Bill O
12-19-2006, 03:35 PM
This is a bit of a spin-off from the Mount Hood thread.
Does anybody own or thought about buying a PLB? It was only in the past few years that the government has approved them for land use and the size has been greatly reduced. ACR PLB (http://www.acrterrafix.com/)
In general, I have nothing against them. In a grave emergency it is probably the most reliable and effective tool for rescue. They certainly are for more than just mountaineers. The saga of the Kim family would have been a non-issue if they had a PLB. Then again if every city dwelling family had a PLB there would be other serious problems.
The biggest risk is a sense of false security a PLB might bring many people, and of course the possibility of unnecessary use. Many people might be reluctant to activate the PLB as many grave situations do not always present themselves as such. I'm sure the climbers on Mount Hood never thought of their situation as grave. Certainly one heck of an epic, but not grave.
Another problem I see is that most likely you will never get to use the device. Obviously good, but probably a little boring. With a cell phone you can always make calls to friends and family in the backcountry. And with an avalanche beacon you can always practice/train with the devices. Even after several years you can fire off your expired flares on the 4th of July. The most action your PLB is ever going to see is a self-test and a battery change.
Just some food for thought.
Does anybody own or thought about buying a PLB? It was only in the past few years that the government has approved them for land use and the size has been greatly reduced. ACR PLB (http://www.acrterrafix.com/)
In general, I have nothing against them. In a grave emergency it is probably the most reliable and effective tool for rescue. They certainly are for more than just mountaineers. The saga of the Kim family would have been a non-issue if they had a PLB. Then again if every city dwelling family had a PLB there would be other serious problems.
The biggest risk is a sense of false security a PLB might bring many people, and of course the possibility of unnecessary use. Many people might be reluctant to activate the PLB as many grave situations do not always present themselves as such. I'm sure the climbers on Mount Hood never thought of their situation as grave. Certainly one heck of an epic, but not grave.
Another problem I see is that most likely you will never get to use the device. Obviously good, but probably a little boring. With a cell phone you can always make calls to friends and family in the backcountry. And with an avalanche beacon you can always practice/train with the devices. Even after several years you can fire off your expired flares on the 4th of July. The most action your PLB is ever going to see is a self-test and a battery change.
Just some food for thought.