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FINAL UPDATE: 01 Apr 2022: I've streamlined my review. I would NOT buy the Bivy Stick again. It does have some good points that I'll mention, but I decided to move to the Garmin InReach Mini 2, and in comparison I've been more than happy with Garmin so far. I bought the Bivy Stick almost a year ago for the original $350, with the $17.99/mo plan. I chose the product because of the free subscription pause/resume, and because unused monthly points roll over. Upon activation, a phone number is allocated to the Bivy Stick unlike some competitors including the Garmin InReach Mini series. Having an attached phone number is both good and bad. Each subscription pause releases that phone number and accrued points are lost, so there is some incentive to keep a subscription active. The points rollover is a real benefit and should not be overlooked. Also, each subscription resume requires notifying contacts to ensure they update to the new Bivy satellite phone number. The current Bivy cost structure is $200 with a mandatory minimum of 4 months on the plus plan at $29.99/mo, or $48 total more than the minimum monthly plan. That's still a much lower cost than the Garmin Mini 2 initially, including their mandatory $29.95 activation fee. But ultimately I didn't suspend/resume, as I wanted to always have the service available. The minimum yearly contract for Bivy is $14.95/month, and $11.95/month for the Garmin (with only half the monthly message limit though, and no rollovers); overages are $0.75/msg for Bivy and $0.50/msg for Garmin. So with minimal usage, the Garmin $29.95 activation fee is accounted for in 10 months. For me, message overages aren't too important: if I really need to get a message in or out, an overage cost won't matter much. The Bivy Stick hardware is pretty rock solid. But with virtually no UI at all, it relies heavily on the Bivy Stick app. I find problems with the app almost every time I use it. In the first month, I took the Bivy Stick into the backcountry for a few days and checked in multiple times. I had to turn the app navigation options for the Bivy app on my iPhone to "While Using" from "Always" because the app would suck my battery dry. This is really not good when in the backcountry and relying on the app for working with a screenless Bivy Stick. Then I discovered that all check-in locations sent were hundreds of miles away from my real location - for days. I drove out of the backcountry and talked with Bivy customer support. Customer support has always been helpful. Their advice then and now is "avoid the app, use just the device" for check-in, and that worked. Recently, almost a year later, I again took the Bivy Stick into the backcountry. The app still wanted to suck the battery dry on my iPhone, but now I'm aware and kill the app when needed. I again ran into a number of problems, mostly not critical but also still including battery draining issues and too many other problems to document here. Customer support says that the team was aware of most of the problems and is working on fixes to release in the coming weeks or months. I also showed a completely unfinished Bivy app icon on the iPad: I keep my iPad ready to pair with the Bivy in case the iPhone has a problem (like, say the Bivy app sucks the battery dry). Customer support tells me that yes, the icon is unfinished: the app may work but has not been tested on the iPad. Which is apropos for my experience with the Bivy app, and the reason for my overall product rating.