PLB

Purchased a KTI on specs. Wouldn't have a clue personally how well it works as I have never set it off. Very compact and comes in a protective case and has an armband holder as well.

Hi Munji

First of all, some form of PLB is the cheapest piece of life insurance any four wheel drive, grey nomad or any person that travels outside of normal phone coverage.

My way of thinking is that any person that does not have one is just dame right stupid and have no regard for their own safety and those travelling with them.

There are a few ways that you can go about this and some will have similar features but work very different.

Regardless of what unit you purchase, you must have 3 emergency contact phones to supply for in the event that your devise is triggered, these people will be contacted to verify that you are indeed travelling and at the location where the signal is picked up and there is no annual subscription costs, but requires re registration every 2 years.

These days all the popular PLB's are GPS enabled and will transmit your location down to around 5 metres.

I am on my second GME only for the fact that they only have a safe working life of 7 years in storage. The one that I will look at nest time is the KTI, as it is a lot smaller with a 10 year battery storage life.

I say storage life, as once the unit is activated, they are then a throw away affair. A PLB within its usable working life will work for a for 24 hours of continual transmission of your location. Officials claim that within 20 minutes of activation, your location is logged and various emergency bodies will be alerted to your location.

On the other hand another piece of equipment that you should also consider is a SPOT. The down side of a SPOT is that it requires an annual fee, but the advantage it has over a PLB, is your family and friends can follow your travel progress within 5 minutes in real time time, something that a PLB can not do. Also another feature that a SPOT can do is once you have activated your SOS button, you can at any time after that, press the button again to cancel the signal.

What ever way you go, please buy one to be a responsible driver. Only just last week, those 2 chaps from Broome spent 4 day thinking they would die, where if they had some form of PLB, would have been home by the next day.


All the best


Cheers



Stephen

I have a Garmin Inreach SE+. It is capable of 2 way text messaging, PLB or Emergency response to and from AMSA in Canberra plus being able to check weather and emails. Track logging is a big feature that can be shared with family and friends.
It is able to Bluetooth connect to phones, iPads and laptops to enable message work and map viewing.
In the event of an Emergency, the Inreach SE+, it is capable of communicating with AMSA to enable them to respond the correct Emergency Service. In the event of the Emergency being resolved it is possible to terminate assistance.
You do not have to be in the Centre of Australia for this to be an asset. Recently, I was in the Central West of NSW and had no mobile coverage but was able to send to and receive messages from family.
More information here https://www.ja-gps.com.au/Garmin/inreach-se-plus/

GME. Wasn't much else around at the time I got the first one. On to my second one, no problems but have never had to use it.

Something new on the scene but a bit expensive is the Garmin inReach Explorer.
To access the Iridium network and communicate with your inReach SE+ or Explorer+ device, an active satellite subscription is required. Depending on your usage level, you can opt for an annual contract package or flexible month-to-month airtime plan.
Link to Garmin inReach Explorer

Munji - if you see this before midnight Mon it might help. $259 less 15% off, plus free delivery, use SAVE coupon (as per h0me page). I've bought a few things from them, very good service.
Click the link: KTI PLB