Who panics and presses that little orange button the most?

[GrantK]

that’s wild. When I lived in AK I was always told that if SAR had to come get you, you had to pay the bill, which would be beyond $100k, so you were better off just dying.

Idk about that, but there ought to be some financial disincentive to keep people from venturing beyond their abilities.

just seems like a good opportunity for a “f&$@ around and find out” lesson.

that myth is strong and keeps a lot of people from calling for help until it's too late, as a general rule SAR in the US is free, unless, as @TOGIE said, you get put on an air ambulance or ambulance, as to the air ambulance, I've never seen a person put on one that was in a condition to protest, if SAR calls for one you probably really, really need one... there are a few states that have the ability to charge for frivolous rescues written into law but the bar to call a rescue "frivolous" is really high, there's really no way if you were in legitimate danger that you would get charged...

out of the US it varies pretty wildly, a fair bit of Europe you just pre-buy rescue insurance for the region and a helicopter will come get you for ridiculously cheap... most anywhere else it's worth springing for some rescue insurance, I've been indirectly involved in some friends rescue in Patagonia and it's really nice to have an organization like global rescue or ripcord involved, they have connections and a lot more pull to make things happen if things do go south...

 

[FREAK]

This guy who scratched his arm while shedhunting made a youtube about having to call SAR to get plucked off a foothill.

Zac Griffith

Summit Productions

zacgriffith.com

He has some familiar "Partners"

I feel like a real man for walking out 4 miles and driving two hours to the urgent care. I had to talk the doc into putting it back together, he wanted to send me to plastic surgeon. Best 250$’s I’ve spent in a long time.

Wish I hit the button. Maybe I’d still have a shot at a modeling career.

 

[cgasner1]

Couple years ago I come rolling into one of my fav elk spots to like 20 trucks being parked there. A insta hunter had killed a bull the night before and ran her phone dead posting pics. Long story short she got lost and spent the night out there. 400 yards from her truck. You could blind fold me spin me on circles for 10 min and I could find may way out of this spot with the blindfold on. People are stupid surpised it’s not more. They also helped break and pack bull out which was pretty much all trash. I’m sure @antlerradar rembers hearing about it.

 

[FREAK]

Couple years ago I come rolling into one of my fav elk spots to like 20 trucks being parked there. A insta hunter had killed a bull the night before and ran her phone dead posting pics. Long story short she got lost and spent the night out there. 400 yards from her truck. You could blind fold me spin me on circles for 10 min and I could find may way out of this spot with the blindfold on. People are stupid surpised it’s not more

Before all the gps stuff we have now, I sent my BIL to an elk spot close to town. Didn’t hear from him so went looking around 11pm thinking maybe he shot something. Found his truck and started hiking in. About 150 yards above the road I saw this huge fire. He got turned around and was ready to stay the night.

I got lost in a snowstorm once. Got tunnel vision tracking an elk and got turned around. Chit happens, only takes once to take it a bit more serous.

 

[Kiwi]

The map of New Zealand is just dots! Per capita I’d say we have a high number of emergency devices.

Also in New Zealand you’ll get a free (to you) chopper ride if you call SOS, no questions asked. In fact anyone, including visitors, who has an accident here gets medial help without charge.

 

[LopeHunter]

But I think they truly do want the exact opposite. Look at any county SAR webpage in Colorado and you’ll likely find words of some sort on there stating to not hesitate to call for help as rescue is free.

They don’t want people dying because they’re afraid of bills.

Now, what’s not free is getting put in air and ground ambulances. But that’s generally separate from SAR

I thought was free in CO if had a hunting license for the current year.

 

[cgasner1]

Before all the gps stuff we have now, I sent my BIL to an elk spot close to town. Didn’t hear from him so went looking around 11pm thinking maybe he shot something. Found his truck and started hiking in. About 150 yards above the road I saw this huge fire. He got turned around and was ready to stay the night.

I got lost in a snowstorm once. Got tunnel vision tracking an elk and got turned around. Chit happens, only takes once to take it a bit more serous.

On x has saved my ass 2 once in a nasty snow storm that rolled in couldn’t see my hand the other was about same show but fog. It happens but I’d bet a lot of it doesn’t need to

 

[LopeHunter]

Before all the gps stuff we have now, I sent my BIL to an elk spot close to town. Didn’t hear from him so went looking around 11pm thinking maybe he shot something. Found his truck and started hiking in. About 150 yards above the road I saw this huge fire. He got turned around and was ready to stay the night.

I got lost in a snowstorm once. Got tunnel vision tracking an elk and got turned around. Chit happens, only takes once to take it a bit more serous.

Long story. I was hunting where could park on a dirt road and hike for an hour or two without crossing another road. Portable GPS ate pricy batteries for lunch so I marked the SUV, turned off the GPS for the next 8 hours then as lost light for the day I turned on the GPS. Was 40 minutes from the SUV as a slightly drunk crow might fly so an easy hour hike. I shut off the GPS, turned on my headlamp and started walking. There was quite of bit of vegetation so had to zig then zag but nothing that challenging as I would adjust and keep churning.

After 20 minutes I powered up the GPS and waited for it to lock onto multiple satellites and WTF? I was way off dead reckoning and still roughly the same distance as when started the hike at dark so I rotated to the east and walked but kept the GPS running this time so I could stop getting so far off course.

After about 5 minutes of walking and watching the GPS screen display the SUV rotated from 12 o'clock to 5 o'clock. I stayed still and after a couple of minutes another rotation took place.

I walked for about 2 hours and the GPS batteries were fading. Was not too cold out, clear skies. But, was starting to wonder if I had a stroke.

I then recalled there was a major interstate about 2 miles parallel to the road where I parked and now that was around 9pm I could make out the engine noise of an 18-wheeler. That paved road would be to my right if I was hiking south to the SUV. Felt foolish and got a lot more exercise that evening than was necessary.

Drove to get fuel as headed out and bumped into another hunter at the pumps. Mentioned my GPS was broken and he laughed and asked where I was from. I told him I was from out-of-state and he said this region had quite a bit of iron deposits near the surface so handheld GPS were not always reliable.

 

[elevatorman]

On x has saved my ass 2 once in a nasty snow storm that rolled in couldn’t see my hand the other was about same show but fog. It happens but I’d bet a lot of it doesn’t need to

I haven't been lost yet, but onyx is very helpful. I could see how it would save you if you were lost. As long as you download the maps for offline use you don't need cell signal for the maps/GPS to work. I usually save a up close map of my hunting area for detail and a wide map in case I end up where I didn't think I'd be

 

[Flatbrimmer]

I feel like a real man for walking out 4 miles and driving two hours to the urgent care. I had to talk the doc into putting it back together, he wanted to send me to plastic surgeon. Best 250$’s I’ve spent in a long time.

Wish I hit the button. Maybe I’d still have a shot at a modeling career. View attachment 318447View attachment 318446

Such a gnarly picture. Definitely could have been worse.

You might be an arse, but glad you’re alright. lol

 

[RobG]

I used it this summer for a 70ish year old guy my wife and I met while we were fishing a couple miles into Yellowstone. He'd been bucked off his horse and everything he needed was on it, including his meds, keys, and water. We started walking back with him to make sure he was ok. He was exhausted from the walking and it was really hot. I pushed the button when he started acting funny and we still had a mile to go. By then we had caught the horse and got his meds. The people checked him out and then we slowly made our way back to the parking lot.

I thought he'd be mad I called in help since he was a proud person, but he was grateful when help arrived. He wound up sending us a $100 gift card.

 

[Elkmagnet]

I'm surprised there's not an " accidental activation" section in the stats, I'd guess close to half the calls our SAR team gets off of Inreach are false alarms, maybe those go into the "self-rescue" category? for a while there was a software/hardware glitch with the Inreach Mini where the button could be held down and trigger a SOS without the device being powered on or the cover removed, there were times when we would get multiple false alarms a day out of that, PSA, update the firmware on your device regularly, and reply to the dispatch text if you do accidentally set it off if you don't want SAR to interrupt your hunt...

Friend of a friend had spent most of a day belly crawling into position on an animal when a helicopter showed up.
He was surprised to learn he had pushed the button repeatedly throughout the day.

 

[Elkmagnet]

I think you can have multiple reasons for a "hotspot".
Having really popular hiking trails in rough county with unpredictable weather would be one.
Having weak minded hikers in average terrain and a little bad weather would be another.

 

[Straight Arrow]

A few short years ago crashed in a rocky ravine in Gates of the Mountains Wilderness with backpack pushing down hard enough to severe my patellar tendon. Luck was with me when wife found cell service, was talked through the ONX app on my phone and summoned Two Bear Air to hoist me off the steep mountain with their fabulous Bell 429 four-bladed, twin engine, 175 mph helicopter to the waiting ambulance. When we saw a short article in the news about an "elderly couple" having to be airlifted out of the Gates of the Mountains Wilderness, we said, "What a coincidence?!"


Fast forward to last summer, deep in the Bob Marshall Wilderness up Wrong Creek, a "seldom maintained" trail actually never maintained, we spent a long afternoon and evening climbing over several layers of blowdown with heavy packs, losing the trail and spending the night off-trail and low on water. Next morning my wife was ready to push the SOS button on the Mini Garmin, but was talked into giving me til noon to find the trail ... which luckily we did. What persuaded her was when I said, "If Two Bear Air shows up again to save us, they will likely say 'not you two again!' Why don't you take up golf or gardening or some less risky activity for the elderly?!"

 

[Bambistew]

one of my coworkers got to spend a day in interrogation recently. Some foreign countries do not allow the use of 2-way communication. Know before you go... Nothing worse than being a foreigner and having an illegal device.

I always worry about accidently pushing the button. That would be an expensive ride out. I have learned that if you're in AK wait until the weather is a little less than perfect so the Air Guard comes instead of one of the $$$ extraction helos. The former is "free." Or just wave them off when they come, and then push the button a little later.

 

[Beignet]

I believe Garmin offers SAR insurance for ~$40/year. Seems well worth it to me if you’re ever going to be more than a day from your vehicle in a remote area.

 

[Brandon270]

So what’s activating one of these run a person, in USD, after it’s all said and done? I assume the person who made the call foots the bill for the SAR, no?

Somewhat related but not, my son had to be airlifted to a children's hospital when he was born. It was 28k base rate plus 22k for mileage, the hospital was 40 miles away.

 

[Dinkshooter]

None in Russia=Studs!

 

[cgasner1]

Somewhat related but not, my son had to be airlifted to a children's hospital when he was born. It was 28k base rate plus 22k for mileage, the hospital was 40 miles away.

That’s crazy

 

[cgasner1]

Also don’t forget to donate to the Wyoming sar when you buy your license if you donate they don’t charge when they come get your dumbass.