Just about everyone has a cellphone these days, and the ability to stay in touch with friends and family wherever you are is usually taken for granted. There is no denying that they have also been responsible for saving many lives by allowing stranded or injured hikers, hunters and motorists to get in touch with someone when trouble arises and they need help.
However, despite claims to the contrary by the companies that provide mobile services, there are many large areas of the country where mobile phones don’t receive a signal leaving you out of touch and having to fend for yourself.
If you like to go hunting or camping anywhere off the beaten path where phones don’t work, or just want to be able to keep in touch in case your phone fails, has a flat battery, or if you travel overseas and don’t want to pay those huge roaming charges, you need to have a device that doesn’t depend on mobile phone technology.
That’s where PLBs, or Personal Locator Beacons can come into play. These are derived from the EPIRBs (Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon) that are commonly found on most commercial and some private boats and have saved many at sea from disaster. Utilizing various satellite systems instead of cell towers, these can provide some form of communication just about anywhere on the planet as long as you have a clear view of the sky.
PLBs come in various flavors, and in the US usually fall into one of three types. The first is the pure emergency-location type such as ResQLink which serve one function only. In a crisis all it takes is a push of a button to send an SOS to local Search and Rescue people with your position, utilizing the government-owned COSPAS/SARSAT system The main advantage is cost–once you purchase the device there is no service plan needed to use it.
The next two devices are technically not PLBs, but instead are called SEND or Satellite Emergency Notification Devices. Both use privately owned satellite systems and require a monthly subscription. One popular model is SPOT which utilizes the Globalstar satellite network. It is a low power transmitter and coverage is not complete across the planet, but it is fairly inexpensive to buy (look for them on sites like Amazon.com to do a little comparison shopping) and requires a monthly subscription fee. The second popular brand is the Delorme InReach (inreachdelorme.com). Although a little more expensive than the SPOT products, it has more features, uses the Iridium world-wide satellite system, and has the ability to both send and receive short text messages and track your path as well as the usual SOS function. This 2-way communication ability not only lets you have a back-and-forth “conversation”, but in the case of a real emergency, allows the GEOS operator to let you know your message was received and to get further info from you regarding your problem. With the ResQLink and SPOT systems, you press the SOS button and hope that it went through.
The model I bought is the inReach SE. It doesn’t have onscreen routing and waypoints like the more expensive Explorer model, but I didn’t consider that essential for what I wanted. After I received the unit, I had it set up in less than 15 minutes with a subscription plan that allows me to change plans up or down as needed with no fee, as well as suspend the plan for any months that I don’t intend to use it. The basic service I chose is less than $15 per month–not too bad given the safety and peace of mind it brings.
When setting up the inReach, I was able to write 3 preset messages that can be sent to pre-determined recipients with just a couple of keystrokes such as ” Arrived safely. All is well.” as well as any number of common messages that can be sent by SMS or email to anyone. This can save a lot of typing time, a good thing given the somewhat clunky onscreen keyboard interface. I recently tested the inReach during a trip away to Nevada to go shoot some auto machine guns and submachine guns with some friends, and was able to send a message to my better half telling her I was OK, and got a reply back from her within minutes. Of course the tracking info included with my message also let her know I was actually at the gun range and not losing my money at a casino, so use at your own risk!
The inReach also has an app for iPhones, iPads, and Android devices that can link the inReach to your phone or tablet via Bluetooth and turn it into a large screen mapping and messaging adjunct. Very nice!
Another good feature is the inclusion of a link to a map showing my location as a part of any message I send. You can also have the unit send regular tracking info that someone else can follow on their computer. It even can post your location to your favorite social media site, such as Facebook or Twitter.
I now know that I can head off into the woods and be assured that I can let my wife know I am OK (she thinks I’m getting old and feeble) or if anything bad did happen, help would soon be on the way. That sort of peace of mind is worth the money it costs and could potentially save my life one day.
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