Why don't you carry a PLB?

[coppermushroom]

A question I have been asking myself as this years DIY trip nears (2nd rifle CO)...why don't I carry an inReach or something similar? I have been fortunate enough to do a DIY backpack trip each of the past dozen years and have never used one. Over the years I have spent countless dollars upgrading gear but for some reason that has never been an item I have purchased and to be honest with you I can't really think of a good reason why. I feel like I owe it to my family to help alleviate some of their fears yet I have not been pushed enough internally to do it.

What draws me to the mountains is likely the same that pulls each of you - the solitude, getting away from the noise of civilization, the desire to see what is over that next ridge, etc. The more I think about it a PLB does not take away from this but is only a tool to help if something goes really wrong. This being the case why would I (or all of us even) be reluctant to carry one?


What are your opinions on this? Do any of you feel the same way or am I simply a selfish guy not thinking of those that care for me?

 

[Beartooth83]

I just purchased an InReach SE just for the reasons you describe. The peace of mind it gives my wife, family, and myself is well worth the price. I should have bought one years ago.

 

[HighDesertSage]

I bought the Resqlink and carry it with me. $200 bucks is pretty cheap insurance.

 

[RobG]

Cost is my only consideration, but I plunked down for one. This summer a friend's life was likely saved by his Delorme when he was hiking with his kid and started having problems and eventually seizures. He needed a helicopter rescue.

 

[----]

I've been going through the same thought process as you, and really couldn't come up with an excuse to not have one.

After messing with a friend's inreach this weekend I ordered one this morning. I was also sold on it's mapping app that comes with, seems much easier to use than the huntgpsmaps app.

It also doesn't hurt that I now have the ability to send a blanket text to everyone I know with GPS coordinates if I get a moose down by myself.

 

[Ben Long]

I've got a SPOT that I carry to keep worries and fears low at home while I am gone. But I am reminded of the late, great Larry Fischer, when he was given one for Christmas by his family. He left it in the box. "You may as well take me down to the vet's and put a chip in my ass. I'm not carrying that g....n thing."

 

[406LIFE]

I have had a SPOT GPS Messenger now for about 8 years. I hunt alone a lot (no one wants to go where I go). It's nice to be able to check in throughout the day, gives the wife peace of mind. The two safety features are: 1. Message sent to the wife and 3 others that I am in trouble, better come find me in the next 24 hours. That's for a flat tire in the middle of nowhere or I am hurt but can manage until you find me. 2. This is the big one that alerts the police, EMS, Coast Guard, etc. I press this one if I am in a real life threatening situation.

The unit cost me $50 on ebay, and $100/yr for service. Why would you not have one for that price? If you hunt out west, there are more areas without cell service than there are with it. Cheap insurance. When I teach hunter ed, I try to impress on my students its value.

The only caveat to this would be if I were buying now, I would get a sat phone. They are just a bit more in the $, but much more versatile.

 

[recon6036]

I've been wanting to purchase an Inreach for a few years now, but I always seem to spend any extra cash I have on other items for some reason. The cost of the unit and the service fee is what has been keeping me from making the purchase. Not a very valid excuse!

 

[schmalts]

I have just been waiting for them to get to the level of usefulness that they are just getting at. I want an all in one device, GPS, communication, phone, camera, compass, maps. Not too much to ask in todays tech world

 

[dallsheep]

I have a SPOT as well. A great insurance policy and keeps the worrying loved ones at ease...... when I remember to check in. The one problem with SPOT is that it is only one way communication.

 

[rideold]

Just bought an inreach se. Hunting all by my lonesome this year for both archery and rifle. I don't need or want some of what they offer. Just the ability to send an "everything is OK, going to be late" kind of message or an SOS if the true need every arises. I hope to never use the sos. I'll use the basic messaging. No desire for location pings etc. Seems to work good so far despite the activation taking a couple of hours.

 

[rideold]

I might add that a PLB is still the gold standard for rescue. Hopefully some day they will package both in the same box!

 

[mikieb]

"I might add that a PLB is still the gold standard for rescue. Hopefully some day they will package both in the same box"

I see that Garmin now owns DeLorme.... so, it could come to be that you have a Montana 680 with a satellite connected text feature... I'm sure somewhere it's on the design table now..

 

[406LIFE]

I would like to see this happen. I would think Garmin bought them with this in mind. If there were an outdoorsman phone with GPS builtin would be fantastic.

 

[Kneetopia]

Get an inReach and be done with it. If it saves your wife from having to call Search and Rescue because you are later than you said you would be................IT'S WORTH IT.

 

[rideold]

I saw that Garmin bought Delorme but it seems the two companies are running separately for now. I'd be fine if the device is just a satellite texting unit with a true PLB. I'd kind of rather have my GPS separate. Too many eggs in one basket so to speak. My beef with the inreach is that it uses the iridium network for SOS coupled with a private company rather than the S&R network that is monitored by dispatch. PLB's have a stronger signal as well.

 

[charliebravo77]

I got an inreach because I have Sprint and it's all but worthless in most of the places I hunt. I warned my the-soon to be-wife that I might not have service in WY the first time I went out, but she wasn't expecting me to disappear for 3 days and started to panic a little. Everything turned out fine but after that I decided I needed some way to check in if I was out of cell range. The peace of mind for emergency communication both directions is worth the cost of admission and doesn't take away from being in the wild at all. If anything it let's me enjoy it more since I don't worry about what might be happening at home.

 

[ElkHunter11]

This definitely got me thinking for my upcoming hunt.. Don't necessarily want to buy one, but do want to rent a sat phone. Any recommendations??

 

[Tufrthnails]

I've been thinking about getting one because of the size of the swamps I hunt here in FL. I like the idea someone was talking about with the two different setting for family then separate for Emergency services. It's not vast lands of wilderness, but 50k acres of swamp can get bad in a hurry between moccassins, gators, hogs, bear, and FL Panther aka swamp lion!

I got a question though is there one that uplinks where they could see real time info. Like sometimes it may take me 4 hours to get out of my stand and back to the truck if I didn't kill something. I'm thinking if they could see me moving towards the truck, but I wasn't back by midnight they would know I was still okay I was just dragging game out. It happened last season shot a deer 2.75 miles into the swamp at 5:45pm and at 11:30pm the GWs and sherrifs dept was riding the roads blowing there horns looking for me because my wife had called me in missing.

 

[charliebravo77]

The inreach will allow you to be tracked at intervals down to every two minutes I believe. There's a web interface your family can log into to see your position and send messages back and forth.