Joined: May 17, 2006 Posts: 91 Location: Inland Empire
Posted: Mon Oct 26,2009 11:22am Post subject:
RANTAN wrote:
An interesting article regarding PLB's (Personal Locator Beacons)...
Tired from a tough hike? Rescuers fear Yuppie 911....
OMG!!! I travel alone much of the time, and I've thought about getting one of these devices, but I'd rather be a grizzly trail snack before I called rescue because the water tasted bad!!! Not only should those clowns be cited, they should be banned from the outdoors until they get some training (or grow some serious walnuts).
In any event, I wouldn't get one of those devices until I could absolutely prevent inadvertant activation.
Perhaps a more salient point is simply this...for decades people knew the risks in traveling away from the pavement and city lights. They either accepted the risks (and with any luck, prepared themselves), or decided to stay home.
In the last few years, I have come across many folks in the backcountry, ill-prepared for the trail they were on...no water, no maps, poor gear choices...all of which could easily spell disaster or death.
While there are many places to get training and experience for the outdoors, the American people need to at least wake up to the fact that nature is something to be prepared for...and perhaps just feared a little.
If I were on a SAR team (and I have been) going to the rescue of one of these idiots, I would be hard-pressed to hold my tongue.
Nature. Enjoy it and hope you don't die in the process.
-- Joe (I woke up) _________________ "Gettin' dirty in an '05 Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon Sahara Edition"
I don't have one, and likely won't anytime soon, but I like the idea of being able to call for help if I am SERIOUSLY AND LEGITIMATELY injured, stranded, or otherwise able to get myself out of an ENTIRELY UNANTICIPATED dangerous situation. But those are going to be very rare instances. If I shatter my leg, or if I get buried under a sudden landslide, that's one thing.
But running out of water? I agree--those guys need to be strapped to their sofas. _________________ Three eyes. Four wheels.
Joined: May 16, 2006 Posts: 1436 Location: Simi Valley
Posted: Mon Oct 26,2009 5:11pm Post subject:
WestwardHo wrote:
I predict the yearly fee to be skyrocketing shortly....
SPOT already has a disclaimer on their site:
Quote:
2.1.3 False SOS/911 Emergency Transmissions. You are solely responsible for any charges that may be assessed by emergency responders for either false SOS/911 emergency signals and/or in relation to search and rescue activities resulting from you or your authorized users transmission of a SOS/911 Emergency Signal.
Why should anybody pay for their stupidity? I guess we are already paying for it, but SPOT shouldn't simply up their rates because their client base is full of future Darwin Award candidates.
Joined: Mar 19, 2008 Posts: 23 Location: San Diego
Posted: Thu Dec 24,2009 7:31am Post subject:
I have a Spot and it is handy. A few months ago I did a trip in Baja and it gave my loved ones good piece of mind that I was able to be able to track me and recieve the "ok message". I didn't get to test the 911 option as I adequately planned my water supply. _________________ James
Joined: Aug 03, 2006 Posts: 16 Location: Ventura County
Posted: Wed Feb 03,2010 1:22pm Post subject:
If you have a spot (i do). you need to check out Jason Jones site. He built this for motorcycle riders, but I use it for offroad and hiking.
He has come up with a process that captures and stores data from Spot site and does a much better job at filtering the data for preview than Spot does. For example Spot only allows you to show backwards rolling 1-7 days. Jason allows you to grant access to Date/Hour to Date/Hour (including into the future)
So if we were to go on a camping/offroad trip. The spot could track the entire trip for family, but for this forumn your access would start the second day at 7am till 9pm on trail day. Watching me drive to and from my home to the campsite the first & thrid day is not important to this group. (but might be to my family). giving this type of access on the spot website is not do'able.
Although the page is not a fancy or high tech looking, what can show or not show is much more creative.
Joined: Aug 07, 2007 Posts: 62 Location: Mtn. View, CA
Posted: Wed Feb 17,2010 6:56pm Post subject:
SPOT2 is shipping again starting 2/18/2010. I'll probably get another one in a few months after I am sure they work. I returned one of the early ones last October.
SPOT2 is shipping again starting 2/18/2010. I'll probably get another one in a few months after I am sure they work. I returned one of the early ones last October.
This looks a little more interesting to me than that orange thingy
SPOT2 is shipping again starting 2/18/2010. I'll probably get another one in a few months after I am sure they work. I returned one of the early ones last October.
This looks a little more interesting to me than that orange thingy
Now THAT is good use of SPOT.
Pricey, but I'm sure that will come down over time.
Then, everyone will be able to text anywhere they go; fall over a cliff while testing, and then twitter and post to facedbook about the whole adventure.
I would never buy another Delorme. TG tried that and it stinks. The only thing she liked about it was the fact that it had the cache info in the gps. Using cache register makes loading the caches easy but maps are not easily loaded. To add insult to injury the damn thing died last week and refused to start.
Now they are adding another product "SPOT". Why don't they just add a cell phone and a dishwasher, ham radio, iPod and portable vacuum?
Rumpled wrote:
MiB wrote:
MotorBug wrote:
SPOT2 is shipping again starting 2/18/2010. I'll probably get another one in a few months after I am sure they work. I returned one of the early ones last October.
This looks a little more interesting to me than that orange thingy
Now THAT is good use of SPOT.
Pricey, but I'm sure that will come down over time.
Then, everyone will be able to text anywhere they go; fall over a cliff while testing, and then twitter and post to facedbook about the whole adventure.
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