PLBs Can Save Your Life

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Never mind. I see it's another case of you not reading through the rest of the thread where we already covered this, taking things out of context, and assuming you're the smartest guy in the room.

Carry on rehashing stuff that we've already been talking about for 44 pages.
 
Again for the gazillionth time @Dan_T, @JohnnyC . . .the Lost-at-Sea/Adrift/Missing Diver Scenario is a special case of the classic Man Overboard contingency. Using MOB devices in the VHF radio frequency range designed for immediate recovery of blue water sailors and open ocean racing yacht crews like a Personal AIS Beacon (e.g. Nautlius Marine Rescue GPS, or any of their products) may not apply and might not be the best solution to the "delayed" problem of the ascending diver after an hour or more of bottom time and submerged drifting decompression as needed, then surfacing into a low visibility weather condition and/or sea state (i.g. Rain Squall; Fog Bank; Swells; Strong Surface Current; Low Angle Blinding Background Setting Sun etc), and losing sight of the Diveboat Vessel & Crew.

The best overall SAR utility, and last resort when there are no vessels left to be seen within line-of-sight for VHF beacon reception & visual signaling (Strobe Light, SMB deployment etc), is activation of a direct to COSPAS-SARSAT satellite 406 MHz PLB, and a designated Emergency Contact that can confirm you as owner of the PLB distress beacon as well as provide information to where in the world you were diving at, and emergency contact cellphone numbers for the Dive Operation or Liveaboard that you are using in order to relay your exact GPS location coordinates to effect a timely rescue.

This is the problem when you try to adapt a Man Overboard (MOB) protocol and technology from blue water open ocean yacht racing to the unique scenario of an isolated drifting Diver Missing/Lost-at-Sea:

Where divers get confused in the application, and assume "instant" local alert and rescue capabilities of an AIS/DSC VHF radio unit (i.g. current Nautilus Products like their Marine Rescue GPS), over a 406 MHz PLB is in the classic MOB (Man Overboard) Scenario:

Tactically this is fine for example, if you're crewing a sailing vessel in the biennial Transpacific Yacht Race from San Pedro Calif to Honolulu Hawaii, and you fall MOB during rough seas at night: Along with your crew, there will be anywhere from twenty to forty or so sailing yachts out there with AIS/DSC within VHF range in the otherwise traceless open Pacific Ocean ready to immediately assist in picking you up.

AIS/DSC VHF MOB devices are not meant to replace but rather augment PLBs. That said, since they alert nearby AIS-equipped vessels, such as the boat from which the person fell overboard, to assist in the search-and-rescue effort, these devices can reduce rescue times substantially. A PLB, on the other hand works worldwide -well beyond VHF range- to summon rescuers. It’s important to keep a PLB around if venturing far out to sea and away from other boaters.

A Lost-at-Sea/Missing Diver can be considered a special case of a "delayed" MOB Scenario: Delayed in the sense that an elapsed normal recreational depth dive time is about 50 minutes to an hour -->if the Diver surfaces after an hour and does not see any sign of the diveboat, then the Diver has to manually call or activate a VHF DSC Distress Beacon such as the Nautilus Lifeline first generation or current Marine Rescue GPS, but the caveat still being the limited range of the VHF signal along with hoping there are other boats or land stations in the vicinity with VHF transceiver reception capability. Again, if you're at a remote divesite hundreds of kilometers away from the commercial shipping lanes or land VHF receiving stations, then the direct to satellite PLB distress beacon is your last resort.

Again IMO/IME, a tropical squall & thunderstorm in zero visibility is the most common post-dive surfacing condition with a potential adrift lost-at-sea worst case scenario which you should smartly prepare yourself beforehand with at least a PLB:


A Nautilus Marine Rescue GPS/VHF Radio Transceiver Beacon may not save you in this instance due to "rain fade" signal attenuation, and the chances that any boats with marine VHF Radio DSC/AIS capability may be out of reception range of your distress signal by the time the squall clears and the weather & sea state moderates again. . .

I agree with your points and said that I have both PLB & PAB, like I posted here:
Best signaling devices from the searcher’s point of view - update

I don’t see anything wrong with that, do you?

Each device has unique application. If I dive with liveaboard and have relayed my MMSI to the crew about it, ASA they see me missing, they will monitor their DSC & AIS for MOB. The same case with diving in where there are plenty of boats around within 3 miles radius & USCG station that have 100’ antenna to monitor any MOB within 13 miles radius. If I’m lost at sea in that kind of diving situation or location and my SMB is not visible enough, my mirror is useless due to cloudy day, etc., I would launch my PAB ASAP then my PLB after an hour or so.

6 out 12 liveaboard that I have been in loan me at free of charge their PAB and so do the next 2 liveaboards that I’ll be on. Why is that, do you think?

If I’m lost at sea with no boat around in the horizon then I can see the PAB is useless. That’s why I carry PLB too.

I carry these signal devices. They either in my BCD pockets or attach on my BCD, like Dive Alert.

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What’s the blue rope for?
 
Besides the group would look bigger and easier to spot from above, here is anther reason, posted by @Luxe miles diver in Canadian diver and buddy rescued near Apo Island, Philippines

And so we float and the waves start to separate us. I had to tell the group to swim closer and hold on to each other.

I had some camera coil lanyard (Howshot Steel Wire Coil lanyard with Dual Clip (Max Length:130cm / Weight:50kg)- Quickly attaches/release any accessory or bc strap Id) With me and we used it to tether and attach the group bcb to each other.

We deployed our own smb. By then it was around 5pm. The south african divers suddenly panicked and tell us that there is a HUGE shark under us circling us. At first everyone thought it was a joke, until we all looked down and saw a massive shark 3 to 4 m long that have a big belly at maybe 15 m under.

The rest of his posts are very interesting to read, as well.
 
Another good reading:

Nautilus LifeLine Testimonials & Stories - Nautilus LifeLine

http://oceansignal.com/category/rescue-stories/

Specialized in emergency beacons for all outdoor activities - ACR ARTEX

I notice there are some testimonials & rescue stories from divers with Nautilus PAB, but none from divers carrying PLB, other than by the SB member @luke miles diver who accidentally launched his PLB1 when he was diving in Manado, Indonesia and had Indonesian SAR officer came looking for him at the resort he was staying, as posted previously.

If anyone read such testimonials & rescue stories from divers with PLB, please post it here.
 
Paul Gibson’s story of lost at sea. He launched his PLB soon after he realized he’s lost at sea and was found after drifting for 2.5 hours, 15 miles from the wreck site where he dove in.

 
Mario knows what he's talking about. He was a rescue swimmer in the USCG for a long time and now makes quite a bit of their equipment as a contractor. And his blog is worth reading.
EPIRBs Do Not Save Lives
 
Mario knows what he's talking about. He was a rescue swimmer in the USCG for a long time and now makes quite a bit of their equipment as a contractor. And his blog is worth reading.
EPIRBs Do Not Save Lives
Thanks for the link I share your view: worth reading. As I said it is not the equipment (it can help being found or help you survive) but it is your preparedness and mental state that makes the difference in a survival condition.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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