Direct satellite link to ordinary, unmodified mobile phones by 2023-2024...

[bark-eater]

you need all hands on deck and you're bleeding out..

= "when you absolutely need assistance"

I agree that 2 way communication opens up a world of logistical convenience and effective anxiety management.

Dead/Not Dead as a primary concern points to carrying an EPIRB as a personal choice.

If I was doing anything more adventuresome or traveling with a group I was responsible for, I would carry both.

 

[yknpdlr]

If I was doing anything more adventuresome or traveling with a group I was responsible for, I would carry both.

This is what scares me.
If I am officially guiding someone for hire, if I don't invest in every possible gadget or safety device or communicator in case of potential emergency, regardlless of expense or proven vlaue, then I may conceivably be held financially liable to be sued when something bad happens, given the currrent society. Anyone in that position had better have dang good insurance. It didn't used to be that way.

 

[billconner]

Interesting that solo and without others to help, one feels less in need of communication devices than when in a group. But I get the concern for professional liability.

 

[Mason]

Interesting that solo and without others to help, one feels less in need of communication devices than when in a group. But I get the concern for professional liability.

It depends on the risk/consequences of your solo jaunts. For me, I live alone, have little contact with friends, and do risky adventures. For example, last year I was backcountry skiing (not in avalanche terrain, although I used to do that a lot), the terrain was getting tough with blowdown, etc., nobody knew where I was, and I had nowhere to be (thus it might take several days for anyone to even know I was missing). I decided to turn around, and I sent a location blip to my daughter (who lives 750 miles away) just so someone on the planet knew where I was. Shortly after the blip, I had a bad fall, landing on a tree, and hustled out while the pain was manageable through adrenaline. When I was younger (and without a daughter), I'd venture all across the continent, mailing postcards and occasional collect calls. I have friends who refuse to use the locators for its effect on wilderness experience. Horses for courses.

 

[frozentripper]

Wrt the costs of the Spacemobile service vs the other options above (I have no idea of reliability), Spacemobile now making business-like noises that service will be made "very, very affordable" with the actual pricing being determined by individual telcos offering their own service plans... so Verizon, AT&T and the rest will create their own pricing where cell coverage is poor (a lower price of course bringing in more individual sales with greater demand).

The initial add-on estimates range from as low as $5 per month to a high of $25, for adding satellite service to regular phones. There will be options for daily-use passes, when regular subscribers enter a remote area and they need satellite connection for a short time only.... no info yet on those prices.

There's more price competition coming on with satellite internet connections as well, which should become available in every remote community around the world if the demand is out there (something tells me there will be, esp for medical reasons)... Elon Musk's Starlink is up and is now beginning to provide cheaper service for a high-speed broadband connection, about $499 US for the pizza-box sized antenna and once you have that set up, $99 for a monthly subscription.

Canada's Telesat is making claims that their internet service will be even cheaper once their system is going, with their satellites sent up and operating at about half the cost of Starlink's... so prices may come down with competition coming onto the scene esp if there's demand for the service which should also help to bring prices down.

I have mixed feelings about this myself, another piece of electronic gear to watch over and maintain when what I want is some freedom and distance from complications. It's great when you start off on a canoe trip with some sense of mystery to what's waiting ahead, esp going solo. Maybe different going with others.

 

[bark-eater]

Interesting that solo and without others to help, one feels less in need of communication devices than when in a group. But I get the concern for professional liability.

Theres also the group dynamic, and what constitutes an emergency. I have dealt with panicked people, and I would not want to argue about what constitutes an emergency. IE running out of food 2 days out, and I was the guy being stingy with the EIPRB.

 

[scoutergriz]

Mason "Except the recipient of the distress signal has no information on the nature of the injury" dispatchers and rescuers automatically consider the worst- with or without direct communications, that's why rescuers carry trauma packs and have choppers or other rescue methods on hand. Your report will always be subjective because you are part of the scene, and it's actually amazing how often a minor issue is overblown, or a major one is dismissed. I myself am guilty of this- I "sprained" an ankle rock climbing and proceeded to walk out after wrapping it, when in fact I had broken 2 bones in my ankle- the resulting walk out severed a tendon requiring surgery to repair, which would have been totally unnecessary if I'd been honest with myself...

 

[Mason]

Mason "Except the recipient of the distress signal has no information on the nature of the injury" dispatchers and rescuers automatically consider the worst- with or without direct communications, that's why rescuers carry trauma packs and have choppers or other rescue methods on hand. Your report will always be subjective because you are part of the scene, and it's actually amazing how often a minor issue is overblown, or a major one is dismissed. I myself am guilty of this- I "sprained" an ankle rock climbing and proceeded to walk out after wrapping it, when in fact I had broken 2 bones in my ankle- the resulting walk out severed a tendon requiring surgery to repair, which would have been totally unnecessary if I'd been honest with myself...

Having been involved in SAR/mountain rescue off and on over the last 40 years, information is gold. Rescuers always use such information in evaluating response--do they push the envelope for a high-risk life-saving operation, or do they wait for better conditions (or ground teams vs potentially more risky rotor operations) in responding to a broken ankle if the patient is snug in a sleeping bag inside a tent, but is unable to evacuate on their own?

Years ago I fractured a cervical vertebrae while backcountry skiing (and was later diagnosed as an unstable neck fracture). As I was in the national park I worked at, I had a radio. I gave the dispatcher lots of information (accurate assessment, resting comfortably, pulse rate, etc.), and so the rescuers knew exactly what they were getting into. A helicopter was dispatched rather than a ground crew, clamshell litter was onboard, etc. etc. Decisions were made based on the information SAR was provided.

 

[billconner]

More reason for a sat phone.....