Thanks for all the comments. I definitely need one, but it's still hard to decide which one. I wish I had the money for both a plain, high-powered PLB and one of the units which allows some texting. Where I'm going is known to "eat" vehicles more than hikers so the ability to giver rescuers more details is nice. On the other hand, I'll be heading through some rough terrain down in some canyons.
It's still six months away, so I have time before I have to decide...plus, I'll be working on getting into topnotch physical shape to reduce the risk, too.
-Blast