Rescue aids

[Magnolia3]

I've had a ACR MicroFix (406) for years, before the Spot and others evem came out. NOAA sends me an update for a new sticker every year on the dot.

I got my unit for back country hiking and for when I went looking for extreme wildlife photo ops (big bad stuff) since I always go out on my own. I didn't want to rely on a cell phone not getting a signal if I was injured or worse.

After this discussion I just got it out and did the Self Test and checked the battery date.. all is good until 6/2013.

Thanks for the reminder !!

I sail solo a lot and my kids want to know where I am at all times.. sigh... they do have a point..
I solo dive and snorkel the springs around W fla a lot so the deal is to turn ON the SPOT and carry the ACR as well as txt the dtr before I go in and when I get out (if I remember) and in theory Iwill be safe.. in theory.

 

[Magnolia3]

You know, the SPOT was another thing we have thought about before. My issue with it is, in many outdoor environments (heavy tree cover, canyons, etc) they are just not reliable. So while a missed "Im ok" message or breadcrumb tracking is not a big deal, a missed emergecy signal is, and a PLB is 99% reliable in those situations, so I kind of had a moral issue with offering them up to people...I'm weird http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/images/smilies/More Smiles/icosm14.gif Now, out on the water, with no obstructions the SPOT would probably be great. We'll keep thinking about it though, so thanks for the note.

I use my spot on land and so far have had no problem with it pinging the satellites to give my position. I have it set to send out a position once an hour.
By your premise my phone should not work on land where there are trees and buildings.............and it does, most of the time for voice and, so far, all the time for gps.. I have a tracking program on my phone, "seek droid" that I can go online and ping the phone and it will show me where it is at all times.. land or water. ymmv

AS for using the nautilas.. I would prefer a dive boat had a VHF, both fixed mount and handheld with the fixed mount a good antenna as vhf IS line of sight communications. Add a nautilus to that and you have a winner..

 

[oerentals]

I use my spot on land and so far have had no problem with it pinging the satellites to give my position. I have it set to send out a position once an hour. By your premise my phone should not work on land where there are trees and buildings.............and it does, most of the time for voice and, so far, all the time for gps.. I have a tracking program on my phone, "seek droid" that I can go online and ping the phone and it will show me where it is at all times.. land or water. ymmv AS for using the nautilas.. I would prefer a dive boat had a VHF, both fixed mount and handheld with the fixed mount a good antenna as vhf IS line of sight communications. Add a nautilus to that and you have a winner..

I should have mentioned, that my thoughts on the SPOT were based on reviews, forum posts, stories, etc. not my own personal experience, so you may be absolutely right. I'm not against them at all, we just haven't chose to invest in them as a rental product at this point, and I still think that if you want near 100% certainty a PLB is a better choice. Also a cell phone signal and a GPS signal are different. A GPS signal is definitely affected by trees, and buildings as it needs line of sight to multiple satellites to triangulate a position, which a building or canyon wall would affect. For example I get a cell phone signal in in the Lincoln tunnel, but not a GPS signal.

 

[Ron Lee]

I did not know if a Spot unit is waterproof. From this document, it states:

"IPX7 Waterproof: Up to a depth of 1 meter for up to 30 minutes"

http://www.findmespot.com/downloads/SPOT2-SellSheet.pdf

A Spot generated SOS signal does not go directly to what I would consider a governmental rescue agency if I read the info correctly. I can't state that is a negative.

 

[Peter_C]

Most all PLB's that I know of will require a canister to be able to take them to diving depths. They are only able to be submerged a few feet at the surface. Where do you mount the thing, as they are pretty BIG? I have only heard of mounting them to the side of a BP/W setup.

Spot does not go out to the emergency system immediately and can take hours from what I read. First they try to contact the owner, then they try to contact the emergency contact. After a while longer they will then send in help. It is one thing to be stuck on a mountain with a broken ankle or something. It is a whole other to be drifting further out into the ocean with the water sucking the life/heat right out of you. Therefore my opinion is Spot is not a viable option for scuba diving.