PLB on shore for an older lady? Forest? Experiences?

[Franziska]

Hi,

my mum is almost 80 and still walking her dog on a daily base for several miles.

Usually she walks through forest in the countryside. While we do live in Germany, there are (amazingly in this day and age) parts of her walk which have no mobile signal.
Even if she would change her paths, there is only very patchy signal.

The other day she brought up the theme of how she could call for rescue in case of a fall in such a location without cell coverage.

A PLB came instantly to my mind.

I am wondering if someone has experience with them with regards to which specific model might work best in hilly terrain with tree coverage.
Obviously the lighter the better & the simpler to use the better.
Not a to high price would be good too.

RescueMe or FastFind? Others?

Thanks so much.

[acunningham]

Have carried an Ocean Signal rescueME PLB1 quite a few times while hiking in remote areas. Thankfully, never needed to use it. It's quite small and light, and the one I bought came with a little pouch with a belt loop, so it's easy to carry.

[Chotu]

Sure. People use Spot devices when hiking, riding deep into places without signal.

They are as little as $150. Very common.

https://www.findmespot.com/en-us/

[Franziska]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Sure. People use Spot devices when hiking, riding deep into places without signal.

They are as little as $150. Very common.

https://www.findmespot.com/en-us/

Chotu, the spot requires monthly payments and is therefore initially cheap. Spot is to complicated for my mum.

The PLB are one time purchase items.
Guess we end up with a Mcmurdo Fastfind. Just thought someone can perhaps shed some light on its reliability shoreside.

Thanks for your input though. Btw. glad to hear that the boat project is not off :-)

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Franziska

Chotu, the spot requires monthly payments and is therefore initially cheap. Spot is to complicated for my mum.

The PLB are one time purchase items.
Guess we end up with a Mcmurdo Fastfind. Just thought someone can perhaps shed some light on its reliability shoreside.

Thanks for your input though. Btw. glad to hear that the boat project is not off :-)

We have a McMurdo… battery just expired. These are great but you do need a clear view of the sky… if your mom falls under a tree… it may be a problem.

[Cpt Mark]

I had/have a spot. Switched to Delorme InReach. Yes they have monthly plans on both but what's your mum's life worth?

In my personal experience, backpacking with spot, fell on the flat trail, bruised my spinal cord something fierce, paralyzed from the neck down for quite a while. This happened as night was falling, no cell signal etc.

In the morning I pushed the SOS button. Spot called my contacts to see if there really was a problem and they confirmed I was backpacking. They initiated rescue ops immediately. Yes, they work.

[onavegador]

Since years I have a McMurdo fast find what looks as easy to operate, but never needed to use it more than controlling the battery state.
What may also help your mother is a mobile phone with to SIM cards from different service providers. I often travel in Germany and with the two SIM cards I often have net from the one or the other. Not in the quality i used to have here at home but better than nothing.
Good luck
James

[Valmika]

I have a spot and a delorme in reach. The spot coverage is iffy and does not work in certain places but if it works in your area I think it is your best bet. You can add the emergency Insurance and they pay for evac. Under $200 a year for everything. Actually cheap insurance.

[requiem]

I have loaned out an ACR for a similar reason. It's fairly compact, but not quite as much as the RescueMe. You probably want to run the device self-tests yourself when you visit.

PLBs are regularly used by hikers and have a bit more transmit power than the satellite messengers (useful when foliage is a concern). I personally prefer the latter when they offer 2-way comms, but I don't see that being a significant benefit in this case. Most important is that she knows to have it upright and not blocked by her body.

Originally Posted by onavegador

What may also help your mother is a mobile phone with to SIM cards from different service providers.

I'm not sure how it works outside the US, but within the states a call to 911 does not require SIM or service plan to be connected. So, if you are in a different service provider's area and are getting "no service", the call can still go through. (There may be a delay, so give it time.) This is different from having no service at all, of course.

[Kiwi.]

Originally Posted by acunningham

Have carried an Ocean Signal rescueME PLB1 quite a few times while hiking in remote areas. Thankfully, never needed to use it. It's quite small and light, and the one I bought came with a little pouch with a belt loop, so it's easy to carry.

Our daughter and her partner do some very extreme tramping and four wheel driving. They take their RescueMe PLB1s with them everywhere. We have tested them in quite heavy bush (forest) with good results. Small and light and a one time purchase cost.

[Anders]

Originally Posted by requiem

I'm not sure how it works outside the US, but within the states a call to 911 does not require SIM or service plan to be connected. So, if you are in a different service provider's area and are getting "no service", the call can still go through. (There may be a delay, so give it time.) This is different from having no service at all, of course.

That works the same anywhere in the world on a GSM system. Dialling any emergency number and your phone can register on any network.

[Franziska]

Originally Posted by Anders

That works the same anywhere in the world on a GSM system. Dialling any emergency number and your phone can register on any network.

That may well be true, but if you are without any network it won't work.

My concern is if she falls on an early morning walk and would lie there for several hours before being missed (she's the early riser and would not want to wait until anyone else is awake with her walk).

I think we will get her a McMurdo Fastfind after all, we have one on board and it's something super easy to use.
The Spot or Inreach seem to complicated for her (not to much in love with modern technology) to use in a real emergency, besides making monthly payments necessary.

I think that plus her cell phone (which works in some areas) mitigates the risks enough (even if we can not have 100% certainty.)

Thanks for all your thoughts and input.

[sv_pelagia]

Have you looked at Zoleo?
Will use WiFi, cell, or satellite (in that order) when available. Simple 1-button push for SOS.

https://www.zoleo.com/

[ArmyDaveNY]

Originally Posted by Franziska

Chotu, the spot requires monthly payments and is therefore initially cheap. Spot is to complicated for my mum.

The PLB are one time purchase items.
Guess we end up with a Mcmurdo Fastfind. Just thought someone can perhaps shed some light on its reliability shoreside.

Thanks for your input though. Btw. glad to hear that the boat project is not off :-)

Chotu is correct about the Spot, however there are different products. The Spot Trace (https://www.findmespot.com/en-us/pro...ces/spot-trace) is just $100 (often less depending upon any specials) with just $9.95 per month for basic coverage. Your mother wouldn't need do anything since it just tracks her. You can set it up to post signals every 5,10, 30 or 60 minutes. If it doesn't move for a longer than normal time, you can ask someone to check on her. She doesn't have to do anything.

There are other devices and services that allow her to send and receive texts, calls, etc. These are however more expensive and more complicated.

Regardless of what you choose, I wish you good luck with it.

[requiem]

Originally Posted by ArmyDaveNY

You can set it up to post signals every 5,10, 30 or 60 minutes. If it doesn't move for a longer than normal time, you can ask someone to check on her. She doesn't have to do anything.

That raises a good point. One of the other reasons I like the satellite messengers is the tracking feature. For a solo hiker this provides a last known position if they aren't able to trigger the device for whatever reason, but it does assume someone else would be keeping an eye out.