Ditto on the inReach. I have the Freedom Safety plan at about $17/month (with taxes), which you can "suspend" when you are not going to use it (there is a base yearly fee, don't remember exact cost offhand). I normally have mine active about 4 months a year, the total cost is around $100/yr or a bit less. There are better plans if you are going to use it all year, (or send a large number of messages) but obviously they cost more. The plan I have used to include 10 messages a month, then a charge after that (~$1), but seems like the last time I activated it was down to 5/month. You have 3 pre-recorded messages ("I'm OK", etc.) that do not cost you anything, no matter how many times you use them, I use those in almost all cases, simply push a button. That aspect of the inReach is similar to the older SPOT widget, but with inReach you get a confirmation that your message was received. And of course 2-way communication is the big upgrade when going to the inReach.
One downside is if you use the display to type a message (as opposed to pairing with a smartphone) it is rather tedious, but I don't send many texts so I manage.
You also need a reasonable view of the sky, if you are down in a steep canyon or in dark timber it might take a while for your message to go through.
