Thanks, my acr plb from 2007 has a replaceable lithium battery is 5 to 6 years, the unit is sent to a acr certified service center, cost is about $150, the battery is replaced, the unit tested and resealed.
Good info mate, thanks for the comparison. As someone who is required to respond and coordinate resources when a PLB is activated, I’m going to have to say it is very useful being able to communicate with the injured, lost, etc. Ie InReach. Knowing what the issue is reduces the risk to rescuers and creates a more effective and efficient overall response. Versus sending the whole rescue arsenal at an activation, when it may be overkill or insufficient for the response, ie. snake bite. Personally I carry a PLB as my rock solid back up as you said, tried and tested procedures. I also carry a Garmin GPSMAP 66i which is a premium GPS navigational device as well as the InReach features to communicate during an issue/emergency. This communication not only goes to the ‘3rd Party’ monitoring agency, which frankly I wouldn’t rely on 100%, but you can communicate with friends, family, and colleagues who can also get the ball rolling with the coordinates and maps you can send them from the device. In my opinion carry both. Cheers mate 🍻
I live in New Mexico USA and frequently go off-roading alone in my 40 year old Land Cruiser or on a motorcycle. One of my concerns is if my vehicle breaks down or gets stuck in the middle of nowhere, it’d be nice to send a non-emergency message to send help but not the US Military with three Blackhawks and a team of commandos. Because of that I’ll be getting a two way communicator. Great video, thanks
Yeah, the problem is a two-way communicators have about 1/10 of one want where are the ACR PLB has 5 W. So if you’re in a deep canyon or you’re under his snow covered canopy, your communicator might not gonna get out. Plus they use private satellite networks and there’s been problems with a spot where people have died because they have not sent rescuers because I thought it wasn’t a true emergency. That can’t happen with the ACRPLB. It’s a worldwide Netwerk, the satellites are government owned, and they must respond. I get wanting to communicate with family, but do yourself a favor and get yourself a PL be in addition to your satellite Communicare because if something really goes down, you’re gonna need a PLB. They also have a five-year battery your satellite communicators is not gonna do any good with a dead battery. There is some real value to being able to communicate two ways I get that. I really think if a person is going to be doing these type of activities they should carry both devices now it’s true that both devices might end up costing six or $700 but that’s kind of the cost of doing business. Think of it is insurance think of it is required equipment you wouldn’t Not buy carabiners if you were a mountain climber I think people should just consider this necessary and required equipment save up for it even if it takes you a year save up $700 and get them both one of the newer ones a Motorola is only $150 and it comes with two years of free service after that it’s only five dollars a month so that’s an example where you could buy a personal locator beacon and then by the Motorola as your satellite Communicator. You’re walking out the door with that including two years of subscription for about 500 to 550.
The PLB is the no-nonsense, bare bones emergency system that will not fail you for that narrow purpose. If you prefer to add side features for lesser emergencies and conversations, you'll have to pay a hefty premium for a fancier more complex device. You can also combine devices: a GPS, a two-way text systems, and PLB with Garmin's Explorer+. But at a hefty buy-in and on-going service subscription. I love free markets: you choose, you pay what you have to for your choice.
Good choice. Satellite messengers are NOT equivalent to PLBs for emergency rescue. The US Dept. of Agriculture tested Spot and found it to be effective when there was an unobstructed view of the sky, but the ability to get a message out was very ahem, SPOTTY, under tree cover. In some cases under tree cover, Spot messages failed more often than they succeeded. And they only work if your subscription service is paid up. Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) can transmit at 5 watts power (versus 1.6w max for sat messengers), allowing them to punch thru poor conditions much better than sat messengers. PLBs have enough power to transmit directly to geostationary satellites, which orbit at 22,000 miles in space. Sat messengers can't do that. In the continental US, for example, there are two geostationary NOAA satellites overhead at all times, capable of picking up PLB distress signals very quickly - usually less than 5 minutes. Sat messengers access satellites in low earth orbit, with a sat passing over every 90-100 minutes. So it's likely that your PLB distress signal will be picked up more quickly than a Spot/Garmin distress signal. Your PLB will also work globally, without any payment or subscription. The one advantage of subscription sat messengers over PLBs is the ability to send two way, non-emergency messages to family and friends. That capability might be worth paying for, in very remote places where there's no hope of sending a text on your cell. But for a real life and death emergency in unknown conditions, when time counts, anywhere on Earth, PLBs are by far the best choice.
Thanks for posting such a detailed post, I couldn’t agree more. I have since been using a Garmin InReach but ALWAYS carry my PLB, that will always be with me for anything remote. The InReach as you said, I use for none emergency check in’s
I saw your video on the InReach Mini. Has that replaced your ACR or do you carry both? I have had an ACR PLB for about 5 years (almost time for a battery swap), but recently purchased an InReach Mini on sale. At only 3.5 ounces. I will probably carry both on international remote treks/explorations. I'm big on having a "Plan B". Thanks for the videos.
Still have the ACR PLB and it's also due for a battery change. I totally get your point of view and am really considering getting the InReach Mini since its so light and simple. Especially as I get more into the more remote stuff. I'm also a huge believer in redundancy so when you put it like that, it makes a lot of sense. Thanks for posting and watching :)
Excellent points made about the PLB vs Spot-type (subscription). Yeah, the subscription is quite a lot per year for those other devices. Furthermore, although a mobile signal might be intermittent, nevertheless there is usually opportunity at some stage to let family know how you're getting along on your trip. What you need therefore is a device that is simple, reliable and will alert the proper authorities in the event of an emergency. The PLB does that, at a reasonable price. In the UK for example, Amazon currently have one for £224.98, which has a storage life of 6 years and if activated the battery will last for 24 hours, transmitting on 2 frequencies. No subscription, of course. One drawback from these, is that you cannot take such a device on a plane if the battery is greater than 2g. So either choose a device with a smaller battery, or make some other arrangement. Most will permit re-programming to work in countries worldwide, but this should be checked before purchase if it is to be used outside your usual country of residence. Thanks for bringing this topic up - it's really good to know what the options are and I agree with you that a simple PLB is likely to be the best option for most of us.
Thanks for watching and posting Neil In Australia you cannot have them in checked luggage but you can put it in your carry on. Can you not do that the same in the UK? Thats a shame if so. I also forgot to mention that when you register you generally have a section which you can fill out information (and update as frequently as you want, for example for each trip) where you can put for example your medical information, if you have any allergies ect, or how many people in your party on this trip ect so that when the duress is triggered the authorities get that information and can be more prepared for your rescue. Thanks again for watching and commenting
Nice review. The benefit of the Garmin Inreach is the ability to communicate with people in the event of a non-emergency that still requires assistance of some kind (e.g., your Jeep runs out of gas in the backcountry, or you sprain your ankle on the trail). With the ACR, your only option is using it in a dire emergency. The Inreach is more functional in that regard, but costs substantially more over time with subscription fees. I’d posit that these minor emergency scenarios (out of gas, sprained ankle) are more likely than the serious, life threatening emergency scenarios. Both devices are going to work well as far as sending SOS.
The thing that bugs me about the Inreach is that without an active subscription the device is completely useless. If you could use the Inreach mini with a suspended subscription just like a normal PLB I would buy one. ☺
Another important point that should be considered is in the event of a life or death emergency. The ACR devices are much more likely to get a signal out. They have 5 W of power compared to usually less than one watt of power with a satellite communicator further they use three different satellite constellations to pick up the signals. Each of the satellite constellations has numerous satellites. The satellite communicators all use just one constellation. Further, the PLB‘s were designed from the ground up to be life-saving devices the batteries last five years, because of the three different satellite constellations your chances of getting a signal out are much greater if you’re deep in a canyon or under a snow covered tree canopy further over 43 governments of the world subscribed to participate in the search and rescue aspect of the network there have been people who have died using a spot device because spot thought that it was not an emergency and did not send rescue spot thought that it was a false alarm. The ability to communicate two ways undoubtably as a great feature of satellite communicators but in a true emergency, there’s only one that really can perform head and shoulders above the rest and that’s any true personal locator beacon. There are other reasons that are numerous here but my advice would be if you can to carry both devices one other thing please don’t put them in the bottom of your backpack or even clip them on your backpack because what if your backpack goes over a cliff or what? What if you set your backpack down the walk 20 yards to take a bathroom break and you fall down and break your leg and you can’t get to your backpack attach the beacons to your person.I loop mine through my belt loop so it’s always on me.
Thanks for the video, all good points. I'm looking into these at the moment, but one thing that is attractive about the Spot compared to a PLB is that the PLB is only fail safe if you are able to access and press the emergency button. If an accident happens and you end up separated from your device or physically unable to activate it due to injury, it is completely useless. Whereas with the Spot, your location is constantly sent to people you select. So even if you cannot activate the device, when your movement stops or you don't check in as expected, your location can still be established easily.
Great video mate and the exact same reason I’m getting one of these rather than a Garmin or SPOT device!! Do you know how to register this unit for different countries? If so a video on that would be great... cheers
Hi mate, thanks for watching, From my research the beacon is international without further registration. Meaning just register it in your home country (ie for me Australia) and if you do set it off in a country on the other side of the world the beacon signal is received by the search and rescue authority in that country. However your home country is also notified so can notify your emergency contacts/consulate ect. that is the advice provided by the government body looking after beacons here in Australia
Yes. Definitely the cost of subscription is to high. For inreach in oz and nz. Hopefully as more devices us the iridium network the cost may come down.
If you don't have batteries how does it work ? It must have some sort of charge to work. Thats been one of my biggest questions before i purchase something.
@@JakeMarcin ok. Thanks. In that time probably ready to upgrade anyway. I fell last hunting season and was lucky to yet out on my own but now my wife wants me to get some kinda personal locator beacon. Thanks for the info.
Glad you made it out ok. Yes they are good, self contained units, there is no charging or swapping out batteries. So it’s very much literally pick up and go. You can preform test on it too. It is all in the specific model instructions. How long the battery lasts/when to replace and how often and how to test. Very good piece of mind All the best for your future trips :)
I'm willing to pay a subscription. But the cheapest is 25 dollars a month. Using it for only a month or two is impossible due to activation fees/minimal use fees. Plb is my jam. I'd pay 5 bucks a month for a total of 60 a year, but that option is not available.
Yeah it’s a bit steep. A $5 option where they only had the 3 pre set messages and maybe one custom would be great, would get a lot of people. But PLB is tried and true. I still always carry mine on adventures
@@JakeMarcin I appreciate the video and response. I will never get a 2 way communicator. I hope my family and friends have the confidence that I know what I'm doing out there. This is why I have a plb.
There are systems now like the Motorola communicator is just five dollars a month. Granted it’s not a PLB but it does have an SOS button and assuming it works properly and you can get a signal out you’ll get help. My vote is to have both though always have the POB first and foremost I have the exact one that the man has in this video And then as a back up Cary a communicator
These devices are essential for safety in the back country. Just wish they were cheaper so that everyone could attain them. Companies shouldn't be making 700% profit on life saving equipment. That goes for the inreach as well. Subscription I understand as sattelite services are expensive. But 500 dollars for the actual hardware is criminal for life saving equipment.
In a lot of places in Australia the local police will have them to borrow for free which is a great system because they can certainly be very expensive
Why not carry a 5 watt handheld CB radio instead That cost around 300 buck but it can be used without any subscription fee There is always someone on a channel who can call for help if needed There are also emergency channels like 5 and 35 and are allocated by the government I always carry one with me even in urban areas It's just a thought and you may want to keep it in mind Otherwise interesting video
Thanks for watching mate. Personally a PLB for me is a better solution especially since a scenario where this might be needed is when I am injured/lost and unable to give an exact position, the PLB will give that to the rescuers
Personally I find radios quite intimidating. Having written that I am considering a Baofeng HAM radio for a emergency kit bag. They cost less than $100. Normally a paid assesment amateur radio operators licence is required however the radios are legally allowed to be used in emergency scenarios. I can see an advantage to being able to talk in an emergency or just listen in what's going on.
There’s no comparison with a CB radio in a personal locator beacon. The odds of you getting someone on a CB radio if you’re out in the middle of nowhere is next to nothing. With a personal locator beacon you’ve got worldwide satellite coverage number one number two it’s transmitting your exact GPS location with longitude and latitude coordinates. Further, it’s got a homing beacon on 121 five so when the rescuers get clothes they can actually Homann on exactly where you are this is important because if you’re under a snow covered canopy your deep in a can and they won’t be able to see you. as well. It’s also got a strobe light and it’s got a infrared light for night identification. These two things are not even in the same realm. I would never trust my life to a CB radio.
Unfortunately the Garmin In Reach Mini is an ok going paid subscription which sends the SOS notification to a third party and not directly to the government rescue agencies. So the PLB for me is still the better choice. No on going fee and the SOS signal goes straight to the people who will be organising the rescue and cuts out the middle person
Yeah, I don’t think so. Look at the power alone the ACRPLB has 5 W of power which is gonna get you out from the bottom of the canyon or maybe you’re under a snow covered canopy. The Garmin in reach devices usually have 1/10 of one watts. You don’t wanna trust your life to that. You’ll never get out from a heavy canopy with that. Further, what is the batteries are dead? The PLB batteries last 5 to 6 years there’s no worried about charging them or forgetting to charge them. To me the Garmin in reach in the spot is no different than a cell phone. If it goes dead it’s worthless. Oh, I forgot to charge it. Well, you’re done.
Thanks, my acr plb from 2007 has a replaceable lithium battery is 5 to 6 years, the unit is sent to a acr certified service center, cost is about $150, the battery is replaced, the unit tested and resealed.
Quick easy review without all the junk like other guys. I like simple.
Good info mate, thanks for the comparison. As someone who is required to respond and coordinate resources when a PLB is activated, I’m going to have to say it is very useful being able to communicate with the injured, lost, etc. Ie InReach. Knowing what the issue is reduces the risk to rescuers and creates a more effective and efficient overall response. Versus sending the whole rescue arsenal at an activation, when it may be overkill or insufficient for the response, ie. snake bite. Personally I carry a PLB as my rock solid back up as you said, tried and tested procedures. I also carry a Garmin GPSMAP 66i which is a premium GPS navigational device as well as the InReach features to communicate during an issue/emergency. This communication not only goes to the ‘3rd Party’ monitoring agency, which frankly I wouldn’t rely on 100%, but you can communicate with friends, family, and colleagues who can also get the ball rolling with the coordinates and maps you can send them from the device. In my opinion carry both. Cheers mate 🍻
Very very well said!
Thanks for sharing from your experience
I live in New Mexico USA and frequently go off-roading alone in my 40 year old Land Cruiser or on a motorcycle. One of my concerns is if my vehicle breaks down or gets stuck in the middle of nowhere, it’d be nice to send a non-emergency message to send help but not the US Military with three Blackhawks and a team of commandos. Because of that I’ll be getting a two way communicator. Great video, thanks
Could also get a Ham license. Likely a repeater you could hit with a HT or mobile. No subscription. Instant voice comms.
Yeah, the problem is a two-way communicators have about 1/10 of one want where are the ACR PLB has 5 W. So if you’re in a deep canyon or you’re under his snow covered canopy, your communicator might not gonna get out. Plus they use private satellite networks and there’s been problems with a spot where people have died because they have not sent rescuers because I thought it wasn’t a true emergency. That can’t happen with the ACRPLB. It’s a worldwide Netwerk, the satellites are government owned, and they must respond. I get wanting to communicate with family, but do yourself a favor and get yourself a PL be in addition to your satellite Communicare because if something really goes down, you’re gonna need a PLB. They also have a five-year battery your satellite communicators is not gonna do any good with a dead battery. There is some real value to being able to communicate two ways I get that. I really think if a person is going to be doing these type of activities they should carry both devices now it’s true that both devices might end up costing six or $700 but that’s kind of the cost of doing business. Think of it is insurance think of it is required equipment you wouldn’t Not buy carabiners if you were a mountain climber I think people should just consider this necessary and required equipment save up for it even if it takes you a year save up $700 and get them both one of the newer ones a Motorola is only $150 and it comes with two years of free service after that it’s only five dollars a month so that’s an example where you could buy a personal locator beacon and then by the Motorola as your satellite Communicator. You’re walking out the door with that including two years of subscription for about 500 to 550.
thanks for the video, very helpful!
The PLB is the no-nonsense, bare bones emergency system that will not fail you for that narrow purpose. If you prefer to add side features for lesser emergencies and conversations, you'll have to pay a hefty premium for a fancier more complex device. You can also combine devices: a GPS, a two-way text systems, and PLB with Garmin's Explorer+. But at a hefty buy-in and on-going service subscription. I love free markets: you choose, you pay what you have to for your choice.
Absolutely
That’s why all those different types exist and are doing well.
Thanks for watching and contributing
Good choice. Satellite messengers are NOT equivalent to PLBs for emergency rescue. The US Dept. of Agriculture tested Spot and found it to be effective when there was an unobstructed view of the sky, but the ability to get a message out was very ahem, SPOTTY, under tree cover. In some cases under tree cover, Spot messages failed more often than they succeeded. And they only work if your subscription service is paid up. Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) can transmit at 5 watts power (versus 1.6w max for sat messengers), allowing them to punch thru poor conditions much better than sat messengers. PLBs have enough power to transmit directly to geostationary satellites, which orbit at 22,000 miles in space. Sat messengers can't do that. In the continental US, for example, there are two geostationary NOAA satellites overhead at all times, capable of picking up PLB distress signals very quickly - usually less than 5 minutes. Sat messengers access satellites in low earth orbit, with a sat passing over every 90-100 minutes. So it's likely that your PLB distress signal will be picked up more quickly than a Spot/Garmin distress signal. Your PLB will also work globally, without any payment or subscription. The one advantage of subscription sat messengers over PLBs is the ability to send two way, non-emergency messages to family and friends. That capability might be worth paying for, in very remote places where there's no hope of sending a text on your cell. But for a real life and death emergency in unknown conditions, when time counts, anywhere on Earth, PLBs are by far the best choice.
Thanks for posting such a detailed post, I couldn’t agree more.
I have since been using a Garmin InReach but ALWAYS carry my PLB, that will always be with me for anything remote. The InReach as you said, I use for none emergency check in’s
Great info, thanks.
@@GDuncan8002 Hope it helps.
I saw your video on the InReach Mini. Has that replaced your ACR or do you carry both? I have had an ACR PLB for about 5 years (almost time for a battery swap), but recently purchased an InReach Mini on sale. At only 3.5 ounces. I will probably carry both on international remote treks/explorations. I'm big on having a "Plan B". Thanks for the videos.
Still have the ACR PLB and it's also due for a battery change.
I totally get your point of view and am really considering getting the InReach Mini since its so light and simple. Especially as I get more into the more remote stuff.
I'm also a huge believer in redundancy so when you put it like that, it makes a lot of sense.
Thanks for posting and watching :)
My vote is to have both can’t go wrong then just make sure you have them both on your purse and not buried in a backpack that can go over a cliff
Excellent points made about the PLB vs Spot-type (subscription). Yeah, the subscription is quite a lot per year for those other devices. Furthermore, although a mobile signal might be intermittent, nevertheless there is usually opportunity at some stage to let family know how you're getting along on your trip. What you need therefore is a device that is simple, reliable and will alert the proper authorities in the event of an emergency. The PLB does that, at a reasonable price. In the UK for example, Amazon currently have one for £224.98, which has a storage life of 6 years and if activated the battery will last for 24 hours, transmitting on 2 frequencies. No subscription, of course. One drawback from these, is that you cannot take such a device on a plane if the battery is greater than 2g. So either choose a device with a smaller battery, or make some other arrangement. Most will permit re-programming to work in countries worldwide, but this should be checked before purchase if it is to be used outside your usual country of residence. Thanks for bringing this topic up - it's really good to know what the options are and I agree with you that a simple PLB is likely to be the best option for most of us.
Thanks for watching and posting Neil
In Australia you cannot have them in checked luggage but you can put it in your carry on. Can you not do that the same in the UK? Thats a shame if so.
I also forgot to mention that when you register you generally have a section which you can fill out information (and update as frequently as you want, for example for each trip) where you can put for example your medical information, if you have any allergies ect, or how many people in your party on this trip ect so that when the duress is triggered the authorities get that information and can be more prepared for your rescue.
Thanks again for watching and commenting
Nice review. The benefit of the Garmin Inreach is the ability to communicate with people in the event of a non-emergency that still requires assistance of some kind (e.g., your Jeep runs out of gas in the backcountry, or you sprain your ankle on the trail). With the ACR, your only option is using it in a dire emergency. The Inreach is more functional in that regard, but costs substantially more over time with subscription fees. I’d posit that these minor emergency scenarios (out of gas, sprained ankle) are more likely than the serious, life threatening emergency scenarios. Both devices are going to work well as far as sending SOS.
Hi SlyGuy, thanks for watching. Very good points and good scenarios where something like an Inreach would be very handy
The thing that bugs me about the Inreach is that without an active subscription the device is completely useless. If you could use the Inreach mini with a suspended subscription just like a normal PLB I would buy one. ☺
Another important point that should be considered is in the event of a life or death emergency. The ACR devices are much more likely to get a signal out. They have 5 W of power compared to usually less than one watt of power with a satellite communicator further they use three different satellite constellations to pick up the signals. Each of the satellite constellations has numerous satellites. The satellite communicators all use just one constellation. Further, the PLB‘s were designed from the ground up to be life-saving devices the batteries last five years, because of the three different satellite constellations your chances of getting a signal out are much greater if you’re deep in a canyon or under a snow covered tree canopy further over 43 governments of the world subscribed to participate in the search and rescue aspect of the network there have been people who have died using a spot device because spot thought that it was not an emergency and did not send rescue spot thought that it was a false alarm. The ability to communicate two ways undoubtably as a great feature of satellite communicators but in a true emergency, there’s only one that really can perform head and shoulders above the rest and that’s any true personal locator beacon. There are other reasons that are numerous here but my advice would be if you can to carry both devices one other thing please don’t put them in the bottom of your backpack or even clip them on your backpack because what if your backpack goes over a cliff or what? What if you set your backpack down the walk 20 yards to take a bathroom break and you fall down and break your leg and you can’t get to your backpack attach the beacons to your person.I loop mine through my belt loop so it’s always on me.
Thanks for the video, all good points. I'm looking into these at the moment, but one thing that is attractive about the Spot compared to a PLB is that the PLB is only fail safe if you are able to access and press the emergency button. If an accident happens and you end up separated from your device or physically unable to activate it due to injury, it is completely useless. Whereas with the Spot, your location is constantly sent to people you select. So even if you cannot activate the device, when your movement stops or you don't check in as expected, your location can still be established easily.
This is a very true and good point and certainly an advantage of the Spot/InReach system
I'll have to look into this. I don't want an InReach or a Spot because I simply don't want the ability to communicate with the outside world.
Couldn’t agree more
One of the many reasons I’ll be sticking with a PLB over those other devices
Great video mate and the exact same reason I’m getting one of these rather than a Garmin or SPOT device!! Do you know how to register this unit for different countries? If so a video on that would be great... cheers
Hi mate, thanks for watching,
From my research the beacon is international without further registration.
Meaning just register it in your home country (ie for me Australia) and if you do set it off in a country on the other side of the world the beacon signal is received by the search and rescue authority in that country. However your home country is also notified so can notify your emergency contacts/consulate ect.
that is the advice provided by the government body looking after beacons here in Australia
Aussie Hiker That’s great news and thanks for replying so quickly.... safe travels and I hope either of us never need to use it 🤙🏼
Yes. Definitely the cost of subscription is to high. For inreach in oz and nz. Hopefully as more devices us the iridium network the cost may come down.
Hay brother stupid question. Dose this work on land as well as sea ?
Certainly does. Send your position no matter where you are
If you don't have batteries how does it work ? It must have some sort of charge to work. Thats been one of my biggest questions before i purchase something.
The battery is in built and has an expiry date which is generally rated to last between 7-10yrs
@@JakeMarcin ok. Thanks. In that time probably ready to upgrade anyway. I fell last hunting season and was lucky to yet out on my own but now my wife wants me to get some kinda personal locator beacon. Thanks for the info.
Glad you made it out ok.
Yes they are good, self contained units, there is no charging or swapping out batteries. So it’s very much literally pick up and go.
You can preform test on it too. It is all in the specific model instructions. How long the battery lasts/when to replace and how often and how to test.
Very good piece of mind
All the best for your future trips :)
I'm willing to pay a subscription. But the cheapest is 25 dollars a month. Using it for only a month or two is impossible due to activation fees/minimal use fees. Plb is my jam. I'd pay 5 bucks a month for a total of 60 a year, but that option is not available.
Yeah it’s a bit steep.
A $5 option where they only had the 3 pre set messages and maybe one custom would be great, would get a lot of people.
But PLB is tried and true. I still always carry mine on adventures
@@JakeMarcin I appreciate the video and response. I will never get a 2 way communicator. I hope my family and friends have the confidence that I know what I'm doing out there. This is why I have a plb.
There are systems now like the Motorola communicator is just five dollars a month. Granted it’s not a PLB but it does have an SOS button and assuming it works properly and you can get a signal out you’ll get help. My vote is to have both though always have the POB first and foremost I have the exact one that the man has in this video And then as a back up Cary a communicator
These devices are essential for safety in the back country. Just wish they were cheaper so that everyone could attain them. Companies shouldn't be making 700% profit on life saving equipment. That goes for the inreach as well. Subscription I understand as sattelite services are expensive. But 500 dollars for the actual hardware is criminal for life saving equipment.
In a lot of places in Australia the local police will have them to borrow for free which is a great system because they can certainly be very expensive
Why not carry a 5 watt handheld CB radio instead
That cost around 300 buck but it can be used without any subscription fee
There is always someone on a channel who can call for help if needed
There are also emergency channels like 5 and 35 and are allocated by the government
I always carry one with me even in urban areas
It's just a thought and you may want to keep it in mind
Otherwise interesting video
Thanks for watching mate.
Personally a PLB for me is a better solution especially since a scenario where this might be needed is when I am injured/lost and unable to give an exact position, the PLB will give that to the rescuers
Personally I find radios quite intimidating. Having written that I am considering a Baofeng HAM radio for a emergency kit bag. They cost less than $100. Normally a paid assesment amateur radio operators licence is required however the radios are legally allowed to be used in emergency scenarios. I can see an advantage to being able to talk in an emergency or just listen in what's going on.
There’s no comparison with a CB radio in a personal locator beacon. The odds of you getting someone on a CB radio if you’re out in the middle of nowhere is next to nothing. With a personal locator beacon you’ve got worldwide satellite coverage number one number two it’s transmitting your exact GPS location with longitude and latitude coordinates. Further, it’s got a homing beacon on 121 five so when the rescuers get clothes they can actually Homann on exactly where you are this is important because if you’re under a snow covered canopy your deep in a can and they won’t be able to see you. as well. It’s also got a strobe light and it’s got a infrared light for night identification. These two things are not even in the same realm. I would never trust my life to a CB radio.
4:54 Aron Ralston likes this....
With the release of the Garmin In Reach mini, your arguments are void and null!
Unfortunately the Garmin In Reach Mini is an ok going paid subscription which sends the SOS notification to a third party and not directly to the government rescue agencies.
So the PLB for me is still the better choice. No on going fee and the SOS signal goes straight to the people who will be organising the rescue and cuts out the middle person
Yeah no its not mate….. missed the whole point of the video.
Yeah, I don’t think so. Look at the power alone the ACRPLB has 5 W of power which is gonna get you out from the bottom of the canyon or maybe you’re under a snow covered canopy. The Garmin in reach devices usually have 1/10 of one watts. You don’t wanna trust your life to that. You’ll never get out from a heavy canopy with that. Further, what is the batteries are dead? The PLB batteries last 5 to 6 years there’s no worried about charging them or forgetting to charge them. To me the Garmin in reach in the spot is no different than a cell phone. If it goes dead it’s worthless. Oh, I forgot to charge it. Well, you’re done.