Sounds like a spectacular trip into the back country! have a great time.

Others have mentioned the PLB, so I'll just mention that they mentioned it and agree it might be a good idea to at least rent one if at all possible.

Other than that, have a great time, get some good pics and tell us all about it when you get back!

Okay, let me put it another way.

I have airbags in my pickup. I can use my key and turn off their function if I choose to. I paid for the airbags, but it is up to me whether I will use them or not. It would be difficult for me to explain to my wife and kids from a hospital bed that I chose not to use them even though they were available to me, and that had I used them, I would not be broken and unable to support them for an indefinite period.

I don't think anyone here considers the use of a PLB or a SPOT as a means of childproofing our lives. I believe most of the people here would view such a meager investment as a sound and responsible act, but to each his own. I guess my question then is why not? It doesn't really cost so much that it would be an economic issue. It is not cumbersome, and it in no way interferes with any activity that could conceivably be performed while out on such an adventure. It is there in case something very bad happens and you need to be rescued. How can anyone consider that impractical or superfluous?

Why live with the risk when for practically zero cost you don't have to?

The biggest reason I don't want to use my PLB is that I fully expect that they'd charge me with the cost of the rescue ... and I would hate to the see the cost of such an activity.

I was in the hospital last year for a week, because of an injury I got to my kidneys and liver, heart and lungs. They told my wife I'd be dead by morning the first night I went to the ER. After all was said and done, I pulled through but with all the consultations with top experts in the city, they all said, "never exercise again, it could kill you, your lucky your alive now, stick with your blessings."

I didn't like that, I felt like they were covering their asses rather than helping me. I eventually found the best clinic in the world that deals with my new condition. The one catch, they did not bill insurance, cash, check or credit card only. Were talking around $10,000.

I did it. Still paying for it on my credit cards. Sure it hurt but the other side was that I could just use that money for my funeral expenses because I'd most certainly have killed myself had I not gone to them and learned what I did about what was going on.

The point is, I have no problem with a 'stupid tax' for being rescued or having a fee for rescue. The other side could be your family never having the closure of finding your remains or your helicopter ride will instead go to the funeral home.

here in AZ we have a Stupid Driver Law. (yes thats accurate) If you illegally drive through a flooded wash and get stuck, your paying for 1st responders to rescue you. Its not a bill you can duck, it's a fine like a speeding ticket.

Ken you didn't want to pay for the cost of the rescue?

Don't you have to pay for funerals in Illinois? Of course you can only die once, whereas I suppose someone could need multiple - and expensive - rescuing.

I was referring to the notion that having a PLB leads to people taking unreasonable risks OR that they may tend to activate the PLB for minor issues.

My point was that although I bring my PLB with, I don't want to use it because of the potential cost of the response. So, instead, I minimize risks to avoid the need to activate the PLB.

Like Ben said, I pay for the air bags and the OnStar system, but hope I don't need to use them.

BTW, I don't plan to pay for my own funeral ... I'll let someone else take care of that for me. :-)

Ken

Thanks for the clarification. It sounded like you simply didn't have a PLb