Since my field work this year is out of a truly remote camp with no sat internet or anything like we've had when staying at commercial lodges across Alaska, I thought I would get one of these for personal use & safety (we have work Sat phones, but no ability for personal use).

http://www.inreachdelorme.com/

Works on the same iridium sat network as the phones, but since its txt based it needs less signal and uses less battery life than a standard sat phone, and even better, no garbled or delayed communications, or hearing yourself talk like is pretty common to Sat phones.

Also, far more affordable. I picked up the unit for just over $200, and I paid into the monthly flex plan. A yearly $24 fee, but otherwise I can turn my service on/off on a month to month basis (as low as $15/month, gives you 10 txt messages plus all the safety/SOS features). I paid for the expedition plan so I have unlimited txts and unlimitied 10 min tracking.

These have taken over in the small aircraft business up here as you can also preset some txt messages (like: "Arrived safely" or "Daily check in - Everyone is Great" (preset messages are also unlimited with all plans), as they can just hit a button and relay back to their office that they dropped a client off at a remote hunt camp and are headed home.

I believe I can link it to social media and it will post some updates on a map. The unit itself also collects gps info so communications, especially the SOS feature, always include a location (as well as some realtime tracking features). And it will pair with any smartphone using an App/BT so you can use the phone to type out your texts instead of the directional pad on the unit.

I leave on monday, will post my thoughts after using it in the field.