5 replies to this topic

[Igloo Ed]

Will availability and overuse ruin the true experience available to us all?Personal Locator Beacon

[Bill 007]

Igloo Ed, on 27 October 2009 - 06:15 PM, said:

Will availability and overuse ruin the true experience available to us all?Personal Locator Beacon

Probably. I wonder why they even bothered hiking at all when I'm sure they could of watched Bear Gryllis do it on TV. Much easier. Excuse me...my tea is much to sweet....I must call 911.

Bill
(My views are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of the moderating team at RMNPForums. Then again....maybe they do.)

Edited by Bill 007, 27 October 2009 - 06:45 PM.
can't spell right.

[rcw]

Perhaps the users and the companies that provide the service should share the cost of false alarms. That would provide a powerful incentive for sellers to inform the users about what constitutes an emergency while raising the price enough to discourage novice hikers from buying them.

[DeeCeeM]

Maybe a mandatory fee schedule for false alarms should be included in the product documentation, with the proceeds going to the SAR group you inconvenience and/or endanger. I'd say a minimum of $5,000 ought to be about right, going all the way up to full cost of the rescue in egregious cases like the Grand Canyon button pushers mentioned in the article. Oh, and I like the idea of mandatory extraction, too.

These devices could do so much good, yet they have the potential to cause so much harm, too, when used as crutches by people who are so woefully unprepared for the activities they are trying to undertake.. It would be a shame if folks failing to use common sense give the devices such a bad rap that they aren't available to those who use them responsibly.

[mkadow]

I couldn't agree more with DeeCeeM.

[Mark Zemmin]

Well put Dixie.

It seems so obvious:
- Mandatory evacuation. You call us, you come out of the wilderness.
- Mandatory minimum rescue fee, repeat offenders must pay for the total rescue fee.
- The companies that manufacture the devices are required to make sure that people acknowledge the above rules before the device is activated.

Mark