PLB , does anyone have one? experiences ?

With where we go off road there is 0 cell reception for hours(remote rocky mountains). We always go with someone so chances of someone not being able to get out are slim, but possible. Is this a good thing to maybe add to the safety kit? does anyone have one? experiences? I know there are the Spot and Magellan ones needing subscription, but resqlink have ones for emergency one time use. whats your thoughts?

We looked into getting some of these for the helicopter guys in our squadron and in all of our vests we carry PLBs. From what I understand about them they are awesome in generating a response from civil authorities but the biggest question is the cost. Might be worth doing the research on if you hit that button who pays for the cost of responding units. In Montana it's state funding that pays for civil search and rescue operations and as far as I know the recovered party does not get charged for anything but that may be different from State to state. Being on the military side our funding comes from a whole separate pot of funds and requires AF approval before we can respond to any of those beacons and we don't charge anyone we go looking for. I'm not 100% sure if there is any data transmitted with the signal as far as what type of help is needed or if it just generates a generic distress signal that will drive some sort of helicopter response. In any case the PLBs really should be a last ditch effort life or limb kinda thing and as a Helicopter response guy I would personally recommend using a system like the Garmin enreach (even though there is a few minutes of delay between messages) before popping the signal on a PLB.
Can it save your life in a shitty situation, absolutely! But depending on how bad your hurt or stranded you may get more than you bargained for in a response to a PLB.

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I carry a Garmin inreach when we are on the runs. It does have the SOS button built like a PLB but it also allows to to text thru your phone app and works pretty well even in tree cover. It does require a monthly service plan that I have set up for $16 per month but that does also include insurance to cover the cost if you ever push the SOS button in an emergency. So far, it’s been great, but I’ve never had to push the button to really test out how good it is.


2015 JKUR AEV JK350
1985 CJ8 Scrambler

I have the garmin inReach as well. I really like it and my wife likes that she can track me when I’m out on trips alone . It’s also nice to be able to communicate wherever I am.


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thanks for the feed back, it's some food for thought for sure. the communication is certain a plus, but how often is the texting really used? are you charged per text? and is it something you use because you have it , which is one of the reasons i hit the trail....try to disconnect for a while. it is something i would use in an extreme case only, and hope i never have to.

trailraider said:

thanks for the feed back, it's some food for thought for sure. the communication is certain a plus, but how often is the texting really used? are you charged per text? and is it something you use because you have it , which is one of the reasons i hit the trail....try to disconnect for a while. it is something i would use in an extreme case only, and hope i never have to.

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The only time I use the text, is at the end of the day to say goodnight to the wife. If she’s with me I don’t use it at all. It was really nice one time that my daughter got sick and they could get ahold of me.
They have different plans. I get 40 text a month before they charge for them. But there is a lot more to it then just communicating.


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It really does offer piece of mind for your family at home. I use it the same way. Keeps mama happy knowing my son and I are back in safe everyday


2015 JKUR AEV JK350
1985 CJ8 Scrambler