[pct-l] SPOT messenger vs McMurdo PLB

[Edward Anderson]

Jim, 
I always advise people to "expect the unexpected"- and try to be prepared for 
it. Trees can fall unexpectedly, for no obvious reason - even on a nice day with 
little or no breeze. Boulders can come down, starting slides, as snow and 
ice melt from high above the trail. Anyone who has spent a lot of time, hiking, 
climbing, and riding, in the back country, as I have, has experienced the 
unexpected. You don't have to be taking foolish risks to have the 
unexpected happen. While I lived in Mendocino an uncle of a close friend 
tragically died while hiking in the Yola Bolies alone.  He was a healthy and fit 
guy and knew the area well. He died of a Cardiac Arrest. he had no way 
of summoning help. This happened about 15 years ago. If he had along a way of 
summoning help he might have survived. Now that the technology has become 
available I hold that it is foolish not to take advantage of it. It might be the 
life of someone else that you save.

MendoRider




________________________________
From: "enyapjr at comcast.net" <enyapjr at comcast.net>
To: pct-l at backcountry.net
Sent: Sun, March 27, 2011 11:12:17 AM
Subject: [pct-l] SPOT messenger vs McMurdo PLB

> ...only a fool would not bring one, or some other reliable rescue signaling 
>device.

Sorry, MendoRider, but I definitely have to disagree with that statement!
With a moderate amount of experience, sufficient or adequate gear for the 
conditions
expected or possible, and the common sense to know when to hunker down or bail 
out or 

not try something too 'extreme' - one wouldn't have any need for "rescue"...
Not having a SPOT or PLB does not necessarily mean that one is stupid or a fool!

> The successful TV program "I Shouldn't be Alive" would not exist if all of 
>those 
>
> people had had a way of calling for rescue.

And how did many of those people get into such 'situations' that they needed 
'rescue'?
Sometimes it's the opposite - one goes ahead and does something one normally 
wouldn't
because they do have a rescue device with them...  Plus ask some SAR folks what 
they
honestly think of these rescue devices - too many times that 'rescue' button is 
pushed
without THINKING over the situation first - or developing skills needed ahead of 
time...
The most important piece of 'gear' one carries? - the gray matter in one's skull 
- it's
seems amazing that so many people nowadays don't use it (but makes for 
"successful TV"
programs, however)...

There's also another 'popular' TV program - "A 1,000 Ways to Die"; and let's not 
forget
about the annual "Darwin Awards", either...  I doubt a rescue device would have 
helped
the majority of those people...

What was my 'rescue device' carried many years ago (before 'electronics') & 
never once 

used as such - the mirror in my small sighting compass...
All that said - I'll probably carry a SPOT - but as a COMMUNICATION device, NOT 
as a 

'rescue' device...  It will be for the family & friends 'peace of mind', and for 
me in
the sense of 'sharing' my trek with them daily...
YMMV, HYOH, ad infinitum etceteras......

Happy trails!!!
Jim (PITA)
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