Phat,

I hike alone and carry a plb. I tell my wife to not call SAR until the morning of the day after my expected return day. This is because the most likely "late" scenario for me would be that I almost make it to the trail head by nightfall of the last day and need some morning daylight to get to the car and to a phone. SAR isn't going to start a search in the dark anyway and I definitely don't want my wife calling wolf.

If I am badly injured on the first day of a five day trip and I had set up some protocol with my wife that delays SAR any longer than this and my plb got lost or didn't work then I would be that much closer to death. So I don't want to delay her calling any later than the morning after I'm due home.

If I was OK but only able to go slowly because of sickness or injury and this was going to make me later than the morning after my due day then I would camp each night on the trail with a note on my tent asking people to check on me. That way I could at least relay my condition to the ranger, wife, etc. If I couldn't relay a message via another hiker and was to be more that the "morning after" late then I would press the PLB on the morning after. If SAR is launched it will be easier for them to contact me if they know where I am. At this point I'm not doing them a favor by not pushing the button. Not pressing the button might show them I'm not a wimp or a misuser of the plb but will cause them extra work. By pressing the PLB the local ranger might just have to walk up the trail a few miles and talk to me. Game over.

If, however, I am too sick or hurt to walk out and things don't get better after a day's rest then I'm pressing the plb button. Who know's what direction my illness or injury is going to take. It's a gamble to hunker down and assume things will get better several days into the future. There might be infection, blood poisoning, or god knows what going on and things might get worse, not better, without medical attention.

So far I'm comfortable with the protocol outlined above. Discussions like this might help me refine or change it. I'm glad you brought up the topic.

Just to keep things in perspective. I heard of one guy on Mt. Washington calling for help because he was tired and a big storm was coming in. A lady in Washington many years ago was rescued because she had blisters. These do no qualify for button pushing in my book.

I too would like to hear from more SAR people. Perhaps they could suggest a protocol for when to push the button.