![]() ![]() Typically, you customize your messages and contacts before heading into the backcountry, then select your text and recipient when you’re off the grid. Many of these devices allow you to easily send messages to friends and family, in addition to baseline SOS functionality. These units use private satellite networks and therefore require subscriptions (kind of like cellphone plans). One-way satellite communicators take PLBs to another level, allowing the user to send a specific message. But their simplicity still makes them a popular option for adventurers who simply want the function to SOS in a bad situation. There’s no confirmation that the message was received, there’s no ability to send different or custom messages, and you won’t receive a message in return. The downside: PLBs like the ResQLink View send out your location and personal information, but that’s it. This one has a battery life of over 24 hours, so you may continually broadcast your location to rescuers if you’re moving. It also uses government satellites (so you don’t need a subscription) and should alert authorities to within 100 meters of your position. It has a five-year battery life, so-assuming you don’t activate it-it should serve as a ready-to-go insurance policy on half a decade’s worth of trips. ![]() One such PLB is the ACR Electronics ResQLink View ($379.95). To activate the device, you unfold the antenna, press the button, then wait for help. When that button is pressed, a signal is beamed up to the satellite network and then relayed to a dispatch with your location and information and forwarded to the proper authorities (local law enforcement, search and rescue, the Coast Guard or whoever is responsible for lending you a hand). Think of it like 9-1-1 when you don’t have cell service. It operates like an EPIRB, or Emergency Position Indicating Rescue Beacon, on a boat, allowing you to SOS, or alert search-and-rescue services, with the push of a button. ![]() The most basic emergency tool is a personal locator beacon, or PLB. ![]()
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