Satellite communication听tools are a big investment. The devices cost hundreds of dollars听and require subscription plans that come with startup costs and monthly fees. They鈥檙e a good option听if you鈥檙e heading into听the backcountry, where cell service is nonexistent, but the cost of a contract鈥攁nd the logistics of remembering when to activate and deactivate it for specific听trips鈥攊s enough to turn many away. And for those who venture off the grid only occasionally, it may simply not听be worth the expense. A startup called Bivy wants to fix that.
Bivy听launched two years with a flagship 听similar to听 for hiking and for climbing. Unlike those apps, however, Bivy isn鈥檛 single-sport focused. Pins on the map can represent听everything from climbing crags to backcountry ski routes听to river put-ins, with detailed course descriptions and information on mileage听and听elevation gain. Users can filter by activity听and even by style (say, if听you want to find a chute to ski, a crack to climb, or a waterfall to hike to), track their travels, and share their location with friends鈥攁t least听when in range of a听cell tower.听
Now founder Vance Cook is to launch a satellite communication听tool that will allow users to continue using the app to stay in contact with friends and family when cell signals fade. Shipping in September, the Bivy Stick听($300) works like many other sat comm tools听(think听Garmin鈥檚 InReach), using the Iridium network to send messages, receive weather updates, and call for rescue via an SOS button. However, the Stick itself doesn鈥檛 have a keypad, screen, or physical SOS button. Instead, it uses Bluetooth to to put听those functions on your smartphone鈥檚 screen.
The Bivy Stick comes just months after rollout of a similar device, called the听Somewear, created by a group of Silicon Valley developers. Like the Bivy Stick, the Somewear听acts as a conduit between your phone and the Iridium听network, enabling you to send messages and SOS signals from the backcountry.听
What鈥檚 different about the Bivy听Stick? It entails no听startup cost, contract, or听monthly fee. Instead听you buy credits. One credit equals one action (a text, a weather update, a two-hour period of location tracking). The base emergency听package鈥攖en credits鈥攃osts $18, and users pay extra for additional credits.听Instead of purchasing a month鈥檚 worth of data you may never use, you can get just enough for听a few days. The only caveat: the credits expire after 30 days, unless you pay a small fee听to roll them over.
In many cases, the monthly plans offered by Garmin will be cheaper than Bivy鈥檚 credit system. Garmin鈥檚 cheapest plan is $15 per month (plus a onetime $25 activation fee)听for ten custom messages, unlimited preset messages, and ten-cent听location pings, and it can be听suspended when the device isn鈥檛 in use. But the听Bivy Stick is cheaper than most of its competitors:听$130 more expensive than the ($170), but $50 cheaper than the Garmin听 ($350) and $150 cheaper than the ($450).听
With comparatively听low entry costs and a relatively high level of user-friendliness,听the Bivy Stick may be ideal for weekend warriors听and dollar-conscious athletes who need to send only a single message or location ping and are turned off by the hassle of frequently activating and suspending a subscription plan鈥攊n other words, the very people who might otherwise never invest in a sat comm听device.
Of course, there鈥檚 a drawback to a sat comm听device that works through your smartphone: cell batteries die. Bivy addresses this by equipping the Stick with a 6,000 mAh battery听that the company claims can keep a cell phone set to听airplane mode charged for three days. The device is 1 by 2 by 5.8 inches, like a larger version of the charger, and could easily take the place of the power pack you already carry in your pack.听
We鈥檒l be getting our hands on a test model soon听and look forward to putting it through its paces.听