They only make it easier to summon emergency help - after you are injured, lost or worst. No distress beacon or cell phone offers you warmth, shelter or first aid. Carrying an electronic signaling device does not make you safe. It is dangerous and irresponsible to think they "allow" going somewhere or doing shoething your are not prepared or experienced to do.ĥ. Always use these devices for the unforeseen - not as last resort tool to handle what should be foreseen. Don't think "It won't happen to me-that happens to someone else." Backcountry and wilderness travelers must know how to: Prepare for, recognize and prevent an emergency.Ĥ. SPOT) or cell phoneġ.If you answer NO! to "Would I go there without my PLB, SPOT or cell phone?", then don't go.Ģ.Would you normally do something that might fracture your pelvis, freeze your hands and feet, kill you by heat stroke, suffocate you under snow, drown you or get you lost by days? If your answer is NO!-then don't do it relying on your signaling device.ģ. The National Asscociation for Search and Rescue has this advice.īe smart about using a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB), other Satellite Emergency Notification Device (e.g. Randy Morgensen's disappearance may have precipitated that. On the other side of that coin, an Inyo staff member related that they were considering giving a SPOT to their backcountry rangers to carry. IMO, that's a silly attitude, but it was real, nevertheless. He expressed to me after the talk that he felt people could not truly experience the wilderness if they carried a SPOT or other communicator unit. Probably not alive, but family would not have been left wondering for months, and the huge expense of time and aircraft used in the futile search - that alone would justify giving every hiker one to carry.Īn odd side story, though: I listened to a SEKI ranger present at a wilderness planning meeting. If he had been using a SPOT, he would have been found within days. It is my opinion that every solo hiker should carry a SPOT. ![]() I may borrow it this summer, if I can stand the extra weight. I might in use the "help" signal to leave bread-crumb signals when traveling in an off-trail situation. If you use the "Help" button like that, tell people receiving it that it does NOT mean call any authorities. A subscription that supports tracking costs more. It sends a signal every 4 minutes for 1 hour, but works with a basic subscription. Spot has a "Poor man's tracking": use the Help (not SOS) button. I don't know what would cause that, since mine has worked except in the situations described abvoe. I believe Fishmonger here has said his never worked right - signals did not get out. ![]() I pin mine on my backpack shoulder strap top. They don't work in a forest - trees block the signal. They don't work in deep canyons such as: last mile or two of the Main Mt Whitney trail Bubbs Creek (Kings Canyon) Vernal/Nevada Falls trail in Yosemite - all these have high cliff walls preventing line-of-site to receiving satellites.ģ. Should be left on 30 minutes, or hours where there are obstructions.Ģ. People misuse them: turn them on and press the button, shut it down in 5 minutes. They're good for groups hiking in avalanche zones, but not for hikers.ġ. Nobody knows where you are until you press the SOS button. PLB: I wouldn't use it, because it can ONLY be used in an emergency. If used for tracking, people can see that you are moving, which usually indicates you are doing ok. My reasons: Family and friends can see where you are (if you use it as it is meant to be).
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