i’ve consistently been a fan of technology to aid in search and resue, especially when it’s pro-active (people covering their own butts instead of hoping against hope that their rescuers will be well equipped).

recently on Mt. Hood in Oregon, 3 climbers fell over a ledge (in extremely bad weather) from a party of 8. they were found within a few days due in large part to their carrying with them a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB). PLBs are designed to alert satellites when there is an emergency, and to help ground crews pinpoint your location using radio gear.

read more about these climbers @ yahoo news, and you can read more about PLBs here (more info about the program at the NOAA, Air Force).

street pricing for these devices is usually around $400-600 dollars (more expensive — and more accurate, for models that interface with your personal GPS unit).

or you can rent a PLB for your expedition.

Posted on February 20th, 2007 by mike
Filed under: gadgets