Comments on: SPOT Satellite Messenger Review for Backcountry Sking and Ski Mountaineering

By: Disappointed

Disappointed — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 04:05:19 +0000

Horrible customer service. I’ve spent months trying to get my 50 f……..dollar rebate. I am on a mission now to get REI to quit selling The Spot. Unreliable piece of s****.

By: Mike

Mike — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 05:43:31 +0000

Glad you got it to work. I bought it at West Marine but couldn’t get their web site to work to set up my account. Phoned in and no one there. If I can’t get the setup to work properly how can I trust the thing?

I took it back to West Marine.

By: Lou

Lou — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 17:46:51 +0000

We’ve got quite a bit of real world experience with SPOT in our group of friends and acquaintances. Biggest problem was the old ones getting triggered accidentally and calling in an emergency. New ones have better buttons. Have foiund that in some situations (dense trees, canyons) it can take a while for it to catch a satellite. Have had no problems registering, though once you do it’s easy to forget what email you used and end up having your OK messages going into byte heaven.

William’s experience sounds frustrating, but yeah, any of this stuff is best to get going with some lead time to work out bugs, test, etc. No electronic comm device works perfectly in the backcountry. Satphones, ham radios, they all have their limits and require practice and knowledge of just how to use, not to mention preparation such as making sure one has the correct phone numbers, radio freqs, that sort of thing.

My biggest problem with SPOT is that it’s so limited as to 2-way communication, and in a real rescue situation being able to talk to the SAR folks is gold.

Lou

By: Scott

Scott — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 16:59:07 +0000

Although I’ve never personally used a SPOT, I’ve backcountry skied quite a few days (in the west central Colorado area)with those who have, and it seems to always work, at least for sending an “I’m okay” message. I always thought the SPOT was designed with ease of use in mind, but maybe there is some kind of fiddle factor learning curve with it, kind of like Dynafits? I don’t know.

Personally, I think relying on all these electronic gadgets can be dangerous, and better is to be prepared to be out in the wilderness, have good backcountry skills, and use common sense. That being said, it does seem from a lot of testimonials that things like SPOT do work, but would I be willing to stake my life on it…probably not. Yet, still seems like it could be just one more thing to add to the layers of safety you might carry around in your pack. And I’d be comfortable having it for that purpose.

Maybe some others with first hand, real world experience with the SPOT will share some stories here.

By: william slusher

william slusher — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 16:35:36 +0000

I cannot recommend SPOT. It is over hyped, overly complicated, unreliable and service help from SPOT is limited to a useless, days-waiting email response. No 800# operator is available for an ‘emergency’ help device. Go figure.

I’ve just tried to ‘log on’ and it’s now telling me that my “activation code is invalid” even though I’m entering it verbatim from the inside of the battaery compartment, as instructed. Rechecked and rechecked. Now we propose a wilderness trip on 4th of july, and the device won’t work, and SPOT offers no useful service or help.

Don’t buy SPOT. It’s a rip-off.