Satellite Emergency Notification Devices: signalling gizmos

[lostcoyote]

i use spot mainly to reduce my wife's worries when i am out alone in remote locations.

when on 4 wheel drive roads, it can be a great help if you break down in a remote location (plenty in utah) & need a tow or ride out.

p.s. - i do. i figure there's a higher probability that i CAN reach it (yeah, even when in MONSTER talus, trip, and break a leg) as compared to not being able to reach it.

also, even if you can not reach it, if one is diligent in sending out a signal several times a day, it at least gives the SAR team a starting point from last known sent coordinates.

[rlown]

we've all seen some very big talus here. it doesn't take much to die in there. add that to your probability. Esp, the solo part.

We could just accept that as the risk. Wifey doesn't like that much. And that spot isn't gonna get pressed.

[LMBSGV]

I'd like to add one bit of information on the SPOT. Along with the regular SPOT, there is the SPOT Connect, which links a smartphone to the same satellite system as the SPOT 1 and SPOT 2. It allows for a text message of up to 41 characters along with the Checkin/OK, Help, Track Progress, and SOS of the SPOT 1 and 2. It's priced higher than the SPOT 2 ($170 versus $120).

[rlown]

still have to connect it and touch it.

[John Dittli]

Yep, you have to push the button, and if you can't, your dead, but if you did push the button say an hour or even a day before, the search area would become infinitely smaller and the likeliness of finding your body and bringing closure for your loved ones would be greatly increased. (And reducing prolonged danger to SAR members). If you don't care about any of that then don't bother.

Sorry to be so blunt, but I spent over a decade as a climbing ranger in the North Cascades, looking for people, rescuing people and bringing home those less fortunate. I can tell you in 99% of the cases, families wanted the bodies recovered. We spent many dangerous hours looking for people.

I still don't carry such a device due to some crazy personal purity ethics syndrome, but I'm getting older and my wife worries more; I'm definitely reconsidering.

[ERIC]

If the OP recognizes there were already threads going on this subject, not sure why a new one needed to be created. Moving the thread to the gear forum, but stopping short of merging with another thread (for now) in case I'm somehow missing something here..

[rlown]

cuz we know we can die.

[frediver]

IMO these devices need a local command on feature. IE Off-Standby-ON.
Standby would turn the device on every few min or hours and allow it to receive
a broadcast signal to turn on the locator beacon. This would remove the need for
a subscription service, the main downside to Spot type devices. Two batteries
"could" be used to enable a stand alone capability for the beacon function.
Having a command "ON" would also work if the search becomes a recovery.

[gdurkee]

Well, it took me 10 minutes and one cup of coffee to figure out what an OP was. But, aha!, it's the Original Poster, which is me! Not as swift as I need to be sometimes... -- LOL, SCOMN.

But, my original thinking was that this was really more a safety topic and, because both of the SAR/Larry threads were on Backpacking, I thought that the most attention-getting place to put it. So that was my thinking anyway. Also, I tend to only check a couple of threads. And then my cat hit the cursor when it was over "Backpacking" -- so there I was.

The gear/gizmos are important to the thread, of course, but my main thing is safety so John and I aren't spending extra time in a helicopter or thrashing over icy rocks looking for someone. I really hate helicopters... .

Oh. One more story: almost exactly a year ago a friend was riding his bike on USFS roads (paved) up near the crest. He lost control and went winging off into the trees, breaking his femur. Ouch. But he had his trusty SPOT and was found and taken out by ground ambulance at last light. Extremely unlikely he would have been found that night without the SPOT and the temps were in the low 20s -- tenuous chance of survival. So it's true that there are cases where you can't push the button, but there are many more-- the majority if the person is alive -- when you can. His wife was pretty happy he had one anyway.

g.

[BrianF]

One more factor with the Spot. Even with the cheapest subscription you get 3 options of signals -"OK" which emails your contacts your OK message and GPS location and so can give SAR a last known position, "SOS" which goes to both your contacts and directly to SAR, and "Help" which is a pre-written email notification (you set up your own wording) to your contacts only, not SAR. All of them send GPS coordinates.
Personally I have set up the "help" to let my contact know that I am in trouble, do need SAR help but it is not a life or death problem - no need for SAR to take uneeded risks to get to me rockets-in-pockets. This could also be used in the case of a broken down vehicle, where friends could come to your aid. Of course you need contacts who are on the ball. I leave my contact the dispatch numbers for the SAR authorities where I will be, so she knows who to contact and how.