Getting Lost Will Get Harder ['personal locator beacons']

San Jose Mercury News ^ | August 14, 2003 | Paul Rogers

[John Jorsett]

Forget about leaving a trail of bread crumbs. Getting lost in the woods may become a thing of the past, thanks to a new high-tech panic button for outdoors lovers.

In a move that could change society's relationship with wilderness, the federal government today will roll out a new electronic homing system that uses satellites to track ``personal locator beacons'' carried by outdoors enthusiasts. The devices will allow rescuers to immediately locate people stranded miles from civilization and facing life-threatening injuries.

[John Jorsett]

Sounds like they're using the same satellites as the Emergency Position Indicating Radiobeacon (EPIRB) system that boaters use.

[Redcloak]

A map and a compass would be much cheaper. Lighter too!

[ExSES]

While I would like to cheer this development... As a CAP member for 3+ decades, I fear a huge amount of "spam" reports + malicious broadcasts from those who either stole the beacons or..., bought them and broadcast for "Fun"...

I sincerely hope that I prove wrong!!!

[John Jorsett]

A map and a compass would be much cheaper. Lighter too!

It doesn't do you any good to know where you are when you've broken your leg if you can't tell anyone. These beacons let rescuers find you by the signal.

[John Jorsett]

While I would like to cheer this development... As a CAP member for 3+ decades, I fear a huge amount of "spam" reports + malicious broadcasts from those who either stole the beacons or..., bought them and broadcast for "Fun"...

I'd presume that a unit would have a unique ID and would be registered to a specific individual, which would cut down on the intentional false alarms. Stolen units might be a potential problem, but only once. If they got a second alarm from a unit after having gotten a fake one before, they'd just ignore it.

[Prodigal Son]

There's a 14 yr old Canadian boy who's gone missing in London after being pushed off a crowded Tube train and seperated from his uncle. He is described as timid and not very street wise and has been missing since yesterday evening. The uncle is very distraught (understandably). This device might have done the boy some good.

[Redcloak]

Don't be a whiner! If that one guy can lop off his arm with a dull Swiss Army knife, then you should be able to drag yourself up a hill with a broken leg! When I was a Boy Scout, we didn't even have maps. We had rough sketches drawn on the backs of cocktail napkins with a crayon! And for a compass, we had to use a sharpened stick. And that was only if we were lucky enough to find a stick. Otherwise, we had to make do with a rock.

THIS IS WHAT'S WRONG WITH AMERICA THESE DAYS!! WE'RE GETTING TOO SOFT!!

[Bahbah]

I wish the fellow who had to cut off his arm with a pocket knife had had one of these.

[RightWhale]

they will prevent the deaths of hundreds of hikers, hunters, skiers and mountain bikers

What about dog mushers? Or aren't we supposed to care if the adventurer isn't self-propelled?

[Cultural Jihad]

I wish the fellow who had to cut off his arm with a pocket knife had had one of these.

But then he would have been a "softy" for carrying one around, eh?

[Redcloak]

OK... So I cut the guy some slack. I'm assuming that there weren't any good pieces of flint around. And besides, it's kinda hard to knap flint while you're holding the work in your teeth.

[July 4th]

"A lot of folks might say I don't want this technology there. I want to handle it on my own."

Sheesh...fine then. Don't buy one of the units.

[templar]

... then you should be able to drag yourself up a hill with a broken leg!

Duct tape will do an adequate enough job of patching a broken arm or leg. You might not be quite as fast, but you should still be able to complete your mission. Anyone too wimpy to get themselves out of the wilderness by themselves probably shouldn't be going there in the first place.

[Uncle Meat]

Anyone too wimpy to get themselves out of the wilderness by themselves probably shouldn't be going there in the first place.

This gadget probably won't do you much good if you're being mauled by a grizzly either.They might find your bones by the time they track you down,though.

[Freedom4US]

You have to understand the mentality of some hikers - they haven't quite got their brain firing on all cylinders yet - they claim to love wilderness and wild areas, but agonize over the idea of carrying a cell-phone, believing it would "ruin" the wilderness experience.

Of course they have no qualms about aluminum framed nylon tents, carbon fiber/kevlar packs, titanium cookware, gasoline stoves, first aid kits, goose down sleeping bags, freeze dried vegetarian lasagna at 11 bucks a pop and all that.

The problem with cell phones is already well-known - hikers are calling up ranger stations to inform the on duty personnel such gems "I'm tired, come and get me" etc.

The personal locater beacons aren't a bad idea - sort of, as a last resort. I remember a much younger me who managed to rim-rock himself off-trail on a solo hike with nobody knowing where I was (hiking "illegally") it could have turned out bad I guess, but decided that I got myself into this mess, it was up to me to get myself out. A "panic button" might be too tempting. Technology is great, but can be misused obviously, along with the tech must come responsibility - a good start would be to make wilderness visitors responsible for their rescue.

Think about it - these same folks who clamor for wilderness and or wild areas - want someone else to risk *their* life to help them out if they get in a jam. Lets make those areas *true* wilderness - sign a release form of some kind stating in no uncertain terms that no rescue will be performed except in cases of extreme emergency, and all costs associated with same will be borne by the affected party.