From our camping and backpacking supply retail store in Tempe, we rent a wide range of navigational aides for backcountry travel, including handheld GPS units and satellite text devices, such as the SPOT Messenger and the Garmin InReach. In addition to their emergency beacon and staying-in-touch-with-home functions outside of cell phone range, both devices are often used as a "tracker" for participants in races and other team events where it is important to know where and when each party is on (or off) course. Because of the way data usage is charged under our master accounts, we generally recommend using the SPOT for such tracking purposes.

We rent SPOT units for a wide range of team or competitive activities, including canoe races, kayak races, mountain bike races, boat regattas, adventure racing, paragliding, military drills, dogsledding - even a foot race in the Arctic Circle! Many events now mandate the use of a tracker; what follows is info of interest for the participant, and the event coordinator.

PARTICIPANT:

You can rent the device via normal means, starting at this link to the SPOT product description page. You can choose to use all of its features, or just the minimal amount that the coordinator is going to want, which is usually just the device's "ESN" number, found inside the battery compartment; plus, the "Shared Page" URL feed, a long, unique web page address that you can easily create under your online profile. We'll send you the easy instructions on how to do setup the device how you want it, and see this informative video on using the SPOT in a competitive event.

EVENT COORDINATOR:

If you are recommending or requiring your event participants to carry a tracker, then you can direct them to our web site to rent one if they wish, or, in many cases the coordinator is our direct customer and you distribute to participants under whatever arrangement works best for you - usually assigned for an additional cost beyond the entry fee. Please note all of our units are on separate accounts, so if your goal is to be able to see the location of all participants on a single screen at the same time, you'll need the services from a third party that has the specialized software. We don't offer that service, but we can direct you to a couple of companies that work with - just give us a call. To see an example of how the rented SPOT devices are tracked as a group, see our explanatory video on using the SPOT as a race coordinator.

Whether you wish to rent a single SPOT as a race or event participant, or rent several dozen in bulk as an event coordinator, feel free to give us a call for more information on how we can help.