I'm not that familar with PLB's but wouldn't a satellite telephone work just as well? A quick google search just revealed to me that you can get one for "as low as $393" I know that they require LOS with a satellite but don't PLB's also? I've used an Irridium numerous times overseas in all kinds of terrain and weather and the longest period of time I had to wait out a connectivity blackout was about 6 hours.
Any thoughts/experiences?
Well, a sat phone + GPS would give similar properties to a PLB. You still need to be able to tell the rescuers where you are. There are some fine point trade offs, but for the purpose of this discusison, the combo would be roughly equivalent.
And yes, they both need to have a pretty clear view of the sky.
The gotcha with sat phones is not the upfront cost, but the monthly charges. While they have come down a lot, they are still semi-expensive.
They are also still kinda big, so if this is your EDC cell phone, it might be a bit bulky.
That said, I'm all for it. Personally, I'm thinking the way to go is buy a PLB and GPS, and rent a sat phone when on certain trips.
On those trips, you can have the PLB in one person's pack, and the GPS/Sat phone in the other in case a pack gets lost/damaged.
Also, regardless of cell phone, radio, sat phone, etc., make sure you protect it from being crushed and protect it from getting wet.
Also consider the implications of the power used. For example, if it uses a rechargable built in battery, what do you do if the battery runs out?
-john
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