cape york

I say take your own - not fair to rely on others should you get into strife. We got a sat phone for Tanami and Great Central Road travel - it worked a treat as we didn't need it. Now if we hadn't bought it???

Motherhen

Interesting question b2e. There'll be lots of people up the Cape at that time of the year, many of whom will be well equipped with HF/satphones. Is the question you are really asking "if I get into trouble that I can't handle myself, will I just bum the use of a satphone or HF radio from someone who happens to drive past"? This is a risky strategy. Firstly, in the case of illness or an accident you may need to call for help immediately - I wouldn't want to have to wait for someone to come along, and hope they were better equipped that I was! Secondly, if you run into mechanical difficulty which is not time critical I think it's a pretty low act (IMHO) to ask to borrow a strangers' gear because you chose not to equip your self properly. I'm not trying to cause offence with these comments. I rescued a stranded family on the Cape about five years ago. They were bogged in a creek; had no comms gear at all, and no recovery gear. I broke my snatch strap getting them out - not happy Jan. For the little it costs, hire a satphone:-)

If you might go off the beaten track at all, hire your own.

August is usually a peak time for sat phone hire. I'd be organizing one well before that.

Hi b2e,

Take a sat phone. Take an Epirb if you can.

When you look at all the costs to travel, you will find a sat phone will be good value. If you like a beer or two, the sat phone will look cheap compare to what you will pay for drinks up there!

I hired a sat phone last year when we did the cape. We did not need to use it, but we were happy we had it and almost needed it when a car we were with broke down on the way to Bathurst Bay.

Think of it as life insurance. Compare the cost to car insurance and it may look quite cheap.

Have a great trip.

Dave

Gotta say I disagree to some extent here.Cape York is NOT remote in the sense that the Canning Stock Route or the French Line or the like. OK a satphone or HF will never go astray but so long as you are well equipped in terms of safety, recovery and first aid gear.....you don't need a satphone. I lived on Cape York for nearly 10 years and I've been back half doz times in recent years and never ceased to be amazed at the increasing number of people each time I go home. It isn't far between towns and/or landlines these days either. The last time I was up there in 2007 I even got mobile phone reception in several places along the way. Just my 2 bobs worth anyway.

Some interesting comments here. Before the introduction of GSM mobile phones, many people travelled with out communications when travelling to outback areas close to home. Its interesting to hear that some travellers feel its more important to take a Sat phone when travelling in outback Oz. Yet they feel it is important when say traveling the Vic high country. Yet the same issues can arise.

It is interesting that we tend to base our emergency needs more on the location, i.e. if we have been there before, then we feel more comfortable to carry less comms.

Personally, we should all consider carrying emergency comms on all trips, be it HF, Sat Phone epirb or Spot. We all have our own views on which is better. However, having none is fine until an emergency happens. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, suddenly the cost is not an issue.

We should all be carrying some sort of emergency comms. We just don't know when we may need it.

Oh, by the way, I managed to amputate the end of one of my fingers in a winching accident in the Vic high country many years ago near Swifts Creek. Our HF helped us to find the closest medical assistance via VKS737. It certainly helped my stress levels knowing where to get emergency help quickly.

Finally, we think the best emergency comms is the one you feel comfortable to use. It is no good having an HF radio if you never use it. Its no good having a Sat phone if you never use it. A good example of this is when I had my winching accident. One of the guys in our convoy owned the latest HF Codan radio and talked highly about it on the trip. When it came time to use it after my accident, he didnt have the confidence to use it. After downing a few pain killers & bandaging up my finger, I ended up making the call to VKS737. I am not sure what we would have done if I couldn't walk to his 4WD to make the call.

Laurie