I was so excited about the Wyoming archery elk season I could barely sleep. Finally, the alarm sounded and our camp had a quick breakfast, packed horses for the high country and headed out. Unfortunately, 1/4 mile into the mountains a pack horse spooked and ran directly over the leader of our group, breaking both of his arms. Luckily, his two hunting companions had extensive training in medicine and rescue. They splinted one arm with duct tape and tree limbs and otherwise helped him back to a vehicle where he was driven to a hospital. Before leaving my home, I signed up for the SPOT GEN3 service and this accident which could have been dramatically worse (more severe injury, miles into the mountains, no help available) punctuated the need for emergency communications in remote areas.
Bad things can happen in the mountains or in your local tree stand, especially if you hunt alone out of cell service. The SPOT GEN3 unit is a permanent part of my backpack and I’ll carry it everywhere I go this hunting season. Here why:
Emergency Use– As you might expect, this emergency device can send an SOS to a satellite, reveal your location, and call search and rescue to help you. Obviously, you must take this responsibility seriously, yet it provides great comfort to you and your loved ones that you have a “911” call available to you. At the heart of the security provided by SPOT is the International Emergency Response Coordination Center operated by GEOS. In addition to the peace of mind delivered by this partnership, GEOS offers additional benefits beyond safety and security worldwide, including providing up to $100,000 of additional search and rescue resources, including helicopter extraction around the world and reimbursement benefits- underwritten by Lloyds of London- for emergency service expense. It’s not uncommon for SPOT to rescue more than 100 people a month.
Check-In Message Hopefully, you will never need emergency rescue, yet it’s reassuring to know that you have it. The feature that you and your family will absolutely love is the “routine message” feature that allows you to send an “I’m OK” or other predetermined message to up to 10 cell numbers across the USA. My daughter, for example encourages to take wild and crazy hunting trips, yet comments, “I just wish I knew you were OK.” Now she does, along with my wife.
Along with S.O.S and Check-In messages, FindmeSpot has three other services including Tracking, Help, Spot Assist Message- (Non-life threatening), and custom message. Their website has complete information including videos to explain its various features. … [continued]
