Personal Locator Beacon

[Florida boondocker]

anyone have one?  Personal locator beacon   

really geared towards boondockers / outbacker / people living life in the scrubs with nature

being that i do boondocking / kayaking outback i picked up 1 today

any stories ?

 

[Putts]

Pretty much everyone over on the adventure motorcycle forums use a SPOT.

You can have a web page to point loved ones to to watch your progress. There's an "I'm okay." button...and a "Launch the friggen helicopters" button.
Some other good stuff as well. Works great...until it falls off your bike in Kansas....ask this Aussie I know.

 

[ilikerocks]

I hear good things about the ACR one. I'll be purchasing one soon.

IMO the Spot shouldn't be used as an emergency beacon. It's more of a way to tell family/friends who worry a lot that you're not dead. I got out an "I'm OK" message about 3 out of 4 attempts, which is not good if you're going to stake your life on it. The reception is terrible (at least where I used it in the Appalachian mountains and in the deserts of CA), it's underpowered, the battery life isn't great, and the subscription service is unethical. They make it very difficult to end an annual subscription... you have to call or email them a few weeks out from your re-up date or else they'll charge your card. I think they bank on the fact that most people will forget they have it or procrastinate until it's too late. That being said, it's certainly better than nothing.

 

[Putts]

Thanks for the tip! Hadn't heard that. Worth looking into I reckon.

Anybody else?

 

[LoupGarou]

SPOT works for me.

 

[CautionToTheWind]

inReach, this one you can 2-way text http://info.delorme.com

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

I think we've discussed these here before.

SPOT requires paying for an annual subscription. They are monitored by a private company.  PLB's are more expensive, but require no subscription.  They are monitored by the official government rescue co-ordination center, run by the US Air Force.

Here are a couple of good articles on them from Expedition Portal:


https://expeditionportal.com/personal-locator-beacons-and-satellite-messengers/

https://expeditionportal.com/what-happens-when-you-press-the-sos-button/

 

[RVTravel]

I have an ocean signal plb1

 

[WalkaboutTed]

You can barely see it (peeking outside fanny pack on top of the trailer) but Hubby used SPOT on this particular bike tour.  He had it primarily for an emergency, but used it to send us the locations along his way.  SPOT emails would have the link to Google Maps and then when we clicked on it, we could get down to street level and get the 360° view as he saw it. .  It was pretty cool. 

This was a few years ago.  We've looked at the Delorme Reach for two - way communications, but they're so bloody expensive, especially with the subscription plan on top of the purchase price.  We bought a Weboost for our cell, so the should do it in most instances. And there is no monthly fee.

Ted

 

[dextours]

A few years ago a friend and I discussed a Spot vs another brand I can't recall at the moment. 

We had both heard the Spot was "spotty" but at the same time people expected more of the spot with the daily tracking which the other didn't have. We didn't have enough information to determine if signal reliability was really better with one brand over the other. The deciding factor came down to cost, the Spot was cheaper to own for three years (purchase price plus subscriptions) than the other brand. In my world I don't expect any mobile electronic product to last beyond three years anyway so I plan to replace it around that time.

Funny thing was my friend lost his Spot in its first year, he left it on a rock while resting and sending his wife his "I'm alive" message. Had to contact Spot to tell them he lost the unit is in case some pranksters found it and started sending alerts. He was happy he didn't invest in the more expensive unit.

 

[Vanada]

I have an ACR ResQLink+ exactly like yours. I bought it for backcountry hiking etc. as a last resort mode of contacting search and rescue. It won my vote over the spot despite being more costly because there's no annual fee. I prefer the flexibility of just being able to use it whenever I need without worrying about subscriptions.

 

[user 37446]

I think we've discussed these here before.

SPOT requires paying for an annual subscription. They are monitored by a private company.  PLB's are more expensive, but require no subscription.  They are monitored by the official government rescue co-ordination center, run by the US Air Force.

Here are a couple of good articles on them from Expedition Portal:


https://expeditionportal.com/personal-locator-beacons-and-satellite-messengers/

https://expeditionportal.com/what-happens-when-you-press-the-sos-button/

Thanks for linking that. I was not aware of the advances in PLB's that have developed. The first link is a 2013 article, and while pretty complete, probably is out of date already, competition being what it is.  From it I thought the In Reach unit (it's already got a successor) was the top choice for me, if I wanted one of those.

 

[Florida boondocker]

while everyone's need is different i chose the ACR ResQLink+ because it fit my needs

only part timer but love boondocking, while most spots have cell service when i am out hiking if i had a emergency it will show my location
cell phone won't in the backwoods, plus cell batteries are always a concern of being charged

i kayak backwaters and having a PLB gives me a peace of mind,
hard to tell rescuers where you're at with no street signs
so the ACR ResQLink+ fit my needs

for me my life safety was worth the $275

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I have an inReach SE that does what I want it to do:  notify my family daily that I am OK or notify SAR if I am not.  It costs ~$14 a month + $20 a year for rescue insurance.  The big difference with a subscription service and an emergency beacon is that I can communicate with family or the rescue team via text.  It does other stuff like keeping track of your movements, weather reports, general texting and it connects to my cell phone for texting.  The SE is able to communicate anywhere I can see the sky.

 -- Spiff

 

[user 37446]

I googled "rescue insurance" and one of the sites was particularly informative, it was entitled 
Accident and Rescue Insurance Tips Part One from "The backcountry skiing blog".
"https://www.wildsnow.com/10177/accident-insurance-rescue-aac-global/"

The author has personal experience with some of the different groups and is fairly opinionated.

 

[INTJohn]

Given the thread about the missing plane in SW Michigan (that has since been located) thought I would resurrect this thread on PLB’s.

I have one and when I was heavily into boating & boat racing always had an EPIRB on board.

Many vehicle dwellers/campers spend lotsa time in remote areas where cell service is spotty at best to non existent sooo if an emergency occurs a PLB could be the difference tween rescue or not. Have one? Want one? Don’t care?
Comments? Discuss……

INTJohn

 

[bullfrog !]

I still make things simple by making sure a trusted person knows where and when I go into remote areas. I still carry a loud whistle from my Boy Scout days! Lol!!! Even the best electronics can malfunction. The new mapping technology like onX looks interesting as you can share a location on many of them.

 

[NctryBen]

My passion in life was backcountry canoeing. We used the inreach which is a garmin product. Had a friend one somehow slice his hand pretty bad with his knife. He was able to text me and I was able to see exactly where he was and got permission from the forest service to go in without a permit to attend to him. Knowing the area quite well I traveled by canoe through the night and got there about two AM. They enjoyed as a bonus fresh bacon in the morning. Haha!
But we mainly track each other and it is fun for me now as I can’t paddle anymore. Unlike the spot plb you can start and stop your subscription as desired where the spot you pay by the year. The in reach can be rented from outfitters for just your trip if so desired. If your camping in heavy forest, we just paddle out a little to send a signal. But you can also set up tracking to keep track of progress. Works real good if your going to meet up somewhere remote. On the road however, our phones can do most of that. My kids keep an eye on me that way. But I’m good at getting outta range for the phone. Lotsa good dispersed camping where there is no signal.

 

[Gr8ful]

SPOT made a camo version that best buy closed out a few years ago for $5 ea. I bought 20 & gave them away to fellow pilots & hunters. Flex Basic you can pay $12.95 for 1 month at a time.

 

[Gr8ful]

I used Spot while flying, mountain biking, very remote hiking & SPOT always worked well for me. YRMV.