tarol
Trail Wise!
Redding, CA
Posts: 582 
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Post by tarol on Jul 1, 2015 17:21:37 GMT -8
I'd recommend everyone get themselves a PLB or a SPOT ASAP!!! I just worked 14 days straight on the Lake Fire which burned hot and fast up a good chunk of the San Gorgonio Wilderness. First morning a guy was rescued off the South Fork Trail because he had one of these devices to signal for help. I shudder to think what would've happened otherwise. I talked to his wife a couple of times and she was so thankful. www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-wildfire-san-bernardino-national-forest-20150618-story.html |
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Roger
Trail Wise!
Posts: 200 
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Post by Roger on Jul 1, 2015 18:47:57 GMT -8
I have both a PLB and SPOT which I carry with when I am paddling or hiking out of cell phone range.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2015 5:15:03 GMT -8
Great story. Instead of initiating a rescue after an injury, it prevented one.
I have switched from a PLB to the InReach SE because of the extra communication capability, which could be crucial in having a successful outcome. Seconding tarol's plea, carry one! Like insurance, you may never need it but it might just save your, or someone else's, life. |
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Jul 2, 2015 9:27:36 GMT -8
Great reminder: wildfire is probably the summer season's snowstorm in that regard, but less predictable.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2015 18:00:05 GMT -8
I have switched from a PLB to the InReach SE because of the extra communication capability, which could be crucial in having a successful outcome. I carry both a Spot and an inReach. I like the inReach for the same reasons. However, I have had my Spot work in places where my inReach would not until I hiked about a half mile. Of course, the reverse could happen too, as it all depends on satellite positions (Spot uses a different system to send to than does inReach). But it sure is nice to NOT have to guess if your message was received by the system with the inReach. I use my Spot just about every day, but more as a toy. Such as where I am taking the doggy for a hike. Here is today's example.For those here not real familiar with each: With the Spot and PLB we have to guess if our message was received. But the odds are very good when under a lot of clear sky. But with the inReach we know for certain, regardless of location. And with the inReach we can communicate with S and R (as well as anybody else) what the problem is, such as "bit by rattlesnake" or whatever. The inReach can also send short text messages to e-mail accounts, to another inReach or to a cellphone (the receiving cell phone will have to get in range of a cell system, of course)when far from any cell service. Any e-mail account that you send to, can then reply. If they save the link, they can send to you at any time after they once have it. One reason it's done this way to make sure there is no chance of any spam on the system. IOW, you cannot receive ALL your email on it, only what is sent to the link you provided from the inReach to others of your choice. -Don- SSF, CA |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2015 19:22:50 GMT -8
That is very surprising about the InReach since it uses the Iridium satellite network. My experience so far has been that it has always worked.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2015 22:51:28 GMT -8
That is very surprising about the InReach since it uses the Iridium satellite network. My experience so far has been that it has always worked. It does "always work" no exceptions! But that is because it tells us when it is not working so we can move a few feet or get in a better location so it does. Or wait for one of the 66 active Iridium satellites to get in a better location for your area. We do not have to guess as we do with the Spot. If you have not had a problem getting an inReach message out from any location, you have not used it much. Try in from the bottom of a few valleys and canyons. Once it took me 20 minutes to get my message into the Iridium system after walking around with it all that time. That was at Lake Davis, CA. Other times, it gets out in five seconds or less from there, with acknowledgment (when icon stops spinning next to message). Of course it is possible to get into the system and miss the acknowledgement coming back so the unit "thinks" it never got out. But when it says it got into the system there is no doubt at all that it did. And that should always be possible, at least if you can walk with it. Or wait for a Iridium satellite to get in position for your location, if you cannot move in an emergency. However, around 75% of my Spot messages don't get out at all from there at Lake Davis, CA. But then I don't know until I get home. And that is when keeping it on for the full +20 minutes (until the "ok" button stops blinking, which means four tries five minutes apart) under clear sky but just not always wide enough sky to hit any of the 48 active GlobarStar satellites from that valley. BTW, based on my own experiences, they *BOTH* always work under wide clear sky. Such as in the desert, next to the ocean, or on the very top of a hilltop without any trees above. But conditions are not always perfect when you need to use either, but then, the inReach lets us know if it worked. No guessing. -Don- SSF, CA |
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