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By Greg Bartlett

If you are a hunter, hiker or a backpacker chances are that you have found yourself out on a wilderness trail miles from anywhere. The feeling of the solitude and being at one with nature provides you with feelings of calm and serenity. That calm and serenity can be shattered at a moment’s notice however. What happens when you are miles from nowhere and you slip and fall, breaking a bone in your leg? What happens when the weather changes and you suddenly find yourself stranded? Who’s going to help you and how are you going to get out of the mess you’ve found yourself in? If you have a PLB, help is just a short time away.

PLBs are Personal Locator Beacons. They function in the same manner as the EPIRB’s that are on boats and the ELT’s that are on aircraft. PLBs operate with a 406 MHz signal that is manually activated. Once the PLB is activated the signal is transmitted to a satellite, orbiting the earth, and help is dispatched to your location.

Prior to July 01, 2003, the only PLB’s that were available were to Alaskan residents. The success that was seen with PLB’s in Alaska opened the program to any United States resident. Since 2003, the abilities of PLB’s have been enhanced with the addition of global positioning system data in the emergency signal. This GPS data narrows the search area down to as little as 100 yards from the location of the PLB. Most PLB’s also feature a secondary transmission system on 121.5MHz, which allows the use of radio direction finders to pinpoint the location of the emergency beacon.

When a person ventures into the wilderness areas of the United States, they recognize that their sheer survival rests in what they have packed into their backpack. Extra clothing, food and water are always included. Some form of shelter is there along with some emergency medical supplies. Friends or family have been notified as to where the person is going in the wilderness and what their expected arrival time should be when they get back to civilization. What happens if a person says that they are going out into the backcountry for a week and that people find themselves hurt on the second day out? They have five days of being alone and hurt before anyone thinks to look for them.

If the outdoorsman is injured or finds himself stranded and they have a PLB, help is almost immediately on the way. It typically takes less than 15 minutes for a search & rescue team to be dispatched after the PLB is activated. A PLB is the best way for an outdoorsman to insure that they won’t be stranded in the wilderness if everything doesn’t go as planned.