Emergency Beacons?

Post climbing gear-related questions, offer advice. For classifieds, please use that forum.
User Avatar
Stu Brandel

 
Posts: 153
Joined: Thu Jul 05, 2007 6:38 pm
Thanked: 23 times in 19 posts

Emergency Beacons?

by Stu Brandel » Sun Sep 10, 2017 7:11 pm

My wife asked if there was anything I could bring in my back pack that would put out a emergency signal if I ran into real trouble. I tend to hike alone, so I admit is a good idea. But I know nothing about what devices may exist - or even what such devices are called. I always bring a cell phone, but I of course that is only as good as the cell service. I would appreciate any education you can give.

User Avatar
beean

 
Posts: 71
Joined: Sun May 19, 2013 9:06 am
Thanked: 12 times in 11 posts

Re: Emergency Beacons?

by beean » Sun Sep 10, 2017 7:55 pm

Something like this?

https://www.gme.net.au/catalogue/emergency-beacons-and-safety/mt410g.aspx

Other gizmos that are popular are the Spot and InReach, which allow the sending of 'I'm ok' messages. Spots are notoriously unreliable.

I'm a fan of the emergency only beacon because your significant other may panic if you forget to send an 'I'm ok' message and call for a rescue. This has happened twice now to friends of mine due to their daily check in message not being sent by the device.

The following user would like to thank beean for this post
Stu Brandel

User Avatar
nartreb

 
Posts: 2232
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2004 10:45 pm
Thanked: 184 times in 155 posts

Re: Emergency Beacons?

by nartreb » Mon Sep 11, 2017 4:11 pm

I haven't read it yet, but I'm hoping this book will include some new details about a recent case in my neck of the woods that highlighted some limitations of rescue beacons:

http://www.mountainwanderer.com/proddet ... prod=NHH67

The following user would like to thank nartreb for this post
GlacierCountry

User Avatar
MoapaPk

 
Posts: 7780
Joined: Fri May 13, 2005 7:42 pm
Thanked: 787 times in 519 posts

Re: Emergency Beacons?

by MoapaPk » Mon Sep 11, 2017 9:24 pm

nartreb wrote:I haven't read it yet, but I'm hoping this book will include some new details about a recent case in my neck of the woods that highlighted some limitations of rescue beacons:

http://www.mountainwanderer.com/proddet ... prod=NHH67


I would still recommend the ACR beacon as one of the lightest; the trouble is that people tend to activate it only when the sh*t has hit the fan. The others -- as unreliable as they might be -- tend to make a person send a signal before a chancy move. I've been a SPOT user for 9 years, and while it drives me crazy, and maybe only half the signals get through, I've learned the idiosyncrasies. I was hoping the Garmin-acquired InReach technology would replace both the gps and satellite beacon, but alas, it's just another heavy mess requiring smartphone access for full gps capability.

One thing I've learned ab out SPOT: you can't wait for the red "battery low" signal. The transmitting power lessens A LOT as the batteries wear down. The voltage vs discharge curves for Li batteries just don't have enough slope, and vary among battery types, so the unit really can't tell the state of the battery.

The following user would like to thank MoapaPk for this post
GlacierCountry


Return to Gear

 


  • Related topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests