I got the idea to include a Marine VHF radio after reading about some guy off the coast of Florida who hit a wave wrong and found himself in the water with lots of stuff and no boat. His VHF handheld was of the floating variety. Using it he was able to contact a fishing boat using Ch.16 (every large boat monitors Ch.16) and they had him out of the water before the Coast Guard could respond.

I’m not convinced an aviation handheld such as the Icom A16 or A25 VHF Airband Handheld radios would contact anyone who could actually assist. An airliner at altitude (35K Ft aka 6.6 miles plus) may not hear the radio call — don’t know, never tried it. Private pilots at lower altitudes may or may not monitor 121.5 (VHF guard). The VHF radios I’ve used had good antennas and a ground plane, and they were still noisy. Besides, mayday calls would/should have preceded water entry. After a ditch, the Marine VHF and PLB combined made more sense.

Another thing my survival vest is missing is webbing with a D-ring that can serve as a lifting point. Fortunately, everything I’ve seen shows that USCG prefers baskets and such rather than the simple gated hook I used during training, so a lifting point is no longer needed.

Glad I don’t do that any longer.

Edit: If I were in a canoe or small boat my choice of radio might change — depends. On a largish lake (Great Lakes come to mind) a Marine VHF is probably the way to go. On a river or someplace where the Coast Guard is not primary, a VHF handheld may be more useful for contacting Civil Air Patrol or other aircraft who may respond to your PLB. Before buying a radio, think about giving SAR a clue and get a PLB.