With more and more people heading into the outdoors, there\u2019s been a corresponding uptick in the number of search and rescue (SAR) missions to retrieve lost or injured hikers. Tragically some of these people didn\u2019t make it, while others were eventually rescued after several days or even weeks. The cruel irony is that in this era of smartphones, action cams, and drones, even experienced outdoor enthusiasts are oblivious to a simple piece of technology that could have prevented or mitigated these ordeals, and that\u2019s a personal locator beacon (PLB).<\/p>\n
As a quick primer, an activated PLB sends a one-way SOS message to a dedicated SAR satellite network, which then relays your location to the nearest SAR center so a search can be initiated. There\u2019s no subscription fee and satellite coverage is worldwide. According to the NOAA<\/a>, which administers the program in the United States, 77 people in the US were successfully rescued via PLB in 2019 alone. A PLB should not be confused with a satellite communicator with SOS function (e.g. InReach, SPOT), which piggyback off commercial satellite networks and thus require a subscription plan. REI has an easy to understand comparison here<\/a>, and you can read about the technical details of PLBs and Cospas-Sarsat here<\/a>.<\/p>\n