[cgk]

Trust me, you key up on 121.5, and they'll find you all right. They'll be R-E-A-L-L-Y unhappy, but they'll find you.

I wish hubby and I had known some of this before we got stuck in Death Valley one night several years back.

I tried to light big bonfires that kept fizzling out (strangely enough in a National Monument) to get the attention of the China Lake flyers with zero luck. I was thinking fire would be highly visible at night. Nope, but it helped keep us warm.

[ArmstedFragg]

That frequency is the standard frequency for aviator's emergency locator beacons. It's monitored by satellite, and produces a fairly fast response when there's an activation on it. There's a similar emergency calling frequency in the Marine radio spectrum.

And now..... there's one available for outdoors folks. Here's one site that offers info on personal ELB's.

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories/s1168.htm