I'm doing a few solo (non-organised) multi-night rides this year on and off road in UK and Europe and would like my family to be able to know where I am and it would also help to know I have a means of summoning help, should something go badly wrong out of mobile reception / battery. Something I can stick in a jersey pocket and essentially forget, so decent battery life and rugged / waterproof.
SPOT seem to be the device of choice in the ultra / bike packing community, but I'm slightly put off by the €180 annual subscription and 12 month minimum contact (there is apparently a 50% discount code for the first year). I'm only going to really need it for 10-15 days this year if I'm lucky.
Is there anything else worth looking at?
Had a look at the Garmin Inreach mini, which has a monthly contract, so better suited to my intermittent use. It seems to require a second device (mobile or Garmin) for "live tracking", which means it isn't an independent safety device. Also, the location updates are 10p each, so frequent updates or long trips would add up.