Originally Posted by
ObiJohn
I have a Spot 2, and it works well for my purposes: tracking my progress on a website for my family to follow, and for the unthinkable. My hammocking is in support of multi-day motorcycle trips both on and off-road. No, it's not perfect, you will miss some tracking spots if the device can't clearly see the sky. Wear it on your upper chest or shoulder and no problems. As a motorcyclist, I don't want to mount it on my bike, in case I crash and depart the bike and am rendered immobile. If I can touch it I can call for help. If not, there'll be a cluster of tracking spots at my current position, a clear sign of where I am if I don't check in. I have the optional GEOS emergency evac policy, and carry my Spot when I travel overseas, just in case. It will track when placed next to an airline window, so hopefully I'll never be stuck with my best friend Wilson on an island.
I think the InReach is also a good device, but if you don't need two way messaging, the Spot will do. PLBs are great if you're conscious and can activate them, otherwise not so much.
I bought my device after reading of a missing motorcyclist who crashed his Goldwing in a turn on a well-traveled highway, but was out of sight of the road. He was immobilized but tried repeatedly to call for help on his iPhone, but no signal. Hunters spotted his crash site from across the Salmon River a month later, and investigators determined he lived at least 3 days. I started carrying it when i read of a rider who crashed on a forest road and laid there for almost 3 days, until he was found by a Navy SAR helicopter after he didn't report for duty for a couple of days, and a friend in the Indian Ocean recalled an earlier conversation about where he wanted to explore. The rider almost died, but survived with career-ending disabilities caused by the crash and lying immobile and losing circulation in his legs.
I can't recommend strongly enough for every remote traveler to buy one of these devices and utilizing the tracking feature along with giving friends and family access to the web page with your track on it, and establishing a check in protocol via a phone call or device message each evening.
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