EMERGENCY

Garmin 66i equipped with inReach

I would recommend a Garmin Mini for the size, but I ran into a situation that made carrying the bigger model the better choice. I originally bought this when I got into hunting. I read that in cold situations you want big buttons vs a touchscreen. Oddly enough the button feature came in handy when I lost my phone on a BDR. The Garmin 66i allowed me to inform my wife that I would not have a phone for a few days. Since I did not plan for this, relating this information would required a custom message. I know you can do a custom message on the Garmin Mini but you need a smartphone to create the message in real time, otherwise you’re limited to prebuilt messages. So if you don’t lose your phone you’re probably ok with a Mini, but if you’re prone to leaving things in random places, or party too hard at times, think about a Garmin with buttons.