I am heading out on a solo trip in a few weeks. My wife is concerned that I may get hurt and not be able to reach help. She is asking that I take a SPOT locator device, however everything I have read suggests it is not the most worthwhile device. Has anyone use one of these on the Long Trail? Thoughts?
Jeff
Everybody’s family situation is unique. If your wife is a real worrier, then a SPOT would give her the opportunity to receive a reassurance message everyday which might enable her to sleep better at night. If she’s only a bit of a worrier, then you might get away with a cell phone to send her a text every day. On the LT, you can normally find cell service at some point during the day to send a “Things are good, love you” text.
From a practical perspective, the SPOT doesn’t really offer much additional security for the hiker. The LT is rugged, muddy and slippery, so there are plenty of opportunities to get hurt. If you get a serious injury while hiking, the best approach in most circumstances is to just sit tight, and eventually another hiker will come by and can help you or hike to the trail head to summon help. Normally there’ll be another hiker come by within an hour or two, but north of route 15 it might be longer.
IMO, it’s ultimately a question of helping loved ones worry a little bit less. For me, I find that an occasional text message does the job, but other people’s wives are maybe a bit more nervous.
Loup
…going to react when she DOESN"T get that “Im OK” message one nite because of no service? Probably freak out.
max
As the wife and mother of long hikers, I can tell you that saying “Stop worrying so much!” would definitely get you more nights in the bar…and in fact, you might do well to set up a cot there!
I am a consummate worrier, but I manage it by 1) participating in the planning - I work with them as though I’m going myself, so that I know the trail as well as they do until they set foot on it, and 2) never looking at the weather or news while they are out! Seriously, once they are gone, everything is out of my hands, so I just can’t afford to worry about it but I know I will if I watch the news. I’ve found that whatever the national news is reporting is generally globalized to the point that I can’t base my worry on it and weather happens everywhere, so they just have to deal with that. During the planning, I try to find or make an acquaintance or two that I can contact in the area if I need to (one of my hobbies is very well networked and I’ve always been able to find someone within an hour of anywhere they’ve gone) and I ask them to let me know if I need to be actively concerned.
Because we have found that cell batts go dead very quickly when no signal is available AND that signals are sporadic at best most of the time, and handheld ham radios work poorly in mountainous areas, and SPOT devices have plenty of pitfalls, we consider communication with each other a luxury. I’ve conditioned myself to believe (don’t correct me if this isn’t so) that no communication is good! A chance phone call or text is a welcome bonus, but I will very likely hear something relatively quickly if something goes dreadfully wrong because they are well-labeled with emergency contact information. I know that they are both well-practiced in wilderness first aid and general emergency preparedness. And I know that the trip was wayyyy overplanned before they ever set foot on the trail, so thatsurprises are highly unlikely.
Probably the worst time for me is when I am expecting them to emerge from the trail. I have it in my head that I need to give them a four hour leeway for every day they spent on the trail. I have no idea if that’s a good timeframe or not, but that’s what sticks with me. If they are on the trail 2 days and they told me to expect a call from them at Noon, I give them until 8 pm before I start calling for help finding them. Only once have I actually called rangers, and that was because they were six hours late but dark was falling and I didn’t want to alert the ranger’s office after dark and didn’t want to wait until morning. Wouldn’t you know it - I just got off the phone with the ranger’s office and I got my phone call from my guys so I had to call the rangers back and say “never mind”.
I don’t know if I worry more or less than other long hikers’ wives, but I do think I have worried less than I used to after going on short (week or less) trips with them. I’ve seen that they are conservative and knowledgeable and prepared, and I’ve experienced life on the trail so I know things don’t always go according to plan, and usually - when things don’t go according to plan that translates to “slower” or “delayed.”
Really though - if you have a wife who is a worrier, be patient with her and take her worry into account as you can. Hopefully she realizes that long-hiking makes you a happy and content man and she wants that for you.
Melina
Hi Jeff,
My wife was also concerned when I decided to thru-hike the AT in 2011.
I purchased a SPOT and pre-programed messages which she received every evening when I sheltered or tented. She received my messages via email each time with out fail. In each email there is a link to a Google map with the GPS coordinates of the location I was sending my email. She new exactly where my location on the trail or town I was at. This info was very reassuring to her.
Also there is an SOS button on the SPOT to call Rescue if you should be seriously hurt and need immediate help. Always had satellite connection, where my iPhone was useless in most locations.
I hope this info helps you.
Good luck.
Onegreywolf
Where did you get the SPOT and how much did it cost?
do you have to pay a service fee?
Jimbo Slice
Why I use SPOT: My wife and I are both very experienced backpackers. For a 5-day solo trip in Wyoming, 2010, I told my wife something typical “I’ll be hiking above Lander for 5-days.”. At this point SPOT was available and she said after the trip “You know I would feel better if you used a SPOT.”. I want her buying in to my trips, and I want her comfortable. So we bought a SPOT, and I thought this is for her. Then I used the SPOT when I hiked the Ozark Highlands Trail in April, 2011. On that trip, I programmed the SPOT to send messages to my wife, son, 2-sisters, my mother, and a few friends. Unfortunately one of my nightly “OK” messages did not go through, and it was my birthday. There were a flurry of very concerned phone calls initiated by my mother and 2-sisters — My wife and son decided it was only 1-missed message, and they decided to wait another day before looking into it; and of course the next night’s OK message worked. Then I watched the movie “127 Hours” about the hiker who self-amputated his are to survive a slot canyon entrapment where no one knew his whereabouts. That lead me to my second reason for carrying a SPOT: it is also for my safety in addition to my wife’s comfort. My next major hike was thru-hiking the Colorado Trail in June-July 2012. I re-programmed the SPOT to exclude my mother and 2-sisters to reduce unnecessary worry. My wife forwarded SPOT emails to them so they could follow my trip – that worked great. I also carry a Blackberry phone that I can put into deep sleep, and the ability to call and to text is great where there is coverage. I also use a SPOT as part of the safety equipment when I go on wilderness ranger patrols – it has better coverage than Forest Service radios in case of an emergency.
SPOT Pros and Cons: Communication: The SPOT is great for letting family and friends share in my adventure. Safety: I have never sent a SPOT SOS, but I like the idea that search and rescue has a specific latitude longitude to begin their search. Failure: In my experience, about 3-percent of the SPOT OK messages don’t go through, and if I am outside of cell phone text/email coverage, I have no way of knowing SPOT failed. In extremely rare locations there is no SPOT coverage: a friend is currently hiking near the Straights of Magellan at the tip of South America, and that is outside SPOT coverage. The annual SPOT service is basically an insurance policy which I noticed by reading the fine print.
My SPOT preferences: I carry a SPOT, and a cell phone for Communication and Safety. I carry them in a Zpacks shoulder pouch so I have ready access in case I fall or something. I pre-program the SPOT SOS message with the following information: "If I send SOS for myself, this is my information: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , – ". I limit my SPOT contact list to my wife, son, and few experienced friends to avoid unnecessary worry. My Blackberry cell phone can be put into a deep sleep so I can get 10-days from a battery; I also carry spare cell phone batteries, and a charger depending on the trip.
SPOT Alternatives: Since SPOT, fails about 3-percent of the time without any notification, I am considering a 2-way device; maybe a DeLorme InReach. That way you know you are getting through. For cell-phone voice/text/email, Verizon generally has the widest coverage. However, if you want to use an iPhone for GPS/mapping, the AT&T iPhone battery can last a week versus 1-day for the Verizon iPhone. If I were to go on an extremely remote trip, I would probably rent a satellite phone. If I were in avalanche areas I would carry a locator beacon.
SPOT miss-use: The October, 2011 issue of Outside Magazine, focused on false alarm SPOT SOS messages. Apparently false alarms on the increase and range from 48-68 percent of all calls. Some examples were clearly frivolous: -call because he was worried about getting home late; -call due to muscle cramp; -call due to loud snoring; -call because water in their bottles tasted a bit too salty. On the other hand, ‘While some searches may be unnecessary, they’re a lot easier to conduct now than in the pre-beacon days, when teams had to comb hundreds of miles of wilderness with nothing to guide them. Beacons save man-hours, period.’.
Paul
The formating deleted part of my post; so I’ll retry.
I program the SPOT SOS message with the following information: “If I send SOS for myself, this is my information: NAME; RACE; BIRTHDATE; HEIGHT; WEIGHT; ALLERGIES; BLOOD TYPE; CHRONIC ILLENESSES; PRESCRIPTION MEDICATION; DOCTOR NAME; DOCTOR PHONE; WIFE NAME; WIFE ADDRESS; WIFE PHONES; INSURANCE COMPANY; INSURANCE ID – DATE”.
Paul