I do a lot of dirtbike motorcycle riding on trails that don't see much activity and lately I've been looking around at the various PLBs on the market.

To me the prices seems rather high for what's a pretty simple device. I can see the price being higher for internal GPS, but for a plain old 406 MHz transmitter sending a little data - am I missing something?

If you don't already own one, at what price would you consider buying in? <$400, <$300, <$200, etc.

I wonder if the missing Kim family and the missing hikers on Mt. Hood will generate enough interest by the public to buy PLBs. I bet if that happens, prices will drop even further.

Ideally, something priced in the $300 range would be fine with me. I don't have one, but the thought has been bouncing around in the back of my mind.

Simple device? Yes, it one sense it is, but really rather amazing what it can do.

You are buying not only the device, but the liability the company carries by bringing such a device to market. Plus, the market of potential customers is somewhat small, thus the higher price.

I picked up one of the ACR's with internal GPS last year for a bit over $500.

I think those that "need" a $200 custom knife, yet balk at a PLB due to price have misplaced priorities.

I'd prefer to pay $200 for one, but it looks like I'm going to pay between $500 and $600.

I've paid up to $850.00 for one survival course and am going to do so again and again for the advanced classes, thousands of dollars on gear, and hundreds of dollars on books, so another level of added safety at $500, one that may prove useful in a worst case scenario, doesn't seem too bad when I think it all through. Especially when I consider some of the trips I'm planning to take in the next year.

Don't get me wrong, $500 is a lot of dough, and it'll take me a while to save it up, but I think such security is worth the money.

Having become somewhat intimately involved in developing the specifications to which these PLBs must be certified, I can assure you that there's a lot more to it than first meets the eye and the costs of gaining the required approvals is HUGE and difficult enough technically that many companies have given up or had to go back to the drawing boards. It ain't plug and play. The consumer market, even with just two players at this time, is very, very competitive, so the prices are not artificially high and margins at all levels of distribution are low. The size of the market, relative to the cost of development and certification is very small. Everyone in the industry wishes they were more affordable because everyone realizes that price is one of the major impediments to more people buying one.

If by that you mean a fully functional handheld GPS with an integrated PLB (as opposed to a PLB with an integrated GPS receiver as is already available) , don't hold your breath. People want their GPS, which they use all the time, to be small and light as possible. While PLBs will be getting smaller, the power requirements for the PLB, which must be totally discrete and separate, will always dictate a battery that's bigger than many entire GPSes. Just not practical and likely never will be.

$249.00

Hi everyone,
I live in Arizona and go off road a lot. Both with 4 wheel drive vehicles and ATV's in exploring and camping in some pretty remote areas of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, and I would love to get a PLB. It has been on my mind for some time, but the price IS a detering factor at this point.
I dont have any $200 custom knives and my means are very modest to say the least. (And dont ask why I have a 4x4 or ATV, because both were long term investments over the course of many years and my 4x4 is also my work vehicle).
So price IS what is keeping me from getting one at this point. I would invest in one at $250-$300 though, because at that point I could save up for one.

Vast distances, what's ~23000 miles between friends <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I started doing some more reading about them this week and actually ordered a copy of the RCTM standard Friday. Hope to have it for Christmas.

It should be interesting reading - I'm a satcom engineer by trade <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I've been through product developments with what I imagine are similar types of requirements, both electrically and mechanically, and with extremely rigorous certification requirements.

In any case, I should have a better handle on the requirements in a week or two. Sure would be nice to find a way to drive the cost of these things down to the point where the buy decision is a no brainer for the average family.

Depends on my need. If I stay were I am, $200, because there are places I go that just aren't visited in winter. If I can't get myself out in an emergency, I'm there until the buzzards find me in spring. That being said, if I was to, say, take a job in Alaska or Nevada that was going to be road miles intensive, I'd spring for it now.

My one concern is people taking risks outside of their ability to manage, because they can trigger the PLB at any time. Same issue I've got with the GPS/cellphone combo, or just cellphones. Doug, is there anything in the standards to help nip this possibility in the bud other than the current price point? Or is it just hoping that people won't be morons?