[pct-l] personal locator beacons

[Ned Tibbits]

The key to being seen by a helicopter is to pass something unnatural to the 
pilot's view across his field of vision. What this translates to is to take 
something of yours that is not a natural color to your surroundings and move 
it slowly in front of your body back and forth (either side to side or up 
and down) between you and the pilot.

I used a red sleeping bag for one rescue and on another operation used a 
yellow tent fly...



Ned Tibbits, Director
Mountain Education
www.mountaineducation.org
-----Original Message----- 
From: Timothy Nye
Sent: Sunday, March 03, 2013 7:21 PM
To: John Abela
Cc: pct-l at backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [pct-l] personal locator beacons

Gentlemen, gentlemen.

I think the question is really what is adequate for the situation.  I 
already answered the original poster previously put did not copy the group.

Yes, the Spot is, shall we say, temperamental with the I'm OK, message.  It 
failed fairly frequently  for me and I really didn't know when this occurred 
as a sender.  I was able to figure out what would cause a problem so I tried 
to avoid canyons, canopy and lack of a Southern exposure to the 
geosynchronous orbits of the satellites.

However, when I was injured my 911 signal was received even though it was 
sent from a position where I knew the "OK" message would undoubtedly fail. 
I was so concerned that even though I had crawled to a clearing I asked one 
of the hikers who came along the trail to take my Spot to a rocky pass you 
could see about a half mile north that was exposed and had a clear shot 
South.

That was John Wayne.  He had used his own Spot for another rescue in the 
South previously and said that he'd do as I asked, but he was confident it 
had been received as indeed it had. Although we were so remote that the 
first helicopter, which didn't have a winch, had to land a 1000' up and over 
a mile away. I wound up on a navy Blackhawk.  It took 7 1/2 hours before I 
received medical treatment ( pain killers ) and that was WITH a signaling 
device. I thank my wife for her concern in insisting that I carry one as a 
condition of my hiking.

By the way Shroomer, I met Beacon myself in 2011, we hiked out of Lake 
Morena together with Ten Speed with whom he did the CDT. ( I ran into Chris 
again last year in the North Cascades as he was South bounding a couple of 
sections.) Apparently, based on this thread, Beacon needs to rename himself 
Spot as he appears to have misappropriated the name Beacon.

Incidentally, my advice to all is to have at least one large item that is 
either red or yellow for signaling purposes. No one on the first helicopter 
saw us until Fairway got out his red shell and waved it like a mad man. The 
rest of us were invisible.

Based on my experience, as well as I'm Fine's story, I think such a device 
is essential insurance

Sent from my iPad

On Mar 3, 2013, at 12:24 AM, John Abela <john at hikelighter.com> wrote:

>> 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
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