[Public-List] cheap EPIRB

[Kirk Little]

I have both "Spot" and a cheap EPIRB. Spot is not a cheap Epirb, it's not an EPIRB. For starters Spot is intended to email a list of people that you choose your Position plus a message. The message either says "IM OK" or "I NEED HELP" (not so useful). You can pay a little more than the standard subscription so that it "notifies authorities" but this is pretty sketchy at best. Its NOT waterproof, Doesn't have a multi-year battery, does not send out the radio transmission that a Epirb does to allow rescue to home-in on your signal, It has HUGE black-out coverage areas offshore, the list goes on. YET I think it's great fun to email your friends when you are offshore with your position and it is supposed to pop up on a Google Earth map. Plus I think it could verify a real signal to coastguard from an Eprib to possibly expedite rescue (assuming it wasn't wet and inop at that point).
 
Now for the Cheap Epirb, for about the same price as spot and it's subscription you can get a PLB, McMurdo makes one that fits on my pocket that I carry on my offshore especially when I'm solo, offshore, or working on the foredeck. Overton's has one on sale right for only $300, that's a steal. You can get a more expensive but not really necessarily PLB that also transmits your exact GPS position rather than the 3-mile accuracy of the standard 406mhz transmission, but you don't need the GPS because the 121.5Mhz signal is plenty for them pinpoint you once rescue is in the 3-mile vicinity. The thing only weighs 9 ounces. 
 
Lastly BEWARE there are several VERY cheap "Locator Devices" that only transmit on 121.5Mhz (so they never really alert anyone unless someone happened to set off a real epirb within 3 miles of you) so these are NOT practical offshore or even for coastal crusing. 
 
Sorry for the long response, just got done doing a lot of research so thought I would share and hope it helps. 
Kirk Little 
Salsa #504
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