At $40/year, why don't all travelers carry PLBs - everywhere...?!

[DandyDon]

In cars & trucks, personal boats & planes, hiking, canoeing & kayaking, hell - anytime we travel?!

Nowadays we depend on our cell phones & GPS tracking more than ever, and that's a good idea too. Back when I sold analog & digital phones for the wilds of West Texas, my old Drivers Ed teacher told me he always kept his plugged into his car so it'd be charged - so I explained how that was really bad for NiCd batteries like his used plus I wanted him to carry it anytime he left the car or house in case of emergency! He lived alone and one night he fell off of his walker in his backyard, too injured to get up, but he had his to call for help! Over the years he lost his license and had to toot around town in a golf cart, but he carried his cell! My last service call to deliver a new battery to him was in a nursing home he didn't survive, but we kept him in touch!

There are so many times that a cell phone won't find a viable signal tho, and of course not everyone keeps theirs charged and/or a car charger in the glove box. How many tragic news stories were there this past year...?

Drivers who took the wrong road, maybe one body found after trying to walk out, the other still in the car?

Personal boaters lost at sea or planes down with massive searches - too often ending sadly. I know my brother uses his cell a lot flying around the farms, even calling the local spray plane company to see where they're going that morning, but he flies over some terrain with poor cell coverage too!

Then there are the hikers, climbers, etc. who get lost or hurt - some found after massive searches, some not. I know on some of our family hikes I've worried about someone getting hurt, and if one of us went for help - could we find our way back to the right spot?! We like to explore the badlands around here. :chuckle:
​

These are mentioned from time to time here, and I finally looked at how expensive they are - not much at all, and how good they are in an emergency - wonderful! I went for the ACR 2881, rugged & shallow waterproof, for only $200 after rebate - good for 5 years, then I'll see what's new I guess: ACR 2881 ResQLink+ PLB Personal Locator Beacon

​

The one-time battery is expensive to replace, I'd just get a new unit if I set it off accidentally, but get this! Free Replacement if used properly! If I ever do have a real emergency, all I have to do is send in my story and the spent unit and they will send me another one.

Many have used that service it seems, as they have many survivor stores for their various modes: Read our Survivor Stories | ACR ARTEX

This one was last week: Survivor Karson Keith rescued by ACR EPIRB, Sea Tow and USCG | ACR ARTEX

Lost farmer: Steve Morrison - Hawera Taranaki | ACR ARTEX

HMS Bounty | ACR ARTEX

Whale sinks sailboat: Survivor Max Young | ACR ARTEX
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And many more.

I still carry my cell anytime I walk outside, but I'm carrying the PLB anytime I drive away now. You can rent them for trips from Outdoor Equipment Rentals, $37 for a week + $10 for the dive canister - but I bought mine and he's just renting me the canister for my next dive trip.

 

[CaptainPietro]

Don thanks for the post, and link to supplier. I've been convinced this is a no brainier as you suggest. I see your renting the canister. Have you any insight on a canister to purchase ? My trips are piggybacked to make renting the canister impractical .

 

[Dsix36]

Because PLB use would not allow you to post a thread about their death?

 

[DandyDon]

Don thanks for the post, and link to supplier. I've been convinced this is a no brainier as you suggest. I see your renting the canister. Have you any insight on a canister to purchase ? My trips are piggybacked to make renting the canister impractical .

I see that store went up $3 on the PLB, but it's still a good price. I see other sites selling the same unit for much more, as much as $349?! :silly: Now there are other models of ACR PLBs so you might look at those, then google shop for price - but this one is all I want. There are other brands of PLBs too, but there's not a lot of competition in the market so not too many to choose from. McMurdo does offer their Fast Find line so you might look at them, but I don't think you can beat $203 after rebate with free shipping from the GPS store I linked above.

For dive canisters, there's even less competition and I think McMurdo is the only manufacture of one that fits this PLB. $300 seems to be a common price, some sites charging some less, but these two list it for $230.

Pains Wessex Dive Canister It's listed as a Pains Wessex product, but while that company does carry a lot of marine rescue items, I think it's really a McMurdo - same model number 85-754A. I see the same canister also sold under Revere brand at another site?

McMurdo Dive Canister - Star Marine Depot I did try to explore shipping costs and it looks like $21 there, while the Boat Bandit site [-]has a glitch[/-] will ship to me for $20, and those rates may vary with destination.

I think the canister comes with a belt clip to secure it to a dive belt, which I thought was stupid. If I wore one, it'd the first thing I'd drop in an emergency - and there goes the canister?! I used 2 extra heavy duty cable ties and a brass bolt clip to hang it from a D-ring. I did not come up with a line to secure the lid to the body; that might be a good idea - but in an emergency, I think I'd concentrate to getting the PLB strap tight on my wrist and dropping the canister.

Because PLB use would not allow you to post a thread about their death?

What...??

 

[Kevrumbo]

O-rings replacement info for the McMurdo Aluminum Dive Canister: 2mm Cross-Section (cs) by 82mm Inner-Diameter (id); and 3mm cs by 78mm id.
.
http://www.safety-marine.co.uk/down...-Dive-Container-Instruction-Sheet.pdf?did=371

Metric O-rings - Buna-N - Nitrile - Viton - FKM - All Orings Online

 

[Dsix36]

What...??

I am just being a smart arse about all the death posts that you seem to make.

 

[DandyDon]

O-rings replacement info for the McMurdo Aluminum Dive Canister: 2mm Cross-Section (cs) by 82mm Inner-Diameter (id); and 3mm cs by 78mm id.
.
http://www.safety-marine.co.uk/down...-Dive-Container-Instruction-Sheet.pdf?did=371

Metric O-rings - Buna-N - Nitrile - Viton - FKM - All Orings Online

Thanks, Kev. So does the canister use one of each of the two sizes? Which ones does one want to order from that source?

By the way, of the risks of going to see - there are falling overboard or boat sinking. I was already extreme in being the only one on all boats so far who wears a snorkel vest, especially on little panga boats. For Cozumel diving, I left the PLB in the canister all week, but took it to my room while I let the crew rinse & store my BC - so they wouldn't be tempted to play with it. On the way to the sites, I clipped it to my vest until we got to the first one, then moved it to BC - one of the reasons I did not want to belt it to the BC. I've known of Coz pangas sinking there and one case where everyone floated most of the day - rescued only because they got one cell phone call made, on speed dial, and the other guy answered, before the phone got flooded. Too close.

On a fishing boat, the ACR 2881 is waterproof enough that you wouldn't need the canister, but I'd wear it somehow. Well, most don't bother wearing vests, I know - even tho all advisories suggest them. I saw a sign in the Coz marina last week about always wearing vests, but to my knowledge - I was the only one in a hundred boats who did.

I am just being a smart arse about all the death posts that you seem to make.

I see a lot of that, actually.

 

[koozemani]

I received a nautilus lifeline for Christmas last year and I need to get one for the wife. What is the comparisons between the lifeline and the ACR models?

 

[Peter69_56]

Thanks, Kev. So does the canister use one of each of the two sizes? Which ones does one want to order from that source?

By the way, of the risks of going to see - there are falling overboard or boat sinking. I was already extreme in being the only one on all boats so far who wears a snorkel vest, especially on little panga boats. For Cozumel diving, I left the PLB in the canister all week, but took it to my room while I let the crew rinse & store my BC - so they wouldn't be tempted to play with it. On the way to the sites, I clipped it to my vest until we got to the first one, then moved it to BC - one of the reasons I did not want to belt it to the BC. I've known of Coz pangas sinking there and one case where everyone floated most of the day - rescued only because they got one cell phone call made, on speed dial, and the other guy answered, before the phone got flooded. Too close.

On a fishing boat, the ACR 2881 is waterproof enough that you wouldn't need the canister, but I'd wear it somehow. Well, most don't bother wearing vests, I know - even tho all advisories suggest them. I saw a sign in the Coz marina last week about always wearing vests, but to my knowledge - I was the only one in a hundred boats who did.


I see a lot of that, actually.

I have the McMurdo Fast Find and am very happy with it and the performance.

The canister I bought was a ResQLink PLB Dive Canister from a NZ company but it comes from Custom Divers in UK. I had issues with this canister and it took me quite some time before I finally got it replaced. They tried to tell me it was fine and that they were doing me a favour by checking it at no cost and that they really should charge me for the testing. On return of the canister to me I didn't touch it except to take it to about 10m where it leaked, then to 6m where it leaked. I was always careful in opening and closing it with the original one but it leaked anyway. I finally measured the tolerances at the O rings and it appeared to me that there was no squeeze of the O rings, perhaps a machining error, stretch of the casing or something. I spent a lot of time measuring and checking for hairline cracks and scratches but could find nothing. They finally replaced it after a lot of agro from me and the replacement has not leaked to date. I am however too scared to open it, I just shake it after each dive to see if I can hear any water in it, and only open it for testing maybe every 3-4 months.

If I were to buy a new container I would buy the McMurdo Aluminium Dive Canister as I am not confident in the ResQLink PLB Dive Canister which is a high grade PVC. The aluminium one (in my opinion) seems (without actually seeing it) to have the potential to be a better purchase.

 

[DandyDon]

I received a nautilus lifeline for Christmas last year and I need to get one for the wife. What is the comparisons between the lifeline and the ACR models?

Apples & oranges - both good for you, but different. The PLB (ACR or other brand) will alert the authorities to a to an emergency need and all include local homing signals I think.

The Nautilus is cheaper than a PLB & Canister Combo and probably easier to carry, and you can use it day to day to talk to your boat, etc - if you charge it regularly, they monitor that channel - and I think all are supposed to, and have line of sight access. It's only for marine use tho, and while 4,000 square miles sound like a big coverage area - that's only a 35 mile line: 35 x 35 x π = 3,848. See Nautilus LifeLine Marine Rescue Radio with GPS

Ultimately, depends on where you might need to use it and when. Inland - PLB only. Fiji on a weekend, Nautilus only because the local Navy is off weekends.


One guy on this thread who got left once does not dive without both! http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ac...escued-after-drifting-16-hours-near-bali.html

Oh there is Peter69_56. I remember reading elsewhere about your leak problem. So it was a PVC canister huh? I wondered if such would work?