I'm in the process of updating my own
Spot Messenger Review after a winter's worth of use in the backcountry.
My impression of the device remains the same, but I've developed a better understanding of its limitations.
* Don't expect the tracking (ping) service to work. Spot doesn't like to talk and walk, making tracking (almost) useless.
* Expect a motionless Spot to need a clear view of the sky
and 20 minutes or more to send an OK message. Ideally, plan your spot use to coincide with breaks: lunch, camp, etc., where you can sit Spot on a rock, press the button, and leave it alone.
* I was able to send out messages by pressing the button and then stashing Spot pointing upward in my backpack's lid pocket while I continued hiking. This was not always successful, however.
* Spot seems to have no trouble reading a GPS signal. The problems are all related to outbound connections.
Is Spot 100% reliable? Nope. But nothing is. Spot does generally work as advertised, given the limitations I've noted above. Spot absolutely gives you the ability to send "I'm Okay" messages from darn near anywhere.
Whether or not this makes you safer in the backcountry, as well as choosing how best to use this technology is another issue--and not as straightforward as it may seem.
