New kayaker - looking for recommendations for personal locator beacon

Hi, all.
  Just got my new kayak. I know safety should be my number one concern. Other than life jacket and maybe a dry suit for cold water, I am considering a personal locator beacon that can send SOS and GPS location in case of emergency. Any recommendations from this group?
  Thanks in advance.

Welcome aboard John    Some of the marine radios have these features built in.

Welcome to NCKA John.   

Hey John, welcome to NCKA! A lot of us of carry both the gps radios, and a transponder. The radios only work as long as you have a adequate signal. The transponders communicate with the satellite system. I use the Spot transponder but it seems that most use the ACR brand.

Here is some discussion on the two:

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=80736.msg922005#msg922005

Don't forget a bilge pump. A whistle wouldn't hurt either. Good luck out there!

IMHO, a PLB is a great idea, especially if you ever go solo. I have an ACR ResQLink. Since I’ve never had to use it for real (and hopefully never will) it’s hard to say anything too positive. But it is convenient—I strap it onto the shoulder of my pfd and it’s easy to forget it’s there. It’s also easy to test. So, no complaints from me, other than the price...

Also, it’s important to realize that a vhf radio is a line-of-sight device. In contrast, a PLB is satellite based, so the PLB will get thru as long as you can see the sky. I don’t know of any vhf radio that offers a comparable feature—and if there was, it would surely be prohibitively expensive.

I use a spot satellite communicator. It can summon emergency rescue personnel, text or email your friends and family, retrieve weather forecasts, map your location and help navigate. On the downside there is a monthly cost. I especially like being able to communicate with my wife when out of cell coverage. Once my truck battery died and I was able to guide her to purchase the right one and bring it and the tools I needed. Something you can’t do with just a locator beacon.

Thanks for all the feedbacks. Really helpful. I just ordered a bilge pump as suggested. Some of my backpacking friends use garmin inReach. It’s very small and provides communication virtually anywhere. Only downside is the price plus monthly subscription fee. I am still not decided between VHF radio and a PLB. I may get a VHF first  and see how it goes.

Thanks for all the feedbacks. Really helpful. I just ordered a bilge pump as suggested. Some of my backpacking friends use garmin inReach. It’s very small and provides communication virtually anywhere. Only downside is the price plus monthly subscription fee. I am still not decided between VHF radio and a PLB. I may get a VHF first  and see how it goes.

Yes, the InReach is what I meant. You want a radio no matter what else you get. That will allow you communicate with other kayakers and boaters near you. The PLB will summon help from authorities. The InReach will summon authorities and can also be used for non emergency communication. Your family can contact you if there is a problem at home. A PLB or radio won’t help if you’re car is broken down outside cell service or if you just want to let people at home know you’re ok.

I use an ACR ResQLink 400.  I prefer a 406 mHz PLB over Spot and inReach.  The obvious reason is the monthly charge.  Secondary to that, I like that a PLB uses 406 mHz and the detection of a signal goes directly to the regional search and rescue center.  There are no middleman call centers run by private corporations that have profit as their main goal.  From my shoulder direct to those that have the authority and jurisdiction to dispatch resources.  Additionally, most 406 PLBs also transmit on 121.5 mHz.  This frequency is what the search and rescue assets will use to home in on your specific location once they are in the area.  The 406 mHz signal sends your GPS coordinates starting at lower accuracy and increasing over time.  The 121.5 homing beacon allows assets to get in the area and find you from there.

I use an ACR ResQLink 400.  I prefer a 406 mHz PLB over Spot and inReach.  The obvious reason is the monthly charge.  Secondary to that, I like that a PLB uses 406 mHz and the detection of a signal goes directly to the regional search and rescue center.  There are no middleman call centers run by private corporations that have profit as their main goal.  From my shoulder direct to those that have the authority and jurisdiction to dispatch resources.  Additionally, most 406 PLBs also transmit on 121.5 mHz.  This frequency is what the search and rescue assets will use to home in on your specific location once they are in the area.  The 406 mHz signal sends your GPS coordinates starting at lower accuracy and increasing over time.  The 121.5 homing beacon allows assets to get in the area and find you from there.

I understand not everyone finds value in being able to contact people in non emergency situations. Most everything we use including a PLB requires us to rely on private corporations that have profit as their main goal.

I use an ACR ResQLink 400.  I prefer a 406 mHz PLB over Spot and inReach.  The obvious reason is the monthly charge.  Secondary to that, I like that a PLB uses 406 mHz and the detection of a signal goes directly to the regional search and rescue center.  There are no middleman call centers run by private corporations that have profit as their main goal.  From my shoulder direct to those that have the authority and jurisdiction to dispatch resources.  Additionally, most 406 PLBs also transmit on 121.5 mHz.  This frequency is what the search and rescue assets will use to home in on your specific location once they are in the area.  The 406 mHz signal sends your GPS coordinates starting at lower accuracy and increasing over time.  The 121.5 homing beacon allows assets to get in the area and find you from there.

I understand not everyone finds value in being able to contact people in non emergency situations. Most everything we use including a PLB requires us to rely on private corporations that have profit as their main goal.

The 406 PLBs can now be used to send non-emergency communications, though.  Not a use case I have, but makes sense for anyone looking for a 406 PLB that also does that.  I hear you, though... I get that people want non-emergency comms and that's exactly why inReach and Spot have such a large user base.  Maybe I'm old school, maybe I'm conditioned by my time at sea... I kind of want to get out on the water to get away from the electronic leash.  My wife has my detailed float plan for every launch, she knows I monitor VHF-16, she has the numbers of all of the local USCG Sectors and Stations and their AORs, etc.  I never violate my float plan's return time unless I can effectively communicate a change (e.g. out on HMB and I have good cell service, so I can text her).  Everyone has a different comfort level and set of needs, though.  It's good to compare all of the options available and make a decision from there for each person's individual requirements.

More here: https://www.acrartex.com/survival-products/406link

Oh, one more thing that just came to mind.  Another big reason why I don't like the Spot and inReach systems is their non-emergency communications have coverage areas.  The problem with that, in my personal opinion, is that it can create a false emergency.  Alice launches her kayak to go fishing with her Spot.  Alice tells her friend Bob that she will check in every 2 hours via the "I'm OK" button.  Alice ventures out of the coverage area somehow.  Alice presses the "I'm OK" button on schedule, but no message is sent.  Bob gets worried and notifies the authorities.  The USCG opens a SAR case for an overdue kayaker.  A crew from the local USCG Station launches to Alice's last known position and conducts a vector search while the Comms Center gets her last 3 known positions from Bob via the Spot website.  A helicopter launches out of the nearest USCG Air Station and begins a parallel search, while the USCG boat crew conducts a line search based on dead reckoning of Alice's last 3 known positions plotted out over the period she's been "overdue."  You get the point... a lot of resources are spent on finding a perfectly safe kayaker who simply didn't have coverage for her non-emergency communications.  There's a very high chance I'm jaded from being the dude conducting all of those searches for "overdue" boaters who are perfectly fine and simply had poor float plans in place.

Just received my new ACR ResQLink and I’m not sure how it works as it doesn’t look anything like the ones in the pictures. I guess it’s worn like a wrist band?

Just received my new ACR ResQLink and I’m not sure how it works as it doesn’t look anything like the ones in the pictures. I guess it’s worn like a wrist band?

Sure is compact though.