Roy Partington and his Walking with the Wounded Expedition
Roy Partington set off on his expedition to raise money for walking with the wounded on 19th July 2019 with our Garmin inReach Explorer+ tracker. This tracker enabled Roy to stay connected to his friends and family in the most remote areas of Pakistan.
The Expedition
Roy set off on his expedition to K2 and BroadPeak basecamps along with crossing the Gondogoro La pass, all in a remote part of Pakistan bordering China.
Two teams went to K2 BC where team 2 then retraced their steps back from K2 BC. Team 1, including Roy, continued up and over the Gondogoro La pass. This trip had the added danger in that, should the internal planes not fly due to adverse weather, they would need to drive along the Karakoram Highway which is currently on the UK Gov list of places not to visit.
The Garmin inReach Explorer+ Tracker
The Garmin inReach Explorer+ tracker is the best device for a wide range of different trips, as it has global coverage! The inReach tracker uses the Iridium network to provide tracking, SOS and two-way messaging functions across the world.
As Roy was in an extremely remote part of Pakistan, the Garmin inReach Explorer+ enabled the teams connectivity to the outside world.
"The battery life of this latest Garmin inReach Explorer + unit is excellent. I only needed to top the inReach battery up once on a 24 day expedition.
I was easily able to cross check my Long+Lat location and altitude with the Garmin. This enabled me to confirm exact locations and use the built in Topo Map. The map sharing functionality also allowed me to update an online map. My friends and colleagues could access this map and keep tabs on my progress. You can also post messages to this map to give all your followers updates on top of the personalized updates you send directly to family etc. This is a great feature and keeps all of your followers completely updated with one online message". Roy Partington
Roy Partington's Review:
"I was fortunate enough to be sponsored by Global Telesat Communications in July 2019 with a Garmin inReach Explorer + tracker. I had previously used the inReach when it was the Delorme inReach in 2013 and 2016. Therefore, I knew this unit quite well. On both occasions GTC supplied them.
Part of the agreement to do this Pakistan trip was that I agreed with my wife that I must be in contact and be contactable with her and my family. This is why I chose to take the Garmin inReach Explorer +. My wife and the family needed reassuring that I could get help if I needed. Also, they wanted to be sure that they could contact me as and when they needed too. (There is an SOS button that sends messages with your exact location to GEOS, should you get into difficulty)
As long as you don’t need to make voice calls or send photographs, then this unit is about all you will need to stay in touch with the outside world, when there is no mobile phone coverage.
A small but powerful and vital bit of kit.
