Yes thank you Tom for making this a place for intelligent discussion and exchange of ideas.

I would like YOU to pay attention...

SPOT is a sorry excuse for an emergency devise. It is slightly better than a cell phone. It works off of the GPS satellite system only when locking onto a location, which means there is no other backup in SENDING A LOCATION. I did mention in my post that it does send a signal through the GlobalStar system if the 911 button is pushed, but if there is no LOCATION info (i.e. can't lock onto four GPS satellites), the person(s) responding really won't know where the person is.

To say it's better than a PLB (Personal Locator Beacon) that uses the Cospas Sarsat Sattelite System is pure ignorance. I would much rather have a PLB in a real emergency than a SPOT. In fact, I would rather have a signal mirror and a loud whistle than the SPOT.

I can assure you that the signal being sent out is in fact 0.6W, similar to the receiving power of a handheld GPS. Look it up.

If you have any questions concerning a PLB, I would be more than happy to enlighten you.

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I would be more than interested in hearing about your experiences, especially if you actually had an emergency that the SPOT helped you get out of. I would love to here how it located you under extreme conditions when all else failed. I more especially want to hear how it was the reason your still alive.

My family knows that I go into the backcountry frequently. They know, in general where I am, but they don't have time to constantly check, nor do they really care. However, because I carry an ACR PLB, they know if something does happen, there is a high likely hood (if I can push the button), that I will be found and rescued. That gives them peace of mind more than any other piece of gear I carry.

The thing I'm most concerned about is that people will rely on SPOT when it is so unreliable. I know you love it and think everyone else should too, but if you've read anything on this forum, you will know that we are not stupid. There are many very intelligent folks who want to get past the BS and find out the truth about the gear in question. We don't want something that works half the time. We don't want gear that really doesn't do what it claims. SPOT fits that definition better than any other piece of gear I can think of.

Finally, we want civility. If you can't be civil and an adult, we don't want to hear about it. If you don't agree with what's being said, that's fine, but don't insult our intelligence. If you do, you will find that no one on this forum will listen or care to what you have to say.

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Red Mountain Lakes kml (will launch Google Earth).

I went ahead and uploaded a kml file to a newly created Google Pages account. Now I'm worried that the CIA will come knocking on my door (Google's lack of privacy is a little creepy).

The file shows a hike in Idaho. The first mile of the hike is in canopy and on the south-facing side of a hill in the morning - not many track messages got out. And you can see later, by a hot fishing lake, lot of messages because I forgot to turn it off.

If you don't believe that there's no way the Department of Fatherland Security wouldn't maintain an active branch office in Google's basement in Mountain View, you're fooling yourself <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Oh well, I suppose the US government will be following my SPOT messages too. I would imagine that Globalstar hands over that information without my knowledge. I suppose I should look up in the sky and wave once in a while.

SPOT is not something a drug trafficker should use to keep tabs on their shipments <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />