Locator gadgets

[WeShallSee]

I will be doing the "wrap around" hike of the AT next year. (Harper Ferry to Spinger, Katahdin to Harper Ferry) This means there will be more than the normal amount of alone time on the trail. I am interested in learning about the gadgets that keep you located for friends or family. I think it might be more important to have given this type of hike. Can anybody share their experience with any of these devices? Especially ones that work with satellite rather than cell phone. Thanks for your help.

[Slo-go'en]

SPOT is the most popular device from what I've seen. I don't need one, but have meet plenty of people who carry them.

[Shutterbug]

SPOT is the most popular device from what I've seen. I don't need one, but have meet plenty of people who carry them.

I had a Spot, but the only time I had an emergency and activated the SOS, the signal didn't get out. I changed to the Delorme InReach because it is two way. Sometimes a signal might not get out, but if I don't receive a response I will know to send the message again. I have used the InReach in Asia, South America and several parts of the U.S. It is reliable and you can receive messages as well as send them.

[Ricky&Jack]

I had a Spot, but the only time I had an emergency and activated the SOS, the signal didn't get out. I changed to the Delorme InReach because it is two way. Sometimes a signal might not get out, but if I don't receive a response I will know to send the message again. I have used the InReach in Asia, South America and several parts of the U.S. It is reliable and you can receive messages as well as send them.

Did you know at the time that the signal did not go out? Or were you just waiting and waiting?

[Shutterbug]

Did you know at the time that the signal did not go out? Or were you just waiting and waiting?

I did not know the signal didn't get out. I was in the Grand Canyon. A member of my party became dehydrated and collapsed on the trail. I immediately activated the SOS on the Spot and began working on the person in trouble. I was able to get him rehydrated enough to make it to the camp site at Clear Creek. When no helicopter came, I figured out that the SOS didn't get out. The next morning, the hiker had recovered enough to hike back to the Bright Angel Campground where he rested until he was well enough to hike out of the Canyon. After I was out of the Canyon, I contacted the SPOT folks. They said they never received the SOS.

[Ricky&Jack]

After I was out of the Canyon, I contacted the SPOT folks. They said they never received the SOS.

it only takes one "no signal sent" to kill someone.

You both are very lucky.

[12trysomething]

I have been using one this year, mostly to provide comfort for my family rather than for emergency rescue protection. The units and service are a bit pricey. You can check out a brief overview starting at the 3:00 mark of this video I did. Good luck with your decision.

http://youtu.be/wAx2n408-G4

[Offshore]

I've been using a SPOT Gen 3 mostly for peace of mind for the family. I usually have it in tracking mode although I almost always carry a Garmin GPSmap 60 GPS (my gold standard for handheld GPS). On a recent trip under heavy tree cover, the car's GPS lost signal driving to the trailhead on the back roads. Once on the trail in heavier tree cover, the Garmin kept a reasonably good track log. When I got home, I downloaded the tracking data from the SPOT website. While not quite as good as the Garmin, it was close enough to be usable and it was within the estimated position error of the Garmin.

You need to be careful not to make (or believe) blanket statements about one device being better than the other in terms of grabbing signals. GPS accuracy is heavily dependent on line-of-sight to satellites, the number of satellites "in view", and the 3D geometry of satellite constellation - all external factors. The communication satellite is pretty much the same idea, except you are hitting a single satellite. You also get terrain effects such as overhead vegetation cover and topography. (The worst GPS reception I've ever had was in the middle of NYC due to the tall buildings creating canyons.) You'll get different signal quality in the same spot at different times with the same device.

I looked at the DeLorme, but the device price and monthly service fee was just about double compared to the SPOT, as I recall. SPOT also has a rebate that may still be in effect, lowering the price to $100. Both DeLorme and SPOT offer seasonal plans so you no longer have to buy a year at a time, but do the math carefully. For my purposes, SPOT hits the mark. Its a backup to cellular - no more and no less. If I were going truly off into crazy wild uncharted places, I'd skip both the SPOT and DeLorme and opt for a satellite phone.

[slbirdnerd]

I use the Delorme InReach and I and my family are very happy with it. I (and I'm sure they!) think it's worth the money. The InReach is primarily a satellite communicator and secondarily a GPS. It has a lot of capability the Spot doesn't have. You can send any of three "canned" texts that you create on your account online, and those don't count against your monthly allowance. You can also send and receive custom texts by using the InReach alone, or integrating with your Smartphone via Bluetooth. For mapping/GPS, it also integrates with the cell phone and while I haven't used this much it is handy. I would definitely take a look at it.

[Another Kevin]

I send my wife a daily text message on a conventional cell phone if I can raise a signal. For emergencies (at least when hiking solo, or off-trail, or in deep winter) I carry an actual PLB - one of the ones that can't do anything but shout for help. These are supposed to be a lot more reliable than devices like SPOT or InReach, and they don't require a service plan. (They do require registering your beacon with Uncle Sam.) They have three different modes for locating you.

First, they try to acquire GPS and send a data packet through a geostationary weather satellite. This is by far the least reliable of the methods - don't get distressed if a test packet doesn't get acknowledged, that happens all the time with "known good" beacons. But if it works, you're found. (And of course it continues to try to send the data packet every few seconds).

The second method is that its powerful pulse (5 watts, if memory serves) can easily be detected by a low-orbit weather satellite. These overfly the whole globe every few hours. This method is pretty near foolproof. It might have issues in a really deep box canyon or in a cave - no communication method works there - but it works even in dense trees. If the device has a GPS signal, one data packet is enough again. If not, the satellite has Doppler direction finding gear on board, and can get a fix on your position to within about 100 metres without GPS assistance.

The third method is that the device is also constantly sending 'PLB' in Morse code on the aeronautical distress frequency of 121.5 MHz. Any passing airplane may well hear it - and all pilots are supposed to report it. Civil Air Patrol, Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services, and several other nationwide organizations have short-range direction finding gear that can be used to triangulate the signal. As long as the beacon is live, they can find it. (The radio hams do "fox hunting" drills where they hide a transmitter and compete for who can find it the fastest.)

The device also has a strobe on it. This isn't too meaningful in dense forest, but if you can get any view of the sky at all, then an aircraft can see the strobe.

Further thoughts at http://dftscript.blogspot.com/2012/0...t-httpwww.html .

[Slo-go'en]

I did not know the signal didn't get out. I was in the Grand Canyon.

Well, unless you were very close to the rim, it is unlikely that any device would have worked. The satellite would have to be directly overhead to hear the signal.

One must remember these devices are not 100% reliable, 100% of the time. You are sending a weak signal a very long way, at a frequency which is greatly influenced by rain, vegetation and terrain. For optimum performance, you must be "in the clear", with as much sky visible as possible.

[Shutterbug]

Well, unless you were very close to the rim, it is unlikely that any device would have worked. The satellite would have to be directly overhead to hear the signal.

One must remember these devices are not 100% reliable, 100% of the time. You are sending a weak signal a very long way, at a frequency which is greatly influenced by rain, vegetation and terrain. For optimum performance, you must be "in the clear", with as much sky visible as possible.

True, but the point I was making is that with the SPOT there is no way of knowing whether or not the signal got out. With the DeLorme InReach one gets an acknowledgment when the SOS is received. In my situation, if I had known that the SOS signal didn't get out, I would have climbed to a higher ridge to try again. For me the ability to have two way communication is worth the extra cost of the InReach over the SPOT.

[Old Grouse]

This timely article should be of help: http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Person...Beacon-Reviews

[PatmanTN]

I’ve been using an Delorme inReach for about a year now. I average between 28 and 35 short weekend trips per year and so have used it quite a bit. It has never failed to send so far. There have been several times that I did not receive the confirmation graphic in the display but the message did go and my wife replied. (our code is that I send one text to her cell phone and she replies once to my inReach every night).

The places I’ve had the most issues are in deep river valleys here in the southern apps. But again, so far, it has never failed to send but might take a long time (longest to date is an hour-I was far off trail in the Citico wilderness of TN). Last I heard the Iridium satellite network has the most global coverage and the most satellites overall so this should be the best available offering in that sense.


The older model I have isn’t a strong navigation tool as it doesn’t natively display maps (but can work with the smart phone app paired via Bluetooth), it does show your coordinates with a little button pushing (should be easier). The newer models have more capabilities. I chose the $11 per month plan that includes 10 text messages with tracking or overages incurring additional costs.


To turn the device on you have to hold the check button for several seconds which seems like a good safety feature but somehow it has managed to get unknowingly turned on inside my pack a couple times and the battery ran out.

[Offshore]

This timely article should be of help: http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Person...Beacon-Reviews

Its not very timely when it comes to the DeLorme and SPOT - the review is from January 2013 and the DeLorme and SPOT reviewed are not the current versions.

[MuddyWaters]

Both the spot and the inreach have lots of promise, but both still have their fair share of quality and performance issues. There are a few other satellite communicators besides the inreach, they are just a lot more money, double or triple the price. Heres the thing, you wont know if you have a bad one of either of these, until it doesnt work when you need it too.

Spots service plan is ridiculously priced, Inreach is more sensible for infrequent use, but ridiculous too if you use it throughout the year. My take, the spot will go away soon if it doesnt become comparable to the Inreach, the OK message alone is ridiculous for the price, and there is already near zero resale value to them. You can still buy a new spot2 for $65, and there is no more functionality to the gen 3 than the 2 really.

Both of these are going to rapidly devalue as new ones come out with improved functionality and reliability.

One issue is battery life. It really is not that good IF YOU USE IT. In the case of the spot, to be likely your simple OK message gets thru, it must stay on and transmit for 30 min at a time. 30 min per day, x 10 days, is 5 hrs transmitting time. I have read reports where 20 - 20 minute transmits wiped the batteries out on a spot . (2x per day.) Tracking is less intensive battery consumption, and a breadcrumb trail has value for rescue too, if someone notices you are overdue.

The inreach claims 100 hrs but again, that is in track mode. Transmitting messages greatly reduces it. People have transmitted 1 message per day on a 2 wk hike, and had 15% battery life left. And its not replaceable, it has to be recharged.

The moral of the story, is if you want to depend on one of these items for rescue purposes, you must manage the batteries, and 10 days to 2 weeks is max with very limited use.
At least in the case of the spot you can bring an extra oz of AAA Li batteries and feel comfortable. With the 7 oz inreach, you must bring a charger of sorts. Pretty sucky on a long hike.

In a few more years, I think these items will be much improved and more reliable. Fortunately, there is pretty good cell phone coverage on the AT, and lots of human traffic most of the year, and neither are really needed for most people.

[WeShallSee]

Thanks to all of you for your thoughts on this subject. I see I will need to study up on the whole things some more. Thanks.

[Wise Old Owl]

I did not know the signal didn't get out. I was in the Grand Canyon. A member of my party became dehydrated and collapsed on the trail. I immediately activated the SOS on the Spot and began working on the person in trouble. I was able to get him re hydrated enough to make it to the camp site at Clear Creek. When no helicopter came, I figured out that the SOS didn't get out. The next morning, the hiker had recovered enough to hike back to the Bright Angel Campground where he rested until he was well enough to hike out of the Canyon. After I was out of the Canyon, I contacted the SPOT folks. They said they never received the SOS.

that was huge... thank you very much for the post.

[Just Bill]

FWIW- I have been happy enough with the Gen 3 spot. Battery life is solid, tracking is acceptable, 95% of okay messages make it out.
I have never tried the SOS, although I believe that it does flash red on the Gen 3 models if a message fails to send.
As muddy mentioned, It takes AAA, a battery I am carrying anyway for flashlights. I have made it several weeks of constant tracking and daily okay messages on a set.
The cost for service is overpriced at $150 per year, although occasional specials can be found, after the first year it is hard to get a deal. The service auto-renews as well, so watch out for that if you are no longer using the device.

Having someone at home watching for the okay messages is the best bet regarding YOUR personal safety. If you are seriously hurt, you may not activate the SOS, however failing to send an okay after some predetermined time can alert the person at the other end to send help to you. For self rescue and peace of mind for family members I think the spot is the better choice for most Long distance hikers.

[Slo-go'en]

The cost for service is overpriced at $150 per year,

Which is 41 cents a day. Actually, that's not bad. Of course, few people will use it every day for a year, but if you use it for a 6 month hike, then it's still less then a dollar a day. If you only need it for a week or two, then the price gets to be a bit much to justify.

The AT has pretty good, but not perfect Cell coverage. If "inchworm" (the woman who went missing in Maine) had a SPOT or Inreach, maybe she would still be alive today.