Dang Close

[goldbrick]

AJR and Wes, I don't blame you for being skeptical per a 406 EPIRB reception in canyon areas. Do I have personal knowledge that they work great every where but underground? No I do not. Did I do research before spending my dollars on an EPIRB? That's a big yes. Most things in life don't work at 100% efficiency 100% of the time. My research tells me that in a life and death situation the 406 EPIRB offers the best chance of me being able to contact emergency services.

I am not trying to start a pissing match with SPOT owners but 5 years ago when I did my research, the internet was rife with complaints of poor to no reception in many places by spot owners. I could not find one instance of some one setting off their 406 EPIRB and emergency help not arriving. Do some research yourself, your mileage may vary, after all mine is 5 years stale.

The other advantage of an EPIRB is no monthly subscription fee. Once you buy it all you pay for is battery replacement ( every 5 years on my model). Of course you can not chat up your family and friends with one, that honor belongs to the SPOT.

Whatever option you decide on make sure you take it with you, doesn't work if setting on your work bench at home. Mine lives permanently in my prospecting back pack. I convinced my brother to get one and he used the holster to mount it on his suspenders.

 

Merton

[klunker]

 Well Goldbrick, now you've got me thinking. I often go detecting by myself in very remote places working around cliffs, rattle snakes, pissed off mountain lions, disgruntled bears, very steep slopes with loose boulders, old mine shafts and avalanche prone areas. But sometimes I go where it's really dangerous. With one of those gizmos- I could  push my luck even more.

 The wife does worry about me when I am late getting home. Who else would bring the firewood in and take the garbage out?

[fredmason]

Don't worry Norm, we are all replaceable...for a price...

 

just teasing...

[WesD]

Thanks for the extra info Merton!

[goldbrick]

Klunker, obviously you have never heard the expression "only the good die young".  Ya got no worries, you will be around for awhile! LOL  You can probably save your money and buy me something real nice at Christmas time.

 

Wes, You are welcome. I hope one of these options works for you.

[tvanwho]

Goldbrick,

 

I seem to recall Spot sold insurance policies that would pay you for rescue expenses twice a year, if needed? Does the Epirb company do this? An emergency rescue must cost a small fortune I should think and could break your bank account?

 

-Tom

[goldbrick]

Tom, I have no idea about insurance. I was under the impression you only have to pay if you activate a search when you did not need to. That is only my impression and it may be wildly inaccurate. If you are concerned about post activation responsibilities, a few minutes on the net should provide you some answers.

[Gold Hound]

Here in Australia we have some of the most poisonous snakes in the world!

Most notably the inland taipan, costal taipan, eastern brown, mulga, tiger snake, death adder,rough scaled snake, copperhead and red belly black snake.

And they are common in the gold fields and if bitten by any of them, the bite if untreated is probably going to be fatal!

If you are unlucky enough to be bitten by a brown snake you have about 1 hour if you properly bandage and immobilize the bite until the neurotoxin will make you blind, then shortly after paralysis starts to kick in, then you are screwed!

If you are unlucky enough to get bitten by a taipan in the field............ Just pick a shady tree and roll a smoke and start smoking it, you wont finish it!

When you use a emergency beacon the average response time is 6 hrs if your lucky, and even then they don't know what is wrong with you they just know you set off your beacon.

So if you are bitten by one of the snakes above you will likely be dead before they arrive if you use a beacon.

So I regard them as usless to an Aussie prospector that works in remote areas.

So instead we carry satellite phones, as they are much better because you can ring direct to the flying doctor's and they will be there much quicker or you can ring one of the property owners and they will pick you up with the muster chopper in minutes not hour's.

[Norvic]

Not a bad idea guys, but  I dont see it being trustworthy in canyon situations that have spotty gps signals to begin with. I know many times I am in and out of signal on the Garmin, and even with a satalite lock on, the signal is sometimes distorted and marked waypoints  can show up way off.

Also I would figure its still going to be a long wait for a rescue team to show up, so one would still have to fend for himself the best he could.

Does your GPS show the EPE (Estimated Position Error)  , to avoid marked waypoints being way off, ensure the EPE is 10m or less before you save, can take many minutes in some locations but by doing so waypoints can be relied on. In fact be wary of manufacturers claims they lock on faster than the opposition ones, might sell GPS`s but not much good for users. Simple to check this, hold GPS in one position save waypoint when it informs you it has lock, save another couple minutes later etc etc, check those waypoint cords if they vary by much between first saves but gets lesser with later saves, you have an idea, but you should find a EPE or averaging measurement under menu functions.

 

Now with prepaid on hand held Satellite phones, it is more affordable although the cost/min is higher but for safety only takes a few minutes to contact if you need help in a hurry. I use a Inmarsat Pro which has a GPS inbuilt and allows you by a few button pushes to email your Lat & Long to whatever email address you wish, so have made a rule if the wife doesn`t get my daily email she knows something is wrong, plus of course I ring her once a day even more if the Goddess of Gold has blessed me. The missus really likes this  saves her worrying when I`m out there, good for me too she lets me go more frequently.

 

About snakes, I see them when I`m walking around but when detecting with detector on, only seen one over the years. Often wonder are the snakes able to sense our detectors field or is it simply because we detect a lot slower then we walk, thus they move away?