Do you carry a PLB or sat phone?

[Becca]

We own a sat phone, and for our uses and the kind of trips we do year round, it has proven to be priceless. On fly out hunts, where a float or bush plane is oftent quite weather dependent, having the ability to communicate with the flight service is essential. In places like Kodiak or the Brooks Range, weather delays of multiple days are common. We routinely touch base with our flight service via sat phone on these trips to get a brief weather forecast and find out if the plane is coming as planned. If the pilot is going to be delayed for bad weather at his end, we might have an extra day (or two or three) to hunt before our pick up time. If it's going to be stormy where we are, we know to button things down and prepare to ride it out.

Even hunting (way off) the road system here in AK, having immediate two way voice communication is key. Cell phone service is spotty along the high way in much of AK, and non existent once you get off the road. We have called friends to bring in spare ATV parts or other forgotten or essential Equiptment on trips, as well as just touching base the night before a planned Rondevous to ensure all parties are still onboard for the same plan. In 2013 Luke and I coordinated the sale of our house via his father while on a 3 week dall sheep hunt. Without the sat phone, the poorly timed move that year and subsequent sale of our old house would have ruined our trip.

I am likely biased about the value of a sat phone in the event of emergency, as having the ability to call for help saved my left leg and maybe my life when I suffered a fractured tibia and fibula hunting mountain goats in 2010. Coordinating a coast guard helicopter rescue via the State Troopers was difficult enough with two way telephone communication. I can't imagine trying to deal with that via text message, let alone sitting on that hillside in fog and pouring rain, pushing the "oh sh*t button" on a Spot or PLB and hoping help would come.

 

[kodiakfly]

I carry a Delorme Inreach. I can text my Wife or hit the SOS and get my coworkers to hoist me out of something. The texting is pretty close to real time and my Wife and I have had simple conversations with it; enough to explain why I'm staying out an extra night or ask how her day was.

We also discuss contingencies ahead of time to keep conversations direct; "weather coming in, you can't get out today, could be three days" etc. As far as the SOS on the Delorme, I've not had to use it, but once activated the Rescue Center agent will text back and forth with you every 15 minutes until help arrives. If they don't get a response from you, help is still on the way.

 

[Bmcox86]

My wife always has a trip plan with a map with my route highlighted and areas i plan on going, I carry a ACR PLB, small and if i hit the button i know help will come.

 

[camping1601]

Delorme Inreach is working well for me.

Me also.

 

[GotDraw?]

Both Sat phone (Spot Global Star phone) and PLB. I carry one, my brother, the other.
That said, we found that we are now able to get cell service from a couple of ridge tops as well.

 

[kfrazier]

+1 on the Delorme inReach. Not the lightest option but a fantastic little device.

+! I like texting home at night.

 

[larryschwartz]

It really depends on what capabilities you are looking for.

A sat phone is a great tool. You can actually talk to anyone you want to, rescuers or your outfitter or the folks at home. Many of them now have SOS buttons on them and will send a message and your location to the COSPAS/SARSAT network which will notify the nearest SAR resources. The downside is that you need to be using it when a satellite has line of sight with your location, especially if you want/need to talk with someone.

SEND devices (satellite emergency notification device) like the SPOT and inReach use commercial satellite networks (not COSPAS/SARSAT) for their text and emergency notifications. Most have an SOS button and most offer the ability to send and receive text messages which makes communication with the front country easy and effective.

PLBs (personal locator beacons) are what most people think of for use on boats and ships but they can also be used on land. They send a message to the COSPAS/SARSAT satellites which then relays it to your local SAR resources, just like SEND and sat phones do. Some have the ability to predefine a few text messages (e.g., arrived at camp, send help, bring the horses) that you can send as part of a testing protocol, but you can't change them while in the backcountry unless you have internet access and you can only send a few text messages. While this is certainly more limited than the texting features on the SEND devices or sat phones, PLBs do have one significant advantage. Once you activate your PLB it will continuously send out your SOS message until you turn it off. That means that you don't have to hope that the satellite has line of sight with your location or that it doesn't go behind that ridgeline before the message gets out. If one satellite doesn't get the SOS then the next one coming by will, because your PLB is still sending it. And most PLB batteries last at least 24 hours, if not longer since you only turn it on when you need it.

 

[RiverReaper]

I recently git an iridium 9575 due to the need to communicate with projects while in the wilderness. Haven't used it yet though. Kinda bitter sweet since it's nice to leave civilization behind but just not an option anymore for me.

 

[Bob b]

I really like the in reach. I have had it a couple years now

 

[snowcamoman]

Iridium Extreme Sat phone goes with me anytime I'm off the grid and it's been a great item to have. Being able to call in for a pick-up early, or add days to a hunt by making a call and talking to a person is priceless.

 

[oenanthe]

For years I did solo trips with no PLB or sat phone. Then I started carrying a sat phone, mostly to be able to keep my wife informed. Last year I switched to an Inreach and have been very happy with it.

Issues with the sat phone are: 1) frequently dropped calls in the AK mountains where you may only have a few satellites in view; 2) doesn't provide any location or GPS function; 3) fairly time-consuming to power-up and make a call; 4) limited battery life; 5) heavy; and 6) takes me out of my headspace on wilderness trips. Number 6 might actually be the biggest drawback for me.

The Inreach satisfies most of the issues above: 1) I've never had a text not go through; 2) at the push of a button, my wife or friends or rescue personnel have my exact location; 3) takes about 30 seconds to power up and send my wife a preloaded text that says "Leaving camp for the day" or "Making camp for the night"; 4) can go for a week-long trip sending texts twice a day and occasionally checking location and still have 90% battery left (unit turned on only when actively being used); 5) at 6 oz., less than 1/2 the weight of a sat phone, and 6) firing it up and sending a text twice a day is just a routine camp chore and doesn't take away from my wilderness adventure.

I figure I want two main functions for comms: letting my wife know that I'm OK every day, and being able to notify friends or the authorities if I need help. The Inreach does both of those very reliably, and also adds some very basic GPS capability and the ability to receive texts. For example, if there's a major storm predicted, my wife can text me the forecast.

Last year I had to packraft across a fairly large river on a solo hunt. My wife was worried about it. So I sent her an "I'm OK - just checking in" message when I started the crossing, and the same message after I safely crossed. She could click on the location link in the text and see the map with my location on it, and that I was indeed on the right side of the river. Very helpful.

Garmin just bought Delorme, so there's a bit of uncertainty right now about how the Inreach will be supported and developed in the future. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Garmin doesn't ruin a good thing.

 

[WCS]

^^^^^^^ Those are the reasons I carry a Delorme Inreach. Definitely agree with oenanthe in hoping that Garmin doesn't screw these up.

 

[Bughalli]

Sat phone. I only really take one big backpack trip a year, otherwise my weekend hunts don't need anything. The sat phone for a week is pretty much the same as the annual fee of something like a Spot device. I figure since tech evolves so quickly it's better to rent. But that's just me.

 

[flyinsquirel]

What Sat phones weigh a pound?
The Iridium 9575 weighs nearly the same as the inReach and has the o-$hit button, gps, text etc.

 

[jmez]

I carry a PLB. My wife doesn't mind me not checking in as long as I can get help if needed. I decided on the PLB, you push the buttton the signal is getting out. My buddies took satellite phones to CO a few years back and they were terrible. They must be very area dependent as to how they work.

 

[oenanthe]

What Sat phones weigh a pound?
The Iridium 9575 weighs nearly the same as the inReach and has the o-$hit button, gps, text etc.

Not sure who said sat phones weigh a pound, but I was using a 9505a, which weighs 14.5 oz. That's more than double the Inreach's 6.9 oz.

Thanks for the info about the 9575 - I wasn't aware it only weighs 9 oz. and has some GPS functionality. Still 25% more weight than the Inreach (if you want to look at it that way!).

 

[snowcamoman]

The new Iridium Extreme can text and send a map with GPS coordinates on it too. There was a software update last year that really helped with the dropped calls, definitely worth looking into. My hunt partner has had 2 Inreach's die on him. He was given new one's, but that'd be a lousy situation if there was a real emergency and it was needed.

 

[Yellowknife]

Thanks for the info about the 9575 - I wasn't aware it only weighs 9 oz. and has some GPS functionality. Still 25% more weight than the Inreach (if you want to look at it that way!).

I pretty much always carry a spare battery with a Sat phone. Bumps it up to 12 oz or so.