For Mashurst....406mhz PLB's....big Wiki.

[xtatik]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distress_radiobeacon

I can't imagine needing to know more than is presented in this link^
I went through the process of selecting and buying another back in March. Not for the boat. I picked up this one, from these people.
http://www.rei.com/product/815753/ac...locator-beacon

I only had one criteria.....weight. It weighs less than 5 oz. and seeing as I might be carrying it on my back for over 2600 miles (hopefully)....it matters. The lesser weight comes with a caveat....less weight usually means less battery = less battery life. Less battery life = less beacon duration. This'll make sense once you've read the Wiki.

[Karma]

HI Randy,
Your link is one I should have seen but never have. It seems to tell the whole story. I can't see anything that's been left out except a good description of the qualification testing that occurs before the PLB product is placed on the market covering such things as vibration and shock, moisture intrusion, etc. There must be a set of specs for such things as reliability and battery life, both shelf life and operating life, the unit must meet but I don't know what they are and I've never seem them. I've only read oblique references to them. I think they are real. I do know the shelf life for the battery in my ACR unit is 5 years to result in some minimum number of hours of beacon operation. I do not know what the beacon mode operational life span is. For example, what is the beacon mode difference between your smaller PLB, with presumably a smaller battery, and my larger unit with its larger battery. Like you, I assume that the size difference is mostly due to battery size. I'm not at all sure I would go with the smaller unit due to this difference. But, maybe the smaller battery is just as efficient as my large one because it is newer. My PLB is about 5 years old and due for a battery replacement in Dec. of this year.

There was a confusing statement in the write up concerning the lifespan of a PLB. It stated 10 years. The implication is after ten years one should just toss the unit in the trash. However, I can't believe that was the meaning of the statement. I think it was referring to the battery replacement cycle. In my case, ACR wants to replace the battery after five years of non-use or immediately if the unit has been activated. The unit does not have a recharge capability. This is on-purpose. Does anybody have any information concerning this? Has the battery change cycle changed to 10 years on the newer units? Don't know.

I checked out your REI link and took a look at the unit you bought. It's cute, definitely smaller than mine. I would say about half the size. Since the antenna wraps around the periphery of the PLB, does yours have a shorter antenna than mine? It might affect RF performance.

I would like to know the exact paper trail that is created for each contact. I also would like to know what the legal requirements are for the manufactures to track the life history of each PLB they sell. I'm certain the paper trail exists. The government can't resist paper trails and they can be very useful if difficulties arise.

The $10,000 fine for prank activations should discourage most of the idiots that would do such a thing. But maybe not. Since they are idiots to start with there is probably no reason to think that they would know enough to realize the fine exists and they can be prosecuted. Ultimately, the PLB system must rely on the good common sense of the general user. It's a good bet.

Why someone would buy an expensive tool like a PLB and not register it is beyond me. Equally important, those of us that have bought a PLB should make intense efforts to keep their contact list up to date. This can be done over the internet and it's easy. Additionally, before we go on a trip we should make a point to talk to our contacts and inform them of the trip, the approximate location, and the approximate dates. This is best done my email to eliminate any possible confusion. If these things change significantly during the course of the trip I would call my contacts with the new information. In my case I would also tell them which vehicle I am taking - my red Jeep YJ or my dark green JKU. This might make my vehicle easier to visually spot for the SAR folks. When I return I should let my contacts know by email. The contact info closes the loop for the PLB system to work most efficiently. I have my contact phone numbers and email addresses stored in my contact list in my iPhone.

Thanks, Sparky

[Mashurst]

Good read. It does say it works better at getting out of deep canyons and through trees than SPOT. That is a big plus.

From the REI site “This Personal Locator Beacon should only be used in situations of grave and imminent danger, and only as a last resort when all means of self-rescue have been exhausted.” This one is the biggest down side of this over something like SPOT.

I had the opportunity this weekend at field day to ask a local fire chief what he thought of them. His general attitude was that the new ones were much better than the old ones but it was clear false alarms were a big problem for him still. He said that here in northern California “the call” bounces from the Air force Rescue Coordination Center to the Coast Guard so that they can respond if they think it is in their jurisdiction either on the coast or on one of the inland waterways in the delta. If they don’t think it’s on water they then bounce it to the appropriate land based agency; in his case the Eldorado County Sheriff’s 911 office. From there it would only come to him if he had assets the sheriff’s department needed for some reason. It sounds like that is more than often enough for his liking. He also mentioned that when he worked up in Idaho the chain skipped the Coast Guard link. He said that one should not expect a fast response. He mentioned that “you’re not going to be giving CPR till help arrives”, but he also said that they would always do much better than the 24hrs that is the declared standard for the system so that is comforting. He mentioned that his department can call of the state police helicopters for mutual aid and that the first hour on scene is free to him indicating that most simple searches with a PLB could be wrapped up within that time frame. Based on the conversation in whole it sounds like 2 to 6 hours might be a good expectation for help on the scene within Eldorado County. We have a lot of very hard to get to areas here but nothing is really all that far out as the helicopter flies. I believe the county has two helicopters and as I said the state operates helicopter in the area. There are also two commercial life flight survives that cover the area but I’m thinking they would not get involved unless ground contact was made first. Maybe areas like remote parts of Nevada Utah or Idaho would take longer because resources would have to travel farther to reach you. Also if the cost to the agency of sending air resources is high they may choose to use land based resources extending response time considerably.

His reaction clearly told the story of the weakness of these things in that as soon as I brought it up his annoyance with them was clear. He mentioned getting called out with 20min left in his shift to respond to what turned out to be a false alarm.

For me it sounds like carrying one would be a comfort. As a last resort it would have its place. Honestly though, I can’t really picture a scenario where I would use it. For any kind of acute trauma type of injury it will be too slow, barring that I can’t see being so out of other options I would pull the trigger. On the other hand fatalities do seem to abide within that space where one can’t imagine how things could turn wrong. I would sure like to hear a few stories where people have used them.

I think a big part of the draw to back county travel is that one must attempt to imagine all that could go wrong and apply ones wit to countering or at least mitigating the risk. This thing seems to serve as the ejector seat to be used when ones wit has failed entirely.

[Karma]

HI MAS,
Injury certainly would be the most traumatic situation involving PLB's. I can envision many cases where 24 hours is not fast enough. However, I can also see where the situation is much more mundane such a vehicle brake down in the middle of nowhere in the desert heat. In this case 24 hour response would be plenty fast.

Also you must factor in the alternatives. How can you do better? I don't know of another way.

As far as the sheriff being irritated, I'm not sympathetic. That's what he is paid to do. If he does not like it he should be employed else where.

Honestly, I think you are picking nits.

Sparky

[Sawyer]

For me it sounds like carrying one would be a comfort. As a last resort it would have its place. Honestly though, I can’t really picture a scenario where I would use it. For any kind of acute trauma type of injury it will be too slow, barring that I can’t see being so out of other options I would pull the trigger. On the other hand fatalities do seem to abide within that space where one can’t imagine how things could turn wrong. I would sure like to hear a few stories where people have used them.

I have never actually used one. But, I would like to get one for some of my forays... An example of when I "might" have needed one.... A couple years ago me and a couple friends Skied into the Bradley Hut up in Lake Tahoe. On the way out I took a tumble and was hurting pretty good. I tore my MCL and thought I had fractured my hip. I was a good three miles from the road. We were debating if they were going to have to leave me behind to go for help. The pain eventually wore off enough I was able to ski out on my own. I couldnt walk the next day... The area gets a fair amount of people snowshoeing for the day and I am sure others would have come across me. But, (as a WEMT myself) it would take a LOT of work to get a 210 lb guy out of the backcountry without a stretcher or snowmobile. Had I not been able to get myself out. I would have had to pull out my sleeping pad and sleeping bag and waited a couple of hours for my friends to get out to the road, then get to cell reception, then wait for rescue. It wold be real ease to succumb to hypothermia in that time. Not to mention any possible internal bleeding from a fractured hip... So, I can definitely see a use for these in my life. But like in the other threads.... It is not something I want to rely on as my only source. It needs to be a life and death situation....

[Karma]

HI Sawyer,
Whatever emergency rescue strategy you choose, you should have something good. But you don't seem to have anything. Why is that? This is really not something that should be put off. Come on, get busy. A PLB is not that expensive. Your experience should have shown you that a good strategy is needed and the timing is not predictable.

Sparky

[Mashurst]

A couple years ago me and a couple friends Skied into the Bradley Hut up in Lake Tahoe. On the way out I took a tumble and was hurting pretty good. I tore my MCL and thought I had fractured my hip. I was a good three miles from the road.

I agree with Spanky on this one. You need something. A PLB would be a bare minimum IMHO. I like your signature but if you chose to sail away from the proverbial safe harbor the responsibility falls on you to be prepared. That said I have plenty of dumb things and found my self in quite a few tight spots as a result.
Your experience prompted me to look up the fatalities from the area SARs site. Here are the ones that did not involve some kind of mental problem.
http://comspark.com/esarc/searches/1...aattahoe_f.htm
http://comspark.com/esarc/searches/1..._freeskier.htm
http://comspark.com/esarc/searches/10mtrosefatality.htm

[Karma]

HI Mashurst,
The name is Sparky, please.

Sparky

[Mashurst]

HI Mashurst,
The name is Sparky, please.

Sparky

Oh Man! Sorry about that...

[Karma]

HI Mashurst,
I just read through a number of the SAR reports. They are good demonstrations of how seemingly innocent activities can turn into something serious. They also demonstrate that the victims had no emergency systems with them. This placed a huge burden on the SAR team just to locate the person. Most of the rescues were successful which, really, was just good luck and good work by the SAR team.

Given the sheer numbers of people participating in outdoor activities, the percentage of rescues is pretty low. But if you are the one that needs rescue, statistics are meaningless.

Interesting links. Thanks for sharing

Sparky