of writing)

Features

All of these features are reliant on an active Service Plan.

Tracking: The SPOT Gen3 has a “set it and forget it” tracking button that tracks your GPS location every 5, 10, 30 or 60 minutes on the Basic service plan. Tracking intervals can be reduced to 2.5 minutes on the Extreme Tracking plan, useful for faster activities like mountain biking or trail running.

You can create a shared page where friends and family can view your movement in near real time. You can also save and share your trips, and download GPS data in GPX, CSV, or KML formats.

Check In: Send a pre-programmed message to let your contacts know you’re okay. The message includes your GPS coordinates — ideal for peace of mind on multi-day hikes without cell coverage.

Custom Message: Similar to the Check In function but with a different pre-set message and contact list.

Help/SPOT S.O.V (Save Our Vehicle): Alert your personal contacts that you need help in non-life-threatening situations like vehicle trouble.

S.O.S.: The most powerful feature — send your GPS coordinates directly to GEOS International Emergency Response Centre, which dispatches local rescue teams to your location. Reserved for life-threatening emergencies.

Build

The SPOT Gen3 is rugged, dustproof, and waterproof up to 1m for 30 minutes. It’s vibration and humidity rated and performs between -30°C and 60°C, at altitudes from -100m to +6500m. We tested it in light rain for hours with perfect functionality.

Ease of Use

After setup, the SPOT Gen3 is extremely simple to operate — power on, wait for GPS signal, and press the corresponding button. It includes a velcro strap and carabiner for clipping onto your pack, ensuring clear sky exposure for GPS signal.

It runs on four AAA batteries or can be powered via micro-USB. Since there’s no delivery confirmation, sending each message two to three times ensures delivery.

Value for Money

At around R3000, the SPOT Gen3 is cheaper than any other satellite messaging device. Service plans start from about $19.99 per month or $199.99 annually. Compared to satellite phones, it offers unbeatable value for basic emergency communication and GPS tracking.

Conclusion

Ease of use, peace of mind for friends and family, and the potential to save your life in an emergency make the SPOT Gen3 a must-have for anyone venturing beyond cell coverage.

Check out SPOT Africa’s webpage for a list of local retailers: https://africa.findmespot.com/en/locatearetailer/index.php

This SPOT Gen3 unit was supplied for review by SPOT Africa.