PLBs Can Save Your Life

[CWK]

Another PLB diver rescue:
Diver credits PLB and strobe for rescue | Soundings Online

 

[DandyDon]

The ACR PLB has both marine and land application but not waterproof.

Oh, yeah it is on the surface, and below to a few meters. If you get it wet hiking, it's fine. I had been lazy about replacing my o-ring on my dive canister, and it leaked last month in Cozumel, but didn't hurt the PLB. Still hit the satellite in less than 2 minutes on test.

Another PLB diver rescue:
Diver credits PLB and strobe for rescue | Soundings Online

"We will no longer dive without someone being in the boat.” Too bad they didn't carry the PLB in a canister with them, instead of leaving it on the boat, but some solution is better than none.

 

[kelemvor]

Another PLB diver rescue:
Diver credits PLB and strobe for rescue | Soundings Online

I can relate. I've definitely found myself further down current from the boat than I expected. Fortunately, I dive from professionally captained boats so they were able to come pick me up and avoid a problem.

 

[letterboy]

This is a great idea for someone who is very familiar with their diving locale and could accurately describe to another educated listener.

But for the sake of argument, without telling me any information other than what you can see in 360 degrees, tell me where you are and I'll guess. I'll try too. I'm in a hotel room, outside my window I can see a canal. Across the canal there's a building that says Hitachi on it. There's also a tower looking building that has a giant O on the side of it. There's a highway and a beach on the other side of the highway. It runs perpendicular to the canal.

Anyway, hyperbole aside, without being able to accurately convey your location, a radio is only good enough to serve as a notification, and only if anyone is listening. The range is much shorter as a floating diver compared to even standing on land, and you are dependent on your emergency call activating enough resources to find you, without always being able to give a reasonable location. "I'm a mile offshore. I see palm trees. I see sand." Since most small boats are not equipped with direction finding equipment, they would be hard pressed to narrow down your location. A transmission area of 1 mile in any given direction means at the very least the boat could head the wrong way. So now you're two miles away, no further radio contact is possible, and drifting. Add some time for them to return to where they first heard your signal, and now you can't reach each other at all.

Please don't take this as dismissing your idea. I think in a great many scenarios having a functional radio would be an awesome idea and very useful. However it shouldn't ever be considered a replacement for a PLB, and if you're in a place where most marine radios are AIS capable, it's not a replacement for a PAB. In a place like Cozumel, it's a great idea, the chances that there is someone who is knowledgable and nearby is much greater. When someone like a DM has one and can talk to a skipper and both know the area it is most certainly going to be faster than a PLB or PAB. For someone who is unfamiliar with the area, or speaking to an unfamiliar listener, the utility is greatly diminished.

As a supplement to a PLB, PAB, and signal kit, it certainly has merit in certain circumstances. However it's not a replacement except in a very narrow set of conditions.

It's situationally dependant.

Down here in south florida you go on a drift dive and get swept along, you surface and can't find your charter. You fire up the radio and there is a good chance you'll either get your intended target or you'll get another boat in the area or maybe a marina. No matter what down here you're a few thousand feet from shore. So it makes sense.

But diving off of jersey or even the Carolinas that makes less sense as you said you're boat could have been the only boat for miles around. And without the ability to say I'm at grid 12345678 it's really tough for someone to find.

I have been thinking more about this. Swapping flares for a small waterproof gps might be advantageous. Even cheap GPS gets you within sight of something.

You're still way out of the price range that most people are willing to pay.

Someone mentioned using internal bracing to maximize and push the limits of a case, that works well for the outside, but if the seal is not tight the water could actually force the oring out and cause a catastrophic failure. YMMV

 

[SJT1961]

I will inquire with LM about a bulk canister order.

I spoke with Light Monkey. If we were to bulk order 25 canisters they would do it for $200/unit (=20% off). We would have to agree on a uniform size. Anyone interested?

 

[DavidFL]

So, just to give you an idea re:cost. These are retail costs to put one together.

Canister: $130 2.5" Canister
Lid: $95 2.5" Lid

Hi Johnny,

This is off-topic to your post, but the post led me to the links....I think $130 is a blank canister with a lid. Unless I'm reading something wrong, the separately priced lid is with a switch and EO port and stuff necessary to use the canister to hold a battery for a light or heated suit. But I've never bought a canister light, so I might be reading it wrong?

 

[Yellowdog]

It's situationally dependant.

Down here in south florida you go on a drift dive and get swept along, you surface and can't find your charter. You fire up the radio and there is a good chance you'll either get your intended target or you'll get another boat in the area or maybe a marina. No matter what down here you're a few thousand feet from shore. So it makes sense.

But diving off of jersey or even the Carolinas that makes less sense as you said you're boat could have been the only boat for miles around. And without the ability to say I'm at grid 12345678 it's really tough for someone to find.

I have been thinking more about this. Swapping flares for a small waterproof gps might be advantageous. Even cheap GPS gets you within sight of something.

You're still way out of the price range that most people are willing to pay.

Someone mentioned using internal bracing to maximize and push the limits of a case, that works well for the outside, but if the seal is not tight the water could actually force the oring out and cause a catastrophic failure. YMMV

Agreed. But to be accurate many handhelds do have a gps which you can broadcast or verbally relay the coordinates. This one Includes built-in Class D DSC. Just push and hold down the red DISTRESS button, and it sends an automated digital distress message to the Coast Guard and all other DSC radio-equipped vessels.
Also includes a strobe.
STANDARD HORIZON HX870 Floating Handheld VHF Radio with GPS and DSC | West Marine

 

[kelemvor]

I spoke with Light Monkey. If we were to bulk order 25 canisters they would do it for $200/unit (=20% off). We would have to agree on a uniform size. Anyone interested?

I'd buy one for that price. Maybe you should start another thread? I think there's a group buy website out there somewhere that might simplify things..

 

[DandyDon]

I spoke with Light Monkey. If we were to bulk order 25 canisters they would do it for $200/unit (=20% off). We would have to agree on a uniform size. Anyone interested?

Talk is fun, but how many of y'all bought CO tank testers after the last big discussion. I'll keep doing it my way and sharing opinions, but seldom do others put their money up.

 

[kelemvor]

Talk is fun, but how many of y'all bought CO tank testers after the last big discussion. I'll keep doing it my way and sharing opinions, but seldom do others put their money up.

Not me. I drank that cool-aid and bought a cootwo before it happened .