First rule of "survival" is to avoid placing yourself in a survival situation. For a person to go climbing alone, without telling anyone where he was going or when he should return was the young mans first, critical mistake. If he was a smart traveller, he would have reasoned that he was endangering himself by going on a potentially dangerous undertaking all alone. Had he taken a PLB, he could have had someone else amputate his arm for him, if the signal got out and the PLB survived to do the signalling. Still, the same consequences.
What I seem to gather from some folks here is that if you carry enough "toys" nothing can happen to you. Maybe! However, there is no substitute for training, lots of experience and just plain old good sense. Some people would be better served to get some training, gain more experience and spend less money on gadgets. There is equipment that is essential and then there is equipment that is just plain gee whiz. Like I said before, PLBs make perfect sense on water or flying in light aircraft over remote areas or oceans. If anyone says I need one in my backpack for a well planned hiking trip, with friends, having left word on locations and return times, then that person gets to carry the extra pound+ and extra batteries or better yet, stay behind so they can wait for a wilderness experience to come to them. TV is the safe bet, a really cool gadget!!
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No, I am not Bear Grylls, but I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night and Bear was there too!