[pct-l] Emergency Devices

[Ken Powers]

Here is a link to a review by a hiker whose "life was saved" by carrying a 
Spot 2. He was in a very remote area of southern Idaho and fell in a steep 
canyon and shattered his leg. He and a friend activated the Spot SOS 
function and 45 minutes later he was in a Boise hospital.

I measured the distance from the area where he fell to Boise. It is approx 
40 miles as a crow (helicopter ?) flies. Doesn't sound like a long wait to 
me.


The comments below this review point out several points of poor service 
(including auto renewal and poor reception) from Spot.

We considered a PLB or sat phone and decided the Spot was adequate if we 
were patient and got a good view of the sky when using it. Marcia carried it 
in northern Idaho forests and had only one message that didn't get through. 
One worry is if you fell you may not be in a spot with a good view of the 
sky. The good part is frequent "I'm okay" messages to family and friends.

As Ned says "Be careful out there."

Ken