Personal Locator Beacon

Hi luca_ki
You wont need a PLB (presuming you and your family have no critical medical conditions)
However, I have a spot PLB. I take this on remote trips, but I sometimes take it on not so remote trips also. Spot has a OK button and you can send text (predetermined text on mine) to email and mobiles. Also, I pay a bit extra for tracking so I can open the link to friends and they can see my progress.
Up to you however more than one use for a PLB
Cheers
Alan

Even on the Mereenie Loop there is quite a bit of traffic, so (as Equinox said) unless you have a condition requiring rapid response a PLB is not necessary.

I wouldn't bother either. No high risk roads or tracks and plenty of traffic.

Phil

Think of it like an insurance policy - you may need it, you may not...you won't know if you needed it until you return safely from your trip - if that makes sense...

And just like any insurance, you never need it, till you need it!

Having said that and on balance if you are not venturing off the main route described, or walking in the bush, you can probably get by without it. But if you have $300 to spare, think of it has a good safety investment, buy it and write it off like an insurance premium.

Cheers, Baz - The Landy

Hi Luca

While I agree with the comments here that unless you have a medical need, or will venture down remote side tracks, you will not need a PLB on the roads you have mentioned.

Did you read this recent thread on thePLB thread case for carrying a PLB?

Of more importance is a satellite phone. On another forum a question was raised about satphones, but I see PLB's as just as important. You are being very responsible in looking at the safety of your family. Your decision will probably be influenced by, is this a one off trip, or will there be others in the future.

This is my view of things I hope it helps.

Satellite phones - hire or buy? The cost difference between the two is not great enough to even
consider hiring a phone. A hired phone is second hand, you do not know its history, it is unlikely to
be as reliable as a new or refurbished phone.

For outback travellers satellite phones should be looked at in the same way you look at insurance -
an ongoing cost to cover the unexpected. A satellite phone in an emergency could make the
difference between life and death, to travel without one in this day and age is, I suggest, very
foolish. I would also highly recommend carrying a PLB (Personal Locator Beacon) as this alerts the emergency services very quickly. The satellite phone enables communications with the emergency services to confirm that there is a real emergency, and to target the response to the nature of the emergency. When you purchase a PLB your register it with the Australian Maritime Safety Authority together with your details including contact details. When a PLB is activated one of the first things that the emergency services do is to ring your satellite phone, provided you have one of course.

For outback travellers having a satellite phone is a must. The question is which one. There are two
scenarios, one where you only want the phone for emergency or very occasional use, or two where you wish to be able to make regular contact with the outside world. For second scenario there are many many options depending where you go and how many phone calls you want to make. I do not propose to go into all these options here, but to only talk about occasional and emergency use.

The suggestion I am about to make is what I do, and when faced with an emergency last year six hours north of Katherine N.T. it worked perfectly in extracting me for what could have been a very nasty situation. You should do your own research as your life could depend on it, there maybe other solutions but this worked for me and I highly recommend it.

I have a refurbished Globalstar GPS1600 satphone. It is a basic phone no bells and whistles designed to do one thing, to easily make phone calls which it does well. It has a large phonebook which you can fill before leaving home with all potential numbers that you may need. There are are a number of places that sell these phones, including eBay. I brought mine from EO member SatphoneSales in Qld. who currently are selling them for $375 (Mar 2016). I have mine on a $20 per month post paid plan with Piviotel, in my case organised by SatphoneSales. You can suspend the plan and save the $20 per month but if you do, when you reactivate your plan you will get a new phone number. I never suspend my plan as I am always ready to go, my number never changes, and I just see the $240 cost per year as an insurance and a drop in the ocean to what my life is worth. Call cost is about a $1 per minute which while not cheap, is not really a consideration in an emergency. Your allotted number is an 04 mobile number and calls to it cost you nothing, and the caller pays the same cost as to any mobile number, which if they are on a plan would be no additional cost. So you could spend a dollar and ring someone and get them to ring you back.

I would not consider a prepaid plan. In an emergency the last thing you want is to run out of
credit. There are usually ways of getting more credit but it is not something you would want to be
doing in a highly charged emergency situation. Besides, the person using the phone may not know
how to increase the credit.

I have heard some people say that even though they are remote, say Canning Stock Route, someone will be along usually within a few hours. I would suggest it is not very responsible to be relying on the goodwill of others to save your bacon. I want my destiny in my own hands and not reliant on the goodwill of others, quite apart from that you may not have a few hours. Consider your partner having a medical emergency, or even yourself for that matter, a call to say the R.F.D.S. could give you advice of things to do before anyone can get to you that could just save a life.

In summary for a one off cost of around $600 for a refurbished satphone and a PLB and the ongoing cost of $240 for the phone plan I consider as excellent insurance to potentially save my life and give me great peace of mind. When I compare this with what it costs to insure my vehicle, it is a real bargain.

To travel remotely without a satellite phone and PLB in this day and age is very fool hardy in my humble opinion. Whats your life worth?

If you are going any where you are likely not to have mobile access its a good idea to have a PLB in fact its good to have one in the glovebox have a look at safetybeacon.com.au for more information

Buy a PLB.
After that, if you can afford it, buy a sat. phone.

I would travel without a sat phone, but not without a GPS enabled PLB.

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 Motorhome.