[pct-l] personal locator beacons

[John Abela]

> One question, John, have you, yourself, actually tried the SPOT throughout
> the length of the PCT?  Or, are you going by what others have said?
> Respectfully, MendoRider-Hiker
>

Hey Edward,

I have never tried the SPOT through the length of the PCT.
Nor am I going on what others have said.

Lets just be clear here, in the end, the SPOT is still a decent
device. It is just not a true distress radio beacon. The Spot was not
designed from the ground up to be a PLB/DRB, by an internal national
group of people assembled to design the world wide network for S&R. I
do not want to put my life into the hands of something that "might"
work. I do not want to put my life into the hands of something that
probably will not work in deep forests or deep canyons and mountains,
which makes up 95% of where I hike at.

If you feel confident with the Spot, its not my place to tell you or
anybody which device they should use. But, I am also not going to sit
around and let people continue to post in such a way that makes the
Spot sound like it is a PLB/DRB, because it is not.

I have done my homework, I do not put my life in the hands of just
what other hikers say. Do your own research on a PLB/DRB. Do your own
research on the SPOT. Do your own research on how many different
networks a PLB/DRB device uses (its three). Do you own homework on how
many systems the SPOT uses (its one). Do your own homework on which
device uses the 406 MHz signal. Do your own homework on which device
uses the 121.5 MHz signal.

So no, I am not taking what I wrote based on what other hikers have
said. And no, I have not used the SPOT along the length of the PCT.
Why would I entrust my life in a device that is not a PLB/DRB.
(rhetorical question)

I am not questioning that the SPOT does not work. I am not questioning
it has not saved lives. But lets not call it a PLB/DRB device when a
hiker is asking which of them should be used when a PLB/DRB device is
wanted.


Hope that answers your question Edward.

Thanks,
John