Interesting story ref: SPOT

Discussion in 'Survival and Wilderness Skills' started by Jeff Randall, Mar 7, 2019.

  1. Jeff Randall

    Jeff Randall ESEE Knives / Randall's Adventure & Training Staff Member

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  2. Strigidae

    Strigidae Administrator Staff Member

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    Horrifying.
     
  3. Jeff Randall

    Jeff Randall ESEE Knives / Randall's Adventure & Training Staff Member

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    As with anything posted on FB, it may or may not be the whole truth but I thought it was interesting enough to share for those who do rely on SPOT as their PLB.
     
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  4. Strigidae

    Strigidae Administrator Staff Member

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    What do you all rely on?
     
  5. Theo

    Theo Member

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    Wow, that is not good. My parents use a SPOT while motorcycle traveling, will have them get it checked to make sure it functions correctly.
     
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  6. Jeff Randall

    Jeff Randall ESEE Knives / Randall's Adventure & Training Staff Member

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    resqlink-plb.jpg
     
  7. Caleb O

    Caleb O Member

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    I had heard a couple stories like this (not many but a few), part of the reason I went with the InReach (read that it's had issues too, but not failure sending out an SOS).
     
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  8. Kevo

    Kevo Member

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    That is terrifying. It really drives home the importance of all the other wilderness safety measures too.
     
  9. Wose

    Wose Member

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    Ditto. Although our PLB is due for a battery change. We've considered a InReach as well. It would be super handy if I get an elk down while I'm out by myself to summon some folks to come pack meat, but so far I haven't wanted to spend the money for only that.

    When my wife and I ran a hiking group in Portland, we had folks test SPOTS and find that they didn't work very well in steep terrain and heavy tree cover, although that's been almost ten years ago and I don't know what improvements they may have made since then.
     
  10. Andy the Aussie

    Andy the Aussie Administrator of the Century Staff Member

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  11. Mudman

    Mudman Member

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    Man that's terrifying.
     
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  12. Reno Lewis

    Reno Lewis Knot-A-Challenge Champion

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    Not the first time I've heard of SPOT devices failing to send SOS transmissions...

    I fully intend on buying an ACR PLB.
     
  13. Bushman5

    Bushman5 Member

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    ditto & ditto

    MEC returns dept gets tons of the spot units returned
     
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  14. McKROB

    McKROB Member

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    I’ve had several SPOT devices, they are all in the trash now. I adopted them at my company fairly early on, but after an experience I had with mine I decided to get rid of them all, and in good conscience could not sell them. I was working in a remote location in central New Brunswick and had my SPOT sitting on a tree stump in a flat clearling the size of a football field with no overhead obstructions, no terrain, and no sources of electrical interference. I initiated an OK message like we do as a matter of routine every 3h, and it wouldn’t send from that location, I tried several times over multiple days. If it had been an emergency my SOS message would never have been received. That was the last time I relied on SPOT.

    I’ve given the inReach a very thorough testing operating all over the world since then (about ~8 years now) and have never run into an issue, they perform flawlessly. I think we have five units now. You have to remember what it is and how it works. No device that relies on satellite can transmit or receive through thick trees or when blocked by terrain (neither SPOT, inReach, Iridium sat phones, or PLBs), so you have to take this into account when using it.

    I always carry my inReach, PLB (McMurdo FastFind), and have an Iridium phone as backup (I don’t always bring this one out). The Iridium can be set up to operate as an inReach with tracking, SOS, etc. The inReach operates on the same Iridium network as the satphone.

    My good friend and coworker was climbing on Vancouver Island when his girlfriend got in trouble, she experienced a very serious fall. I have no doubt she wouldn’t be alive today if not for his inReach. In fairness a Spot was also used on this rescue and it worked, but the inReach with its two way comms was the star of the rescue. You can read about her experience and recovery here, p.11-16. (@Reno Lewis were you involved in this search at all?)

    https://accvi.ca/wp-content/uploads/ACCVINewsletterSpring2019.pdf






    .
     
    Last edited: Mar 17, 2019
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  15. Reno Lewis

    Reno Lewis Knot-A-Challenge Champion

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    No, I wasn't, I'm not on CVSAR, though I did hear about that one. Nasty fall, I'm glad she ended up alright.
     
  16. Rich275

    Rich275 Member

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    This made local news, two rescues is pretty unusual. Here's some YouTube footage,
     

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