Personal EPIRB devices

Very topical. Just been listening to 'Australia all Over', a bloke fell 5 metres on a farm out near Narromine and had to drive himself to get help, had a fractured skull, five broken vertebra and a puncture lung amongst other things. No mobile coverage out there although it's not far from Dubbo.
Might be a worthwhile addition to those who go bush, no matter the cost.
 
I have a Garmin InReach. Don't need it much as Sat tracking and comms in the helicopter but it's in my bag just in case. It sends text messages and emails. Bluetooth interface with phone or iPad makes it quite easy to use. I've struck up a few text conversations sitting in bumfuck nowhere waiting for firecrews to do their job.

Jim
 
A mate of mine was adv riding in Canada somewhere with his locator thingy. His wife in NZ casually checked it from time to time to track his progress. One time he seemed to be moving, but not very far, in fact it looked like he was wandering around in circles for a couple of hours. She was slightly worried, was he lost? Concussed? Stuck somewhere?
No. He was in some bike gear superstore buying summer gear because he had thought it was always cold in Canada 🤣
 
Inreach Mini, that's what John W uses on his extreme overseas BMW trips, back blocks of Russia and northern Canada. The reviews are impressive, you can send satellite texts that can detail issues to a nominated person plus emergency services. It makes this easy by pairing to your phone so the phone allows its keyboard to be used They can send spot checks for locations so Fran can see what you're up to You can suspend the cost if it's not being used and best of all it's so small you can put it in a jacket pocket so if you crash off the bike it's still in reach. How helpful was Peters Eperb when Chris had his tree meeting and considering how remote club rides can get the club should have one? Most epurbs have one function, send the cavalry NOW, just the possibility of Satellite texting to family makes these ways better.
 
I take a KTi Safety Alert with me whenever I ride. 66 Channel GPS (3 metre accuracy) , direct to the world wide satellite distress network. 88mm high, will fit in your pocket or use the belt loop to attach to your belt. weighs 140 grams and has a 10 year battery life. I often go back road riding here in tassie and I am such a bad rider i need to make sure I can be found if I have a mishap on my RE Himalayan.
 
I have the PLB1 - second on the list in the article that you linked to Marty. It is super compact. Can't really vouch for its efficacy as I've never pressed the button! Something to think about is whether you intend to have the thing in your pocket so in the event of a bad 'off' you can reach it to trigger it. I say this after having heard about more than one instance where a rider has gone over the edge of a drop (overshooting a corner) and found themselves distant to the bike and luggage, and injured. When you buy the PLB1, you simply register it and that is it for 7 years (or was it 10?). It does not have a messaging capability, but I figure it is a last resort device.
 
Didn't even have mobile phones when I went around Australia 45 years ago, and the roads were a lot worse then. Port Hedland to Broome was 600km of sandy track through the bush.

Modern technology is turning us into wimps afraid to go outside without a rescue strategy.
 
After we discovered there was no phone service a Tasmanian Hydro truck driver arrived and said he would use his radio to call his base about your Tree incident, you were still unconscious then and were like that for a good 20 minutes and it was looking bad so Peter said Fuck this and he set up his Epirb and 30 minutes later we had an advanced Paramedic turn up is a fast response car, then the local volunteer Fireys then the cop and 2 minutes later the chopper arrived with the Doctor. All this approx 50ks from nowhere in pissing rain and blowing a gale. The chopper probably came from Hobart, 100ks flight time. The response was fantastic and we all were so happy when you started moving about. One scary event. Not my worst but that's one horror story for another time. EPIRBs are a good thing but only in a full-blown emergency not for flat tyres etc
 
Couple of w/e's ago I travelled the 100 kays to Northcliffe pub for the annual Devil's Undies gathering. Pissing with rain I left the Motodd in the
shed and took the GS BM via the forestry tracks, about 80kays of the 100. Never saw a car going there or coming back. Often think about the situation of coming off and not being able to get up again and could be waiting days/weeks before any vehicles come along and rarely any phone reception. A location gismo wouldn't be a bad thing to carry.
 
Story goes that about fifteen years ago a bloke came off his GoldWing in the Horrock's Pass between Port Augusta and Willmington. Nobody knew where he was, despite extensive searches, wasn't until weeks later that his body and bike were found in bushes in a covert off one of the 25 kph corners.
 
We spend days and days hare arsing in really remote roads around The Snowys, buggar one bend and go off a drop and you wouldn't be missed in some cases for hours. We arrived at just that on The Omeo a few years back, luckily he was seen going over and there was plenty to heave it up that drop. You hear on the news every now and then that someone crashed into a gully gets found weeks later with some horrible result.
 
Doesn’t take a motorbike…
I was cutting firewood at the bottom of my property, in my spare time, and took a chance. Got knocked down by a branch, straight on to the saw. Very lucky, unlike my neighbour who did something similar and…. never mind….
Anyway, I don’t even go down the back any more without telling someone and giving an ETA. And I never start the chainsaw without a helper.
 
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