Best way to stay in contact when you have no signal

I have a Garmin Inreach Messenger which is a satellite tracker and messenger, it works virtually anywhere where you can 'see' the sky (doesn't work too well in deep forest or indoors). I regularly go solo sea kayaking into areas with no phone coverage and Mrs DB can track my progress online plus if I get in the doo-doo I can summons help. I can also send check-in messages or send/receive receive text messages on my phone via bluetooth. Downside is the device cost plus there's a monthly subscription. There are other satellite tracker devices like Spot, but they don't work as well plus they are a rubbish company to deal with. 

Other options? A PLB is an emergency only device to summon help, but doesn't offer any tracking. VHF radios only work on line-of-sight and have a maximum range limit of about 10km for a handheld.

In the US, latest iPhone models offer satellite messaging via Starlink (need subscription) but no sign of a European date launch.

Walkie Talkies won't work at that range.  Licence free PMR ones are around 1 km at best and that's with line of sight. If you're in different valleys, you've no chance. Satellite phones maybe?  Seems a bit OTT tbh.  I'm old enough to remember when no one had mobile phones and staying in touch meant arranging an RV. We still did adventurous stuff in remotish places and no one died.  We were perhaps a little more diligent about leaving route details with someone than I am these days though.

Garmin InReach? removed link

It's not cheap, as there is an upfront cost as well as a service subscription, but supposedly works just about everywhere

Posted by: dovebiker

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In the US, latest iPhone models offer satellite messaging via Starlink (need subscription) but no sign of a European date launch.

Weirdly I saw the satellite icon appear in my iPhone screen the other day whilst I was on the aeroplane. I was a little bit surprised as it's the first time I've ever seen it and I don't have exactly the latest model (a 12 or a 13 I think). Google seemed to indicate that it was the new satellite comms method. 

I didn't try it out and I certainly don't have a subscription with starlink but when I went into the settings whilst I could see the icon I definitely had all of the satellite configuration settings. I didn't screenshot anything as I assumed it would all be there when I landed and it wasn't

Bullitt do a satellite device - I think it is £150 with a year's subscription. It bluetooth connects to your phone. I think it might be called the Motorola Defy Satellite communicator.

You use the bullet messenger and if it has phone or data signal it uses that to message, otherwise it uses the satellite system. Phone/data is a free service, satellite messages come out your allowance.

Get 2 and you can message each other as long as you have your phone and the sky above you.

Cheaper than Garmin and same idea.

My Google Pixel 9 Pro has just updated and I have pixel satellite communication - not used it yet, but I have 2 years free. Will need to see how that actually works. I think Apple has something similar as well, so if you have a newer model of Apple or Google phone, then you may have something available for very little additional cost.

AFAIK Bullit is only available to US subscribers and user reports on the Motorola Defy are not so good

Post cards?

Letters?

Ohhhh back in my day, aged 18 in 1998, I rode to Edinburgh to Inverness and told my mum I was home safe when I got home (safe).

I don't think I told her the route. 

I'm not sure I told my dad the route as he was at work and it wasn't like I was going to get a lift home if I got stuck.

This seemed less clever when my pannier rack broke somewhere along side lock Ness and I had to fix it with the gaffa tape I'd wrapped round my pump

Old man shouts at sky! 

I'm not sure this is going to do what you want in the real wilds, but a low-cost option is this SIM;

https://join.honestmobile.com/smart-sim-both

You add it to your phone as a secondary e-sim and when your main SIM/network is not available it will switch to using the 2nd SIM which can access all UK networks. The fly the ointment is that it can only provide data to a subset of apps, but that does include messaging and mapping apps (but not voice calling). On the plus side, it's only a fiver a month.

Smoke signals or carrier pigeon 

I've got the Motorola Defy device (or Bullitt as it is rebadged)...never had to use it but it seems ok for setting up. It works in Europe, us and some bits of Asia and Africa. I think Australasia has either recently been activated or about to be.

I had a Garmin Inreach but that also never had to be used so felt it was expensive sitting not being used, which is why I went to the Motorola Defy as it was much cheaper.

iPhone from 15 onwards with a current AppleCare contract allow you to use satellite signal to contact emergency services but not regular contacts. There’s a test function which I’ve tried out in the middle of Hamsterley Forest. Seems to work well. 

Weirdly I saw the satellite icon appear in my iPhone screen the other day whilst I was on the aeroplane. I was a little bit surprised as it's the first time I've ever seen it and I don't have exactly the latest model (a 12 or a 13 I think). Google seemed to indicate that it was the new satellite comms method. 

In the UK the satellite icon means you can make an SOS to the emergency services, there’s no general messaging available yet. 

IIRC in the US where it is available, you get 2 years free subscription with a new iPhone. No word yet on what renewing the subscription will cost. 

It’s the iphone 14 that is the start of being able to get help via satellite. But in Europe it’s emergency contact to their emergency centre only

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/101573

How urgent or life threatening is it? A day in the hills doesn't really count as either. In Britain you can't get remote. Nowadays a week might seem a long time but does it really matter. At college I would communicate with my folks when I came home 3 times a year. I survived.

Might I suggest pigeon?

Garmin Inreach Mini 2 here - Mrs uses it when she goes running out in the hills, the lad uses when out bagging Munros, I use it when I leave the house to go for 8hrs out on a motorbike without a real plan. Makes it easier to find me when I don't come home one day.

Pretty sure there are plenty of proper remote places in the UK...based on the number of people out in the hills that are found that didn't survive.

Having an option to get a message out somehow is better than needing to send and message and not being able to.

That iPhone concept seems pretty cool. I've access to a Spot tracker but haven't used it before. In-laws take it on their motorbike trips all over the world. Easy to press a button to say you're good and send a location, or for shorter periods (more battery usage) it can be used to breadcrumb.

Posted by: DickBarton

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Pretty sure there are plenty of proper remote places in the UK...based on the number of people out in the hills that are found that didn't survive.

That's not an indication of remoteness though. You can get into strive in the woods 500m from a hospital if things go wrong enough.

Australian definition of remote (admittedly a bit extreme) is apparently "those regions where the nearest Capital city is over a thousand kilometres away."

Posted by: blokeuptheroad

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I'm old enough to remember when no one had mobile phones and staying in touch meant arranging an RV.

We still did adventurous stuff in remotish places and no one died. 

We were perhaps a little more diligent about leaving route details with someone than I am these days though.

smoke signals, old skool

Posted by: reeksy

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That's not an indication of remoteness though. You can get into strive in the woods 500m from a hospital if things go wrong enough.

I’m not sure any other definition of remote in the concept of this thread matters!   You can define remote in all sorts of terms, but ultimately if you are no longer mobile remote = can not contact help and is unlikely to be seen by passers by.

Did anyone suggest yodeling?

I've also got a Motorola Defy communicator thing and can confirm that it definitely works in the UK and Europe and is a fair bit cheaper to subscribe to than the Garmin equivalent. Funnily enough, I'm selling mine due to not going out on my own as much as I used to. Make me an offer!

Flare guns? (with colour coded smoke)... 

It does all seem a bit much TBH especially if you're only going to be ~12 miles apart for an afternoon. My missus asks where I'm going, but She would have to had listened to the response to tell the emergency services once I'm overdue 🙂 

If you each know where the other is meant to be, where and when you're intending to meet up again and have maybe left details with a third party just to be sure, do you also need the wireless comms between two valleys as well? 

As much as anything I'd find constant updates telling me someone is just fine more distracting/annoying...

There was a time (before mobiles) when people went out on bicycles/running/walking without any personal communication devices and it was mostly fine... 

I know it's a bit off the OPs original post. But using emergency satellite communicators you have to consider the emergency rescue you're summoning. Of the people I know who have used them one was in the Swiss Alps and was in a heli in 10 mins, hospital in 15 mins. The other was in Scotland and unfortunately the tracker only helped mountain rescue locate the body. So beware of the  false security these devices may foster

I mentioned it in the walkie talkie thread but it fits here as well. 

You could try Meshtastic/Meshcore which is basically whatsapp via walkie talkie. Has the same limitations as walkie talkies in terms of requiring line of sight so if you were both in separate valleys you'd be no better off  However, it's surprisingly effective if you're both on summits or for groups spread/strung out in a similar area rather than opposite ends of a national park etc. 

Hardware is about £20 - £40, sends messages and location, gateway to radio geekery if you're so inclined but no requirement. A Sensecap T1000E would be a good option for someone wanting to give it a go - plug and play and waterproof etc.

Loads of people use it for "prepping" but I've always thought it's more use for letting outdoorsy groups stay in contact with each other rather than with the outside world, especially if more and more people use it.

And technically you can connect to the web and send messages with it that way but that's a whole other can of worms!

Conversation seems a bit overkill for where you were.  You were both solo, so tell someone where you're going and roughly what time to expect you back.  You might be remote enough that you're out of reception, but not really that someone won't be passing fairly regularly.  

If you've fallen down and are unconscious then even a phone signal isn't going to help you.  A whistle is probably the smallest/cheapest/lightest safety device you can carry (I must check if my new bag has one, currently has a dog whistle I found on the trail which might be silent and thus no use at all unless Lassie is active) .  

Well thanks for all the detailed responses, it wouldn't be singletrack if there wasn't more than a few "back in my day, I went out with nothing but the sun on my back" types.

I wasn't really asking for basic safety tips (always helpful to be reminded though), more how to stay in contact without phone signal as there a quite a few situations where it could be useful for me.

I think the satellite function on a newer google pixel might be the ticket as I'm due a new phone. 

Satellite option on new Google and apple phones only calls emergency services...I don't think it can be used to communicate between people...

Just recently got it and I need to look into it.more but everything I've seen so far suggests it can connect to emergency services.

BTW, you can use the Motorola Defy for texting each other, no need tp bother the emergency services. Just saying.