On satellite beacons, rescue, and safety while elk hunting.

[yakimanoob]

The search mission for Seattle Fire Chief Schreckengost* has me (and many others based on the thread dedicated to that search) thinking, once again, about the value of satellite communicators/beacons for hunters and anyone else who recreates outside of cell coverage. 

Y'all.  PLEASE save up and invest in one of these devices.  I prefer two-way communicators like the InReach and newer SPOT devices etc, but even the simple emergency beacons and PLB devices have a lot of value. 

I've only been a part of my local SAR team for about three years, but in that short time it's become brutally obvious to me that many people would be alive today if they had carried a locator device, and many people would be dead if they hadn't. 

If you hear me say anything, please hear that help is a lot further away than you think, and that most people who die in the woods die of exposure after surviving the initial injury or event that stranded them. 

Think about what happens if you take a bad fall, or if you start feeling too sick to get back to your vehicle, or if your chest and left arm start hurting so bad you can't think straight. Let's say this happens mid-morning.  Day 1, 0900 hours.

Consider how long it would take for your loved ones to realize that you're late, start to get worried, second-guess whether they should call the cops or whether they're just worrying too much, then finally alert law enforcement.  This takes hours, at least, AFTER you've been gone long enough for them to notice, and the only way to shorten this process is to be able to communicate with your loved ones. Let's say your loved ones expected a check-in that evening.  After the worrying/second-guessing period, they call 911 at 2000 hours.  11 hours after the initial injury/symptoms. 

Once law enforcement is alerted, the first thing that happens is a Sheriff's Deputy (County Sheriff's are tasked legally with Search and Rescue duty) will contact the reporting party and take a statement, and most often one or two deputies will head to the area where your loved ones think you might be.  If you're not quickly found, the Sheriff's office will send out a page to the SAR teams that someone is missing.  All SAR teams in the State of Washington are volunteers with normal lives outside of SAR.  The available SAR members will start gathering their gear and start heading to their local Rescue Coordination Center or other rally point.  It's common for the deputies to spend the night searching, and alert volunteer SAR teams in the morning.  Let's say the page goes out on Day 2 at 0600 hrs. 21 hours after the initial injury/symptoms.

Where do the SAR teams go from here?  The answer depends on the quality of information they get from the reporting party, which in turn depends on the information you gave them before you left.  Do they know where you're hunting?  Exactly?  If you're like me, YOU don't know exactly where you'll be hunting when you leave and you may go one of a dozen places stretched over many square miles.

But let's say the Deputies get lucky and find your vehicle while the volunteer SAR resources are getting ready.  This gives the teams a sense of the terrain, weather, and how to prepare (for example, should the Sheriff's department send out ATVs? Snowmobiles? Mountain Rescue?).  In most scenarios, the time between the initial page and the SAR team leaving their base of operations is 1-2 hours. SAR teams roll out at 0800 and arrive at your vehicle an hour later. A full 24 hours after initial injury/symptoms.

Did you make it through the night?  Are you able to hear the searchers calling your name from the obvious paths leading away from your truck? Are you able to respond to them?

24 hours is a helluva long time after any event that would prevent you from getting yourself back to your vehicle, and you don't have to be a SAR operator to understand that the probability of survival goes WAY down past 24 hours, and that's 24 hours between the event and the search starting.  How close are you to your truck? Did you take an obvious path or did you drop into a hole chasing an elk?

-----

Alternatively, say you fire off a satellite emergency beacon when your chest pain brings you to your knees.  Day 1, 0900.  Worst case, it takes about an hour for the emergency alert to get to the Sheriff's office (btw, most emergency beacons alert 911 and your emergency contacts simultaneously).  Critically - the SAR resources have your GPS location from the very beginning.  If the Deputy in charge sees that you're 2 miles from the nearest road, they will activate SAR immediately.  SAR resources would be alerted with an hour or two and deployed around 1200hrs. 

Even better, if you can send a message to 911 via your device and say that you're experiencing chest pain and can't walk, the Sheriff's office can deploy EMS to the trailhead in tandem with SAR ground teams, or even possibly a helicopter.  In Yakima County, we have a good partnership with the US Army Air Ambulance Detachment at YTC who can often lift off within an hour of being notified.  If they're available, you could have a mobile ICU come to you by early afternoon.  Most counties on the west side are covered by the Navy medic helos out of NASWI.

-----

These are obviously just two of a bajillion possible scenarios, but I hope you get the point.  If we don't know 1) where you are and 2) what you need, the probability of getting to you in time to help you drops dramatically. 

Common reasons I've heard for why folks think they don't need a satellite device:

I can handle myself in the woods. I'm sure you can.  But can you gather firewood and set up a makeshift shelter with a broken leg?  How about a serious head injury? Remember - you're safe IF you can get back to camp or a vehicle.  If you can't do that for whatever reason, you'll probably have a really hard time using your bushcraft skills.

I'm not going that far. I totally get this way of thinking - but it's only valid IF searchers know which direction you were going from your vehicle with a high degree of clarity.  If all they have is your vehicle as a reference, the search area can be massive.  Cheif Schreckengost was found yesterday ~1/2 mile from his truck.  A circle with a half-mile radius is about 485 football fields of ground to cover.  Statistically, only 25% of hunters are found within that radius.  75% are found within 3 miles -- seventeen and a half thousand football fields to search.  "Not that far" is a helluva lot farther than you think it is.  Once you factor in elevation and very rough terrain to the equation, it's not hard to see why it took 7000+ searcher hours to find the Chief. 

I'll just be careful. This is wise.  But I'm an idiot and so are you when the elk show up.  And "being careful" doesn't help you in the event of a medical crisis in the field.


All this to say -- a satellite beacon is invaluable in an emergency situation.  It's well worth the cost. 






*I just want to be ultra clear that I don't know whether a sat comm device would have saved Cheif Schreckengost.  That would depend on many things that I don't know and likely will never learn. 

[CNELK]

Well written and appropriate you taking the time to share your experience in SAR. I couldn't agree even more about having an Inreach or a similar device while heading out in the woods, certainly a important tool to have!

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[ghosthunter]

I agree.

I carried a spot for ten years and got a InReach 2 years ago. I hunt alone and recreate over water and land a lot.

Some other things I do.

I run Rhinos. I leave one in my truck on. As I travel I key the mic which reports my potion to the truck rhino. My family knows this, and know to check my truck for a Rhino.

I carry a whistle
Survival cover
Fire making gear

And a battery operated single device, like electric road flares.

I send a InReach quick message from where I am hunting and when I get back to camp.

I always carry a hand gun. Because in a bad fall a rifle might be lost. I have had that fall.

Just a few ideas.

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200809807_200809807?cm_mmc=Bing-pla&utm_source=Bing_PLA&utm_medium=Automotive%20%3E%20Automotive%20%2B%20Vehicle%20Lighting%20%3E%20Warning%20Lights&utm_campaign=Performance%20Tool&utm_content=68096&cmpid=53403371&agid=3200075884&tgtid=pla-1100308149341&prdid=68096&msclkid=7531303bf61f11e3cc7151a8d47df08f&gclid=7531303bf61f11e3cc7151a8d47df08f&gclsrc=3p.ds

[Iveexcaped3]

I agree with the inreach and do some research on on the device you’re looking at. I’ve heard issues with the spot. I keep an inreach on me and bring my garmin 755 for radio purposes.

Yakimanoob I know in the previous post a discussion of using Bluetooth technology to find him. Is that what found him or was it a member of SAR? I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out to see if ycs is doing training classes. This (like many of us) hits close to home and would like to think maybe another set of eyes would have been the deciding factor of the final outcome

[Shoofly09]

Good comments all around.   I used to carry my small inreach in a ziplock in my backpack, only turned it on  when I wanted to send a message.     Starting this season, I have it on and attached to my bio harness.    Since I am able to charge it up fully each night, I want to have it on and ready to trigger the SOS with either hand if I am down on the ground. 

[KFhunter]

I use my garmin inreach and do more stuff that I would withoit it, like snowmobile 20 miles from tbe truck solo and pray I don't break down 

It would be impossible to walk out, nipple deep fluff.

Really, I shouldn't do that....but SAR would be easy, only one track to follow from the truck 

[hughjorgan]

I broke down and bought a zoleo a little bit more affordable than the garmin in reach. Cheap insurance policy if something goes wrong as long as your conscious to hit that SOS button.

[jstone]

I Will be getting one for Christmas

[yakimanoob]

I broke down and bought a zoleo a little bit more affordable than the garmin in reach. Cheap insurance policy if something goes wrong as long as your conscious to hit that SOS button.

How do you like the zoleo?  I haven't heard much about them.

[hughjorgan]

I broke down and bought a zoleo a little bit more affordable than the garmin in reach. Cheap insurance policy if something goes wrong as long as your conscious to hit that SOS button.

How do you like the zoleo?  I haven't heard much about them.

I literally just bought it on Saturday so haven’t had any field time with it. But was easy to setup. All the reviews I’ve read about it were positive.

You can communicate between an in reach and zoleo. My hunting partner runs an in reach so wanted to make sure it was compatible.

The subscription plans I liked better than what garmin had to offer and unit is half the price of the garmin.

Service seems to work as advertised with me playing around sending messages to the wife while I was in the house and didn’t have a clear view of the sky.

I’ll have a better idea of how it works when I take it out for the late archery season and am able to test it in the field.


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[medic6]

Take it from the guy who has been on the SAR end of most of these devices BUY AN INREACH.  Make my life a bit easier please.  Also, even if your phone says no service try dialing 911.  FCC requires all cell carriers to share emergency traffic even if you are not a subscriber to their specific service tower AT&T, Verizon etc.  yakimanoob post is spot on.  Time is not your friend when it comes to real wilderness emergencies.  Don't expect a helicopter rescue within a few hour even if the situation is truly life and death. So many factors most folks don't think about when it comes to resources allocation and timing.  You need to be able to save yourself while you wait if possible. 

[Encore 280]

I bought the Zoleo the other day also. Haven't set it up yet but it'll be set up before my next trip out. A hunting friend also convinced me to get the Life Flight insurance which is a good price at $69 a year, I bought the 5 year plan for $300. Life Flight rides can be in the 5 figures meaning $25,000 and up easily. Really a sad eye opener for a life to be taken in order to get us to wake up. I just got the iphone 13 not too long ago and noticed it has the "SOS" feature on it, something my 7 didn't have and didn't know about. I've been hunting pretty much solo the last couple years and I think that's about to change next year since I just hit the big 73 this month.

[pd]

Quick comment on Zoleo (I haven't used the other devices, so no comparisons here).  I used it extensively this summer climbing (far away from cell signals).  I love the Zoleo, I was able to text back & forth with my business partner several times a day, and stay in contact with my family each day.  My climbing partner carries an InReach, and he & I could text each other as we climbed (radios would not work in the pinnacles where we were climbing).  Obviously, I have never used the SOS function, but Zoleo tracks my every move, and somebody would easily find me because of that.

Frankly, I don't care what the subscription costs.  Being able to connect with my business and family makes it all the worthwhile.

By the way, I see Camofire has Zoleo for sale today for $149.  It is usually $200, and sometimes available for $150.  This new price is really attractive.

[Encore 280]

Amazon has the Zoleo for $149 also and they told me that it would be here the next day but it made it the day after which is still pretty quick.

[shootem]

Now I know what I’m getting my son for Christmas. Thanks for the discussion.

[blackpowderhunter]

I have a small Rescue Me PLB that I attach to my life vest when out fishing.  The nice thing is it is small and compact and super easy to use and no worry about batteries as it has a 7 year battery life unless activated.
Easy to clip onto a backpack strap in case of a fall where you cant get up to get your inreach or other out of your pack.
I also made my wife download onx and I send her my potential camping/hunting areas to have pinned on her phone.  I hunt with a group of friends but you never know...

[Caseyd]

I agree.

I carried a spot for ten years and got a InReach 2 years ago. I hunt alone and recreate over water and land a lot.

Some other things I do.

I run Rhinos. I leave one in my truck on. As I travel I key the mic which reports my potion to the truck rhino. My family knows this, and know to check my truck for a Rhino.

I carry a whistle
Survival cover
Fire making gear

And a battery operated single device, like electric road flares.

I send a InReach quick message from where I am hunting and when I get back to camp.

I always carry a hand gun. Because in a bad fall a rifle might be lost. I have had that fall.

Just a few ideas.

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200809807_200809807?cm_mmc=Bing-pla&utm_source=Bing_PLA&utm_medium=Automotive%20%3E%20Automotive%20%2B%20Vehicle%20Lighting%20%3E%20Warning%20Lights&utm_campaign=Performance%20Tool&utm_content=68096&cmpid=53403371&agid=3200075884&tgtid=pla-1100308149341&prdid=68096&msclkid=7531303bf61f11e3cc7151a8d47df08f&gclid=7531303bf61f11e3cc7151a8d47df08f&gclsrc=3p.ds

Turn on tracking with your InReach and your wife can see where you are in real-time. No need for the rhinos.

[Smokepole]

I've been studying for a ham radio license, in case I'm injured or stranded many miles back.  I wouldn't want any tracking device on me.  I like the humble feeling of being completely off grid and isolated.  But I did break down and buy a handheld ham radio and programmed some repeaters for emergency communication. 

[tbrady]

I broke down and bought a zoleo a little bit more affordable than the garmin in reach. Cheap insurance policy if something goes wrong as long as your conscious to hit that SOS button.

How do you like the zoleo?  I haven't heard much about them.

My buddies and I started using Zoleo's this year and they work great.  We have them set on automatic location sharing so we can more easily locate each other.  I was also able to get a hold of my son to come help with a pack out when I was in the middle of BFE with no cell connection.

[yakimanoob]

I've been studying for a ham radio license, in case I'm injured or stranded many miles back.  I wouldn't want any tracking device on me.  I like the humble feeling of being completely off grid and isolated.  But I did break down and buy a handheld ham radio and programmed some repeaters for emergency communication.

Ham radios are awesome - and so so so much faster and more efficient than sat comms IF you can reach a repeater or nearby ham operator, but that's a big if. 

Yakima county has an incredible repeater network set up by folks from the local club and YSO SAR.  The repeaters are even networked together, so if you can hit one, anyone in reach of any of them can hear you.  Even so, we have trouble hitting repeaters on nearly every SAR mission.

A ham radio is better than nothing (assuming you have a good network of repeaters in your area AND you know how to connect with them), but it doesn't hold a candle to the security of an InReach etc. 

If you want to go off-grid, turn the device off.  You'll still be hard to find if you die instantly, but if you get into a normal emergency you can turn the device on and call for help. 

[Igor]

yakimanoob ------ in your opinion is the InReach a better option than the Zoleo ?

Just doing a little research on Christmas gifts for my sons.

[Stein]

Great advice.  Another thing I do is make a page or two of info that my wife has electronically.  Pics of my truck, license plate #, tent set up, pack, my ugly mug, rifle, the stuff I will have on me and help anyone looking for me.

I go back and forth between InReach and PLB, if I'm not needing to send text messages the PLB is easier to carry and doesn't require a subscription.  It does require someone to push the button though and the InReach automatically sending position updates is great insurance.

[KFhunter]

Wow, great advice Stein

I'm gonna steal a few of those.  I typically send a inreach message "truck is parked here" with the geotag link like inreach does.


All add another tidbit,  teach your rescuers how to save google maps before they leave service, or one text or glitch and they won't be able to pull the map up again

[pickardjw]

Igor - I went with the Zoleo because the monthly plans are little better price to message ratio wise. You also get free weather updates specific to your location. With the InReach weather updates count as one of your messages for the month.

However, with the Zoleo you have to have a smart phone to use the messaging functions. You can send your preset daily checkin message to your default contact and SOS without the phone with buttons on the device. The Zoleo is also a little cheaper up front. The InReach and InReach Mini both have screens so you can use their messaging features separate of your phone if it dies.

I went with the Zoleo because my phone is my map and always stays on me and charged. I don't really send custom messages much anyway. Both use the same satellite network and appear to perform equally in that aspect.

I would say pick whichever one would fit your son best based on that criteria.

[KFhunter]

I got the inreach mini before anyone heard of zoleo, but I'd sure check that out as an apple to apples competitor

[Igor]

Igor - I went with the Zoleo because the monthly plans are little better price to message ratio wise. You also get free weather updates specific to your location. With the InReach weather updates count as one of your messages for the month.

However, with the Zoleo you have to have a smart phone to use the messaging functions. You can send your preset daily checkin message to your default contact and SOS without the phone with buttons on the device. The Zoleo is also a little cheaper up front. The InReach and InReach Mini both have screens so you can use their messaging features separate of your phone if it dies.

I went with the Zoleo because my phone is my map and always stays on me and charged. I don't really send custom messages much anyway. Both use the same satellite network and appear to perform equally in that aspect.

I would say pick whichever one would fit your son best based on that criteria.

Thanks for the input.  They both carry smart phones, and since I'm looking at two of them, price is a consideration.

Do you have any idea if something called Life360 on a smart phone is comparable to Zoleo and InReach ?

[pickardjw]

I haven't heard of that, but looking at their webpage it appears to be something that would be limited to areas with cellular service. The InReach and Zoleo use a satellite connection to send messages so you don't need to have a cell signal to use them. All they need is unobstructed access to the sky. So they won't work inside your tent or in your backpack, but otherwise should connect to a sattelite from anywhere.

[kselkhunter]

InReach vs. Zoleo = InReach is Garmin now and will be much more likely to still be around long term.  Zoleo....make sure you have high confidence they'll still be around in 5 years before "saving" the pennies on using them over InReach.  Otherwise you'll still have to buy a Garmin or other device again in 5+ years if Zoleo goes out of business......


Also remember:  Over the next 5 years there will be over 30,000 LEO satellites in the sky offering internet service and other services for remote areas that will likely spawn an entire new fleet of handheld devices.  Garmin is better positioned to survive that competitive onslaught.  I'd bet good money that Zoleo devices will be collecting dust somewhere in 5+ years.


 

[yakimanoob]

Igor - I went with the Zoleo because the monthly plans are little better price to message ratio wise. You also get free weather updates specific to your location. With the InReach weather updates count as one of your messages for the month.

However, with the Zoleo you have to have a smart phone to use the messaging functions. You can send your preset daily checkin message to your default contact and SOS without the phone with buttons on the device. The Zoleo is also a little cheaper up front. The InReach and InReach Mini both have screens so you can use their messaging features separate of your phone if it dies.

I went with the Zoleo because my phone is my map and always stays on me and charged. I don't really send custom messages much anyway. Both use the same satellite network and appear to perform equally in that aspect.

I would say pick whichever one would fit your son best based on that criteria.

Thanks for the input.  They both carry smart phones, and since I'm looking at two of them, price is a consideration.

Do you have any idea if something called Life360 on a smart phone is comparable to Zoleo and InReach ?

I've only ever used the InReach so I can't really speak to the difference between them. 

There is no phone app that can turn your phone into a satelitte communicator. Cell phones don't have the hardware necessary to access the Iridium or any other sat networks, so you'll need a separate device. 

[Igor]

Thanks so much for all of the input and advice.  I'm basically illiterate when it comes to all of the newfangled communications stuff.  I only got rid of my Motorola flip phone because I had to.........
Sounds like the InReach will be what my two boys get from Santa.

[Skillet]

We use the inReach a lot, and a few of the guys in the fishing fleet in Southeast AK tried Zoleo over the last couple of years.  None of the two I talked to about it liked Zoleo over inReach.  They said the service wasn't as good, for whatever reason.  Just an FYI-

[hughjorgan]

We use the inReach a lot, and a few of the guys in the fishing fleet in Southeast AK tried Zoleo over the last couple of years.  None of the two I talked to about it liked Zoleo over inReach.  They said the service wasn't as good, for whatever reason.  Just an FYI-

Kind of strange since they run off the same satellites


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[Skillet]

We use the inReach a lot, and a few of the guys in the fishing fleet in Southeast AK tried Zoleo over the last couple of years.  None of the two I talked to about it liked Zoleo over inReach.  They said the service wasn't as good, for whatever reason.  Just an FYI-

Kind of strange since they run off the same satellites


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah, I was thinking it might be a hardware issue like antennae or something like that.  Not sure, but both guys said they were going back to inReach.

[KFhunter]

"There is no phone app that can turn your phone into a satelitte communicator."

iphone 13 might be a game changer


https://www.tomsguide.com/news/iphone-13-satellite-communication-everything-we-know-so-far

[Stein]

We use the inReach a lot, and a few of the guys in the fishing fleet in Southeast AK tried Zoleo over the last couple of years.  None of the two I talked to about it liked Zoleo over inReach.  They said the service wasn't as good, for whatever reason.  Just an FYI-

Kind of strange since they run off the same satellites


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah, I was thinking it might be a hardware issue like antennae or something like that.  Not sure, but both guys said they were going back to inReach.

Antenna, transmit power, circuitry, no reason to expect two different models from two different companies would have identical performance.

[logger]

We use the in reach on our logging jobs, they work great but are slow in response, It gets things in motion but the delay is more than one would think and we are usually in a tree farm so what i'm saying is don't wait till the last minute! if at all possible

[Sundance]

I have an InReach and really like it. You are allowed preset messages at no additional charge that you set up online with your account. They send to a preset email (my wife) with GPS coordinates attached. I have messages like “hunting here”, “animal down”, “packing out”, “camping here”, “I’m hurt send help”. When paired with my iPhone via Bluetooth it takes seconds to send the messages. I send them every time I get out of the car and when I’m in the field. Several years ago I was lake checking in since I’d killed a bull, I sent my wife a message and she forwarded the GPS coordinates to a buddy who I was supposed to meet that night at a campground. I was surprised and happy to find him at my truck with a packboard ready as I walked up at midnight.