How to Choose a Personal Locator Beacon
Communication is key. This is a fundamental human truth. For wilderness adventuring, beyond the reach of a modern cell signal, connection is trickier. Many of us go to the wild to escape the tether of modern communications, but we also seek to mitigate the consequences of ill-fortune or poor choices. Some, of course, need more routine contact with the outside world for one reason or another. Enter the array of satellite messengers, personal locator beacons, and other backcountry communication technologies. We are here to guide you through your choices and demystify the options. We will walk you through a step-by-step process of choosing a device suited to your needs and wishes. Types of Wilderness Communication First, the confines of our discussion — we limit our discussion to those products and services that provide contact to the outside world, without cell signal, from the wild. We further limit our discussion to those devices and systems that provide digital, text-based communicati...