Iridium GO! First Look

[Ross Bleakney]

Great post, Paul (I love David Horsey's cartoons). I think you hit the nail on the head. I could care less if the other guy carries way too much technology (as long as it isn't loud) but if employers expect you to be "in contact" regardless of where you are, it makes it hard to not be. Then again, those types of employers might insist on you being in contact without this technology — in other words, force you to be on call, and require you to deal with it (no backpacking) so maybe this is a good thing. Personally, I think they should outlaw them, but create a black market — that way folks who really need them can get them, but employers will not expect you to have one :)

But seriously, this is interesting stuff, and probably makes a lot of sense for car camping (especially since car camping isn't very wild to begin with). But I can't ever see myself doing this. Between the batteries, and the two devices, you are talking a fair amount of weight. On the other hand, the other devices (e. g. SPOT) make sense. I could see myself using that for a solo traverse, just in case I got in trouble (or delayed) and wanted to let people know.

[Roger Caffin]

> (GO! is battery life limited to tracking for less than a day).
Oh good! Then the battery will go flat.
And the high weight will be more useful as a buriable tent stake.

> if employers expect you to be "in contact" regardless of where you are, it makes
> it hard to not be.
Why?
If you are paid for 9 – 5, then outside those hours you are NOT working for the employer. JUST SAY NO!
If your employer does not like that, then ask for suitable overtime for 24/7. No pay, no service.

Really, I could not care less what electronic garbage you carry with you when walking. But do NOT let YOUR garbage intrude into MY life. I do NOT want to hear what you are saying or doing or listening to. End of story.

We have managed to go waklking very safely for 50 years without this stuff. The real motive for all this stuff is the profit margin for the vendors, NOTHING else.

Cheers

[Nick Gatel]

So those who debate the merits of a Knat over a GigaPower to save an ounce, or argue wind shirt brands to save a few grams, and explore the feasibility of a 12 ounce pack; it seems too few of them have a problem throwing a 1 pound communication brick into their pack. But this isn't the issue.

I could care less what someone throws into their pack, I’m not going to walk with them anyway.

But who speaks for wilderness?

Who advocates for wilderness?

Folks who cannot stand the silence, the natural sounds, or solitude of wilderness cannot advocate if they need an iPod to camouflage the music of wild places.

People who demand maintained trails to visit wilderness cannot advocate.

Hikers who cannot figure out where to go hike without help to locate a route cannot advocate.

Individuals who think quotas are better than no roads to wilderness cannot advocate.

Societies who substitute SPOTs and their ilk for wilderness skills cannot advocate.

Persons who will not hold themselves accountable for keeping themselves safe in wilderness, expecting SAR to rescue them with the touch of a button cannot advocate. Without technology to save our collective butts, the lack of technology might change our perception.

A populace and government who think WiFi in our national parks is a good idea cannot advocate.

The danger to wilderness is to tame it with technology. The danger to wilderness is our willingness to change our perception of its value to the human spirit, the need for advanced technology to help us enjoy or be safe in wilderness.

I tried to articulate it here.

And I lamented The Death of Renaissance Man. The self-sufficient man.

I am just an average person. I don’t write well. I am not a great communicator. The novelist Wallace Stegner did summarize it well.

“Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed; if we permit the last virgin forests to be turned into comic books and plastic cigarette cases; if we drive the few remaining members of the wild species into zoos or to extinction; if we pollute the last clear air and dirty the last clean streams and push our paved roads through the last of the silence, so that never again will Americans be free in their own country from the noise, the exhausts, the stinks of human and automotive waste. And so that never again can we have the chance to see ourselves single, separate, vertical and individual in the world, part of the environment of trees and rocks and soil, brother to the other animals, part of the natural world and competent to belong in it. Without any remaining wilderness we are committed wholly, without chance for even momentary reflection and rest, to a headlong drive into our technological termite-life, the Brave New World of a completely man-controlled environment. We need wilderness preserved — as much of it as is still left, and as many kinds — because it was the challenge against which our character as a people was formed. The reminder and the reassurance that it is still there is good for our spiritual health even if we never once in 10 years set foot in it. It is good for us when we are young, because of the incomparable sanity it can bring briefly, as vacation and rest, into our insane lives. It is important to us when we are old simply because it is there — important, that is, simply as idea.”

This isn’t about designating Wilderness; it is about a “man-controlled environment.” It’s about technology making it acceptable to diminish the value of wilderness.

I apologize for the long post. Unfortunately I am passionate about wild places. Too much technology takes the "wild" of wilderness. It diminishes the inherent value of wilderness. It changes our perception, our world-view.

I think I’ll grab my pack to go for a wilderness walk. I’ll check back in next week to see how things go here on this thread.

[James Marco]

Nick, I'm going with you. Errr, at least in spirit.

[Ian]

The funny THING is I have a SpotII THAT's still UNUSED and has never been activated that I bought well over A year ago. Regardless of WHAT it costs or how it FUNCTIONS, I'm never buying THE Iridium GO!. One of the CAVEATS for when I'm on call is that I have to be in a position to respond timely which is something I can't do FROM the back-40.

Flame ON kids.

You people drive me crazy.

[Michael Gunderloy]

I have a simple deal with my boss. I'm on call 24/7/365 WHEN I'M HOME. As soon as I'm off to the woods, I'm off call. And my hiking calendar and our critical upgrade calendar are planned in conjunction with each other.

Helps to be at a small company.

[Bob Moulder]

Nothing to see, move along.

I go hiking to get away from this kind of stuff.

Just right.

I have a spot just so my wife doesn't get crazy. One time I didn't have cell coverage and she presumed I was dead. I like that spot is one-way.

Funny how we survived the pre-cellphone, pre-GPS years just fine without all this constant-contact gizmology and managed to have a good time. It was fun to come out of the woods after a couple of weeks and hear on the radio what happened while we were gone.

[Kattt]

"Nothing to see, move along."

To write that , as the first post no less, below an article someone spent time and effort to write, is something difficult for me to understand.

[tom lakner]

I have the summers off so don't need "the Boss" connectivity. But my wife feels the need to know whats going on when I'm out for months at a time so for her peace of mind I don't mind carrying an In Reach device. I'd rather not but thats the cost of what I love,Both Ways.

[Ken Thompson]

Options and choices are great. Dissing on things that other people are/might be interested in is bad form and rude. Your mothers would be so proud. Not everyone is an old curmudgeon like Nick and others. All electronics have an off switch. If technology like this gets more people into the wilderness then more wilderness advocates are indeed possible.

I appreciate the time and effort that Alan has put into the article. Would I use this technology while hiking, not relevant. It would be great for the trailhead. Would be good for communication anywhere behind the Redwood Curtain as cell service is almost nil. Good luck on finding a pay phone,

Winter is over. You crusty old f%*!s should shut off your computers and go away for a spell, Come back when you can't stay so long.

You guys can be so embarrassing.

[James Couch]

Dissenting opinions are one thing, but there is so much hate and judgment on BPL these days. I find it very disappointing. The fact that a fair portion of it comes from a moderator makes it even more so. Everyone has their own needs and desires and approaches to outdoors and the wilderness. I for one would love to see these differences discussed with a modicum of respect for other viewpoints.

[Ian]

Alan,

Thanks for the thorough article. It was obviously a product of some research, field use, was written well, and is relevant. My apologies for the thread drift. Keep them coming.

[Stuart R]

Could have just skipped it yourself without leaving this kind of a mark on the thread.

So maybe when the few posters that just left rude quickies on a thread that does not interest them…

To write that, as the first post no less…

Katharina, you have now made three separate posts attacking my personal opinion, so how do you think that reflects upon you?

Post your own opinion on the topic under discussion if you want, but you have no right to criticise the opinion of others. Of course I expected my comment might elicit a response, but there is no need to be rude.

[Kattt]

I am pretty good at seeing what I did wrong, and maybe I should have said it all in one post. Other than that I don't think you have a standing in calling me out here, particularly when you are still not seeing what you could have done differently. Could I have said it all without being rude, yes, but it was a reaction to a rude comment.

[Dave Heiss]

Deleted – I double checked and the Xcomm MiFi device connects to local cell services, not satellite. So never mind!

[Elliott Wolin]

May have been mentioned earlier in this thread, but although I don't care what people do privately in the woods, what I really dislike is:

CELL PHONE SHOUT ON TOP OF A MOUNTAIN OR OTHER BEAUTIFUL PLACE WHERE PEOPLE NATURALLY CONGREGATE!!!

If you simply must talk on the phone please do it away from everyone else, in a calm and low voice, and do not ruin other people's enjoyment of the scenery. How you would like it if someone was shouting in a situation or location where it was natural to expect peace and quiet?

I recall a bad experience near a fire lookout in Mt. Rainier Nat'l Park. Someone was on the phone talking endlessly with his girlfriend about problems in their relationship…try as you might no one could shut out the ceaseless discussion even though he did sit behind a rock a short distance from the lookout.

[Ian]

BLUF, the issue here isn't so much about technology as it is about manners and interacting with other people in a positive way whether that is by giving them their space and when that's not practical, behaving in a way that doesn't impose yourself onto them.

Bad manners are just bad manners. What you are describing at Rainier NP are tacky people. I suspect if they weren't doing that, then they'd blow cigarette smoke at non smokers (or smoke next to the trail when people are walking by), litter, set up camp too close to other people or sensitive areas, walk off trail and trampling fragile vegetation, feed wildlife, or exhibit any other number of other distasteful behaviors. Solving this does not come from removing the vehicles of this poor behavior (in your case, their phones/technology).

Not inconsistent with anything you've said but the solution is conducting oneself in a manner that is consistent with the spirit of LNT and not being discourteous to others who are trying to enjoy the wilderness.

As a person who's spent his entire adult life working with and against human nature in his professional capacity, I only see two solutions to this issue:

A) Accept the fact that when dealing with other people, you'll meet some who will rub you the wrong way, understand that there's little you can do about it, and have the maturity (not directing this at you) to move on and not let it ruin your day; or

B) Accept the fact that you (again, not you Elliot) are unwilling or incapable of dealing with other people who rub you the wrong way in a mature way and do everything you can to avoid interacting with them.

[Billy Ray]

I totally agree Ian. But would be nice if you had adhered to your own recommendations before you posted you personal attack on my view earlier in this thread.

No hard feeling… just sayin'… Ian

billy

[Ian]

Well technically I did as it didn't ruin my day. I never said that there wouldn't be some sarcasm and snark involved as I move on. The lack of maturity of said sarcastic-snark is a fair accusation though.

[Roger Caffin]

> I only see two solutions to this issue:
There is a third. Carry an illegal jammer. Use it.

Which is worse: a technically illegal jammer, or being seriously offensive to others around you?

Cheers

[Frank T]

I recall a bad experience near a fire lookout in Mt. Rainier Nat'l Park. Someone was on the phone talking endlessly with his girlfriend about problems in their relationship…try as you might no one could shut out the ceaseless discussion even though he did sit behind a rock a short distance from the lookout.

I can only imagine how much more annoying this would have been if the girlfriend had been there in person and people had to listen to both sides of the conversation.

[Randy Nelson]

Nick, I noticed that on your AT section hike you used your Iphone as a GPS. And hiked on trails.

I thought you were a purist? You don't need trails or technology, right?

I don't care what you carry either. But if you're going to pontificate, own it.

[Ralph Wood]

Guys relax. Everything is going to be ok.

The reality is this an extremely niche item were talking about here. You definitely aren't going to start seeing hordes of people dropping a grand to buy this unit so they can make phone calls in the middle of nowhere. Sat phones have been around for a long time, and basically that's what this is, a sat phone with crappy internet.

Interesting how the response to this article by Ryan Jordan was virtually non existent:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/expedition-blogging-part-1-jordan.html#.VR9DfYhHarU

This technology has its place for certain situations such as, leaders on group trips (I know Alan co leads with Andrew Skurka), communicating with a base camp, or bloggers like our own Ryan Jordan (see above).

This technology exsists, so get over it, go out and hike, worry about yourself, and worry less about other people's choices.

When I see day traders in cuben fiber cubicles on the JMT, that's when I'll know it's over.

[Anonymous]

"You definitely aren't going to start seeing hordes of people dropping a grand to buy this unit so they can make phone calls in the middle of nowhere."

You're right about that. What you will see instead is hordes of people yakking on the smart phones when wi fi is installed in our national parks. Coming soon to your favorite NP.

[Katherine .]

but does anyone actually talk on the phone anymore? Everyone younger than me texts instead of speaking. So all we'll hear are those random little pings and swooshes.

[Author]

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