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With the recent 11/8/10 hiking disappearance in the Mazatzal Wilderness of our HAZ member- GPSjoe.. viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5664 , I feel certain that many of us have been re-evaluating our own personal preparedness when wilderness hiking for an unexpected happening that might necessitate an urgent call for immediate help from "Search and Rescue".

For me who often assumes too much and takes too much for granted when hiking alone or with others in some of our more remote wilderness areas, this above loss of a personal friend and hiking partner has been a true "eye opener" for me. I carry a 25 pound pack on most every day hike because I always try to prepare for the possibility of an unexpected and unplanned overnight and I wanted to be prepared for such (which has happened to me before). Until this GPSjoe unexpected hiking disappearance I had not put much thought and concern into the possibility of an unplanned overnight along with a personal injury that would necessitate an immediate need for SAR help.

I had often thought about those of us who carry a cell phone, or SPOT, or PLB(Personal Locator Beacon), or Satellite Phone, or other?, but I never took action to better prepare myself for the possibilities of this unexpected need for rescue. This holiday season 2010, Santa Claus is bringing me a new pricey high end PLB from Kannad and I did not give "need or price" a second thought this time around.

Now I am just curious how many other HAZ members/guests who are following our GPSjoe forum topic, have done or in process of doing something similar as I?

Got a SPOT from Wife Santa!

I've upgraded to the 2nd generation Spot.

$50 gift certificate for Peace Surplus, the outdoor store in Flagstaff. And a hand-knitted beanie.

This has been a big gear year for me! Considering my backpacking pack, tent, sleeping pad, stove, etc. are all from 2003 (or earlier), you may figure that I don't get new gear very often. This year I got a new Eureka! sleeping bag (won that one off of Facebook), a new Camelbak day pack (bought myself), a new Nalgene (bought myself at Chaco), and a SPOT 2 (gift from wife, activation a gift from mother-in-law).
I've been playing around with the SPOT website and the settings. I like how I can set up different profiles for the same device, so I can have different messages depending on where I'm going. I've set up a generic one and a backpacking one so far. I think I'm going to set up dayhike and car trip profiles too. So far, so good!

After a couple of backpacking trips with the same cheap crap sleeping bag, I decided that I'm asking for a new down bag for Christmas. So I got the Kelty Light Year 20 degree sleeping bag. Also an ultra light weight first aid kit and a Katadyn MyBottle Microfilter. And with the gift certificates, a new backpacking pillow, a 1.5 liter cooking pot and maybe a new backpacking tent. Not to sure about the tent yet. Looking at the Kelty Grand Mesa 2 tent. Nice price, but a little on the heavy side, 4.2 pounds. Made out like a bandit this year.

Right on! Your list reminds me that I bought myself a new camp pillow as well - a nice collapsible one.

I have been a SPOT owner for 3 years now, and my 3 hiking/backpacking kids have them now, too. Santa brought me an emergency bivvy and a windproof lighter for my day trips --I've not overnight packed in years.

Yup, I got with the program much to my hubbies delight. (I wouldn't want him to put the brakes on my hiking). Since he's more familiar with the technology he helped santa buy my Xmas present.

http://acrelectronics.com/product2.aspx?sku=2885

Links up in a matter of seconds.

Cool. Looks like some of these PLBs are starting to try and compete with SPOT - check in/OK messages, map location messages, etc. Neat!

ACR Electronics also makes a little less pricey PLB unit than their Product offering #2885 with a few less bells and whistles that also gets the job done, their Product#2883--> http://acrelectronics.com/product2.aspx?sku=2883

As previously mentioned I decided to go with the new $high end$ Kannad PLB, their Product offering XS-ER GPS--> http://www.kannad.com/en/tracking/index.php?id=149 . Since I don't have anyone around who loves me and is anxiously awaiting my gps coordinates and/or tracks mapped to them all day long via email and also I don't think I have any friends around who really want to be bothered by the same while I am out having fun and they aren't ;) , I decided on this Kannad PLB model with good looking packaging/size, floats in the desert too, a good antenna extension, 5 watts of power, and 48 hours of continuous "on" for transmitting that sends the distress signal direct to the appropriate SAR source(s) domestically or internationally to come get me and bring me in. This Kannad offering has no subscription fee options. You register it with NOAA (no charge) and when and if you ever need to push that button for SAR help in an emergency, it transmits all your embedded personal information + your GPS coordinates which reset again every 20 minutes. I should hopefully have delivered of it by Fri-12/31/10.

Just received my new Delorme Earthmate PN-60w GPS - SPOT combo I need to go buy an SD card so I can get the TOPO maps on it, apparently. It's my first GPS unit, so I'm feeling a little daunted by it. My fiancee was pretty freaked out by the gpsJoe story, so this will hopefully help to ease her peace of mind.

I have had an ACR PLB for about 3 years, it was pricey but worth every penny. So far it has been dead weight in the pack every time I head out, and hopefully the need to use it will never present itself.

azbackcountry: Re the ACR ... I looked at their site, then also at REI (because they have the handy compare button) and all te ACR models seem to be exactly the same other than in name and price. Do you know what the difference is between the "ResQLink 406 GPS Personal Locator Beacon", "ResQLink+ 406 GPS Personal Locator Beacon", "SARLink 406 Personal Locator Beacon" and the "Sarlink View 406 Personal Locator Beacon" are?

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kingsnake wrote:Do you know what the difference is between the..

If you are asking me?, sorry but I do not.

kingsnake wrote:azbackcountry: Re the ACR ... I looked at their site, then also at REI (because they have the handy compare button) and all te ACR models seem to be exactly the same other than in name and price. Do you know what the difference is between the "ResQLink 406 GPS Personal Locator Beacon", "ResQLink+ 406 GPS Personal Locator Beacon", "SARLink 406 Personal Locator Beacon" and the "Sarlink View 406 Personal Locator Beacon" are?

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I am not sure about the SARLink but differences for the ACR is that the ResQLink+ is waterproof and is supposed to float. There is no other difference for the ACR.

I was looking at the Spot for hiking. I stopped by Rei and also looked at Resqlink 406. I think this maybe the way to go for me.
I am just looking for a device that will work in a emergency situation. What I like about the Resqlink 406 is that there is no monthly service fees.
Anyone use it or the Spot?
I would like to get some feedback
Thanks

If I were going to bet my life on something, it would be the ACR device.

http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Personal- ... ws/Ratings

The ACR rates out higher, but I have the Spot for the ability to send "I'm Ok" and "I'm Done Hiking" messages.
My GF likes the ability to track me to see how much longer I may be, or where my carcass fell.
The ACR is fine if you only want it for emergencies where you have the ability to push a button for help.