PLBs Can Save Your Life

[DandyDon]

Any EPIRBs for divers?
Reason I ask is that many of the PLDs are direct line of sight with limited range.

Nautilus are the short range, line of sight, only transmits to selected ships - very limited. My PLB connects with a satellite within two minutes on every test - much more likely to save your life. 5 watts is more than one.

What’s PLD?

I guess that was a typo for PLB.

What canister do you use? Looking into the same plb vue cant fins a decent canister

The small HDVSEATEK works well. Enough room for my ACR 2881 and a foil blanket. Use silicone grease every trip and replace o-ring every couple years. I let mine go 5 years and it leaked. Didn’t hurt the PLB but not desirable.

Diver Locator Satellite PLB Canister from HDVSEATEK.

 

[Compressor]

My PLB connects with a satellite within two minutes on every test - much more likely to save your life. 5 watts is more than one.

@DandyDon And which model do you have?

 

[DandyDon]

@DandyDon And which model do you have?

ACR 2881, which is being replaced. I’m not sure of the number, but it adds infrared strobe and connects to more satellites for $10 or $20 more. The old model is great, but the new model might be worth waiting a couple of weeks. There’s the risk of losing the buyer decision so don’t do that. Get one, whichever.

 

[letterboy]

While you may be reconsidering that, my ACR 2881 PLB and nylon canister & brass bolt clamp weigh 17¼ ounces, hang on a D-ring out of my way. I suspect that it's the cost that discourages most, as the PLBs have gone up to around $290, the canister around $110, plus the bolt clamp I had to add. Good for 5 or 6 years tho with a little silicone grease and a couple of o-ring replacements. Then $100+ for battery service. I carry it everywhere, in car, tractor, hiking pack, dive canister. Renewing the registration every other year is so easy; NOAA emails me, I click a link, then click that everything's still the same, and they send me a new sticker.

Now if I ever have to use it, I'll send it in with a good story, and they'll send me a new one for free. Here's one of their rescue stories I picked at random: Paraglider Crash Gets Rescued in 45 Minutes thanks to ResQLink

To me, cost means nothing if it mitigates risk to near zero and keeps me alive.

At the end of the day, we are talking about a few hundred dollars even if it's replaced every few years, a frequent Diver or remote Diver has to have a plan.

I'm not saying I'm going to buy or use one of these. But since ACR does have a facility down the road in ft lauderdale, I might stop in and talk to them.

Another idea would be to store a reflective panel along my backplate. Either between the BP and wing or BP and back in a pouch of sorts.

Of course along with that one could also mount a set of short rods that slide together that the reflective material could be attached to... I am picture rods like the kind used to fish wires through walls...

I'm just spit balling here.

 

[SJT1961]

@tursiops which canister do you prefer?

 

[tursiops]

@tursiops which canister do you prefer?

The one I don't care for is the only one I have....but I've ordered the one from Custom Divers. We'll see.

 

[DandyDon]

Here is the new model, the ACR 2921: ACR ResQLink 400 Personal Locator Beacon w/o Display [2921]
It may or may not be available yet, but you could phone that place and ask. Also try these others: Landfall Navigation, The GPS Store, and Gps4us. If you can get that one before your next dive trip, I think it's worth the $20 extra. If not, the old model is still a good unit - for diving, hiking, traveling. I went hiking with my kids, granddaughter, and even a great granddaughter last week, and you can be sure I had mine. It was spring break and the trails were crowded, but if someone had stepped on a rattlesnake, I wasn't going to wait for a message to be run to a ranger.

Diver Locator Satellite PLB Canister from HDVSEATEK.

I have one of these. It is needlessly bulky, and not designed well....easy to drop the closure ring when opening the canister.

For $110 including shipping, I think it's great. It may not be a custom fit, but for that price - it was no problem. Yeah, the closure ring might get dropped in the ocean if I have an emergency need to open & use, but that's but a minor irritation. It can be replaced.

The aluminum McMurdo Dive Canister is almost as bulky, much heavier to carry to the boat & back (I rented one once), cost $300, and you'd lose the lid at sea in an emergency as well - except it may have been discontinued. I don't see any available now.

Oh, I don't care which PLB or canister y'all get. Just do. I was happy to contribute to the fund to find Cam, and I am rooting for the search - but we see stories of drifting divers all the time. Some survive. Y'all have no excuse for getting lost at land or sea without one now as you know better.

To me, cost means nothing if it mitigates risk to near zero and keeps me alive.

True, but the costs do discourage some or we'd all have one from our first dive trip. So we're getting the costs down some.

BTW, the 5 or 6 battery service is only a little over $100 if you shop around. Chickenfeed.

 

[Yellowdog]

It occurs to me that every dive boat in Cozumel and generally everywhere has a VHF radio. I would think that having a handheld VHF in an area where there are boats with their ears on would be an invaluable dive aid. It would help if one were out of site and if one surfaced because of an emergency. Quality handhelds can be as small as a deck of cards and generally waterproof to 3' so a case would be required for scuba but the radio could be used on the surface. Batteries in my experience last a long time.

 

[Protondecay123]

It occurs to me that every dive boat in Cozumel and generally everywhere has a VHF radio. I would think that having a handheld VHF in an area where there are boats with their ears on would be an invaluable dive aid. It would help if one were out of site and if one surfaced because of an emergency. Quality handhelds can be as small as a deck of cards and generally waterproof to 3' so a case would be required for scuba but the radio could be used on the surface. Batteries in my experience last a long time.

I’m heading out on the MV Fling to the Flower Garden Banks and think the 400 Resqlink will hopefully be Available for my kit by late June.

 

[DandyDon]

It occurs to me that every dive boat in Cozumel and generally everywhere has a VHF radio. I would think that having a handheld VHF in an area where there are boats with their ears on would be an invaluable dive aid. It would help if one were out of site and if one surfaced because of an emergency. Quality handhelds can be as small as a deck of cards and generally waterproof to 3' so a case would be required for scuba but the radio could be used on the surface. Batteries in my experience last a long time.

That's the One-watt Nautilus. If you can't see a boat, they probably won't get the line of sight signal. My Five-watt PLB hits the satellite system within two minutes on every test.