Usefullness of personal GPS tracking devices?

I was reading the story about the missing football players:

http://www.fanhouse.com/news/main/man-found-clinging-to-missing-boat/363537

Made me wonder if a simple GPS tracker like the SPOT could have made the difference between life and death:

http://www.gpsnext.com/emgpslobe.html

I know that other devices are beginning to show up up well:


http://www.locationnow.com/location/FrontManage.do?activity=s911

I know when the SPOT was brought up awhile ago, (after that guy died while trying to get help for his family in the snow) it got a tepid response at best.  But I was just wondering what others think?  It seems like these devices may eventually have some real advantage over a mere EPIRB, which gives the person no options on how to communicate; it's SOS or nothing.

 

If they made a waterproof GPS/VHF radio that'd be the bomb.  Maybe have an automatic 'mayday' message that broadcasts lat/long on 16 so one can use it while swimming...  I'm not big on shelling out much for a device that isn't useful except in dire circumstances.

Also, I think when you have a handful of guys on kayaks, the group is considerably safer than the same number of guys on a PB.  It'd take something pretty freaky to disable everyone.

Actually, Standard Horizon does make such a radio:

http://www.standardhorizon.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd=DisplayProducts&ProdCatID=85&encProdID=DB09EE62D98A27B5C8942B922E30709C&DivisionID=3&isArchived=0

I would agree if people stayed pretty close to each other, but I have often been out with 6-8 people and you can quickly get separated from the rest.  If there is a strong drift, and you play a fish or get hung up, you can quickly find yourself alone.  And if there are significant swell, no one gets alarmed just because they can't see their buddies for awhile. As Odat's plight demonstrated, (http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,16242.msg156114.html#msg156114) you don't actually have to be that far from someone and not be able to get their attention.  Obviously, VHFs could summon help, but I have heard enough people have their radios fail on them to know they are not totally reliable.

Take that couple where the lady got swept out to sea in the dark at the mouth of the Russian River last year.  If that rescuer wasn't right there, and if she didn't happen to have a working headlight, I'm sure she would never have been rescued in time.  But with a transponder, you just might have a chance, even in the dark. At least a copter would know where to look for you.

When I was in Iraq we had a computer/satellite system called "Blue Force Tracker," or BFT for short.  Units had certain vehicle with it, it was two way communication and it was designed not be jammed so I am sure it was not cheap.  The advantage of BFT was you could notify others if a route was closed due to and IED or suspected ambush,  but what I really liked was the "mayday feature" Ping mode.  You activated it and you lit up on the screen of everyone in theater.  Units close to you could or would divert to your location, you knew the calvary was coming.  Some of these smaller devices I think are great, the only disadvantage is that lack of ability to ping on everyone else.  You are either monitoring channels to hear a distress call or hoping the CG makes an announcement over an open channel.  I have no problem with that, but if the CG says some one is at Long and Lat X and Y how many of could plot it? Most of us can punch in UTM numbers ( some of you have posted you are familair with UTM aka Universal Traverse Mercator (hope I spelled that right, its been awhile since I had to use that phrase)), but can we convert it in the event of an emergency? 

Doug -

After a lot of research, I opted to buy a P-EPIRB and not the SPOT

http://life-raft.com/product.asp?Product_Id=175234&d_id=9858&l1=9858&l2=

It is not small but fits in my PFD pocket. I think the SPOT is OK but EPIRB's are the industry standard IMHO and the choice of serious boaters. When I am miles offshore at Big Sur, I feel confident that with an EPIRB, VHF and handheld GPS, help is never far away. I also carry a signal mirror, hand and areal flares. My wife actually got me the EPIRB for Christmas 2 years ago.  If those guys had EPIRB's they would be alive today.

scott

I'm not big on shelling out much for a device that isn't useful except in dire circumstances.

Yea, the price is a limiting factor. You could say no price is too high for safety but, especially now, some of us have a hard time affording a regular GPS, much less a device that costs as much as a used boat (or some new ones, for that matter).

Right now I'm saving up just so I'll be able to buy enough gas to get to the ocean!

The item that you are talking about in the boating world is called an EPIRB, most large sailboats that go off shore care one and in the instance of distress the crew activates it, they also have ones that activate when submerged.  anyone going that far off shore should have one and yes though they are expensive ( football player could afford)

The EPIRB is expensive but less than a shark shield and the chance of needing an EPIRB is much greater than shark attack. I think using a team approach makes sense with regard to safety equipment. Within a group you probably only need one EPIRB, tow rope and extra paddle. Because weight and costs are always of concern this makes sense to me. I think fishing in a group who you have confidence in their skills and ability to handle bad situations is really important. The best piece of safety equipment is common sense, preparation and respect for the sea.   

Scott

Thanks Scott.  I know you are safety conscious and I value your input.  I knew you had an EPIRB from your previous posts and I was just wondering if having the alternative modes of communication (not to mention the lower cost), and even the ability for others to track your position over time and plot it on Google maps, might represent some advantage over a straight EPIRB.  But as you mention, the EPIRB is the industry standard.  I'm sure, with the way electronics improve, eventually these other devices will give the EPIRB model a good run for the money.

The rino GPS/radio combos show other people with compatible units on the map.  Ethan and I had a pair years ago and it was pretty cool on the water.   No VHF though.  It's probably illegal to send data over VHF too (it was over GMRS, positioning only was sent by FRS).  It had some neat games too, one was an artillery game where you could click on the map to drop a bomb and hit another player by guestimating where he is relative to landmarks...  Seemed like something that'd be awesome for a scout camp game.

 You can send data over the GMRS now, you just have to go to Garmin and update your Rino.

Made me wonder if a simple GPS tracker like the SPOT

We carry the SPOT at Aquan Sports. I'm thinking of one myself - IMO: it's great to have when doing remote trips to Big Sur or other places where you can't get any cell phone coverage.

One of our Kayak Instructors - Sean Morley (who taught me how to Eskimo roll) just recently broke the (speed) record for circumnavigating Vancouver Island in 17 days - 4 hours and 49 minutes. He used a SPOT for obvious safety reasons but also to send "I'm OK" messages to his wife,family and friends during his trip.

Interesting read:
http://riverandocean.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2008-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&updated-max=2009-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=34

Lowrance just came out with a small floating, waterproof handheld, VHF/ WX radio with built in GPS and MMSI capable for about $200 retail.  In an emergency you just flip the distress flap, push the button, you can indicate what kind of trouble you are in, and the radio will transmit emergency message with your location until it is answered.
I put a link to the instructions below:


http://www.lowrance.com/upload/Lowrance/Documents/Manuals/LHR-80_988-0158-101_MN000799A.pdf

The pisser is the USCG isn't monitoring the signal yet in our area until 2010.
http://www.boatus.com/mmsi/rescue21_map.pdf

http://www.uscg.mil/acquisition/rescue21/

Mooch! maybe you should put one on that Vespa 

...Blue....only if you'd come rescue me