Some bodies they never find - diving with an emergency PLB

[DandyDon]

Let's talk about PLBs. No, not Pursed lip breathing. I mean Personal Locator Beacons. They are just so cheap now, so easy to carry, that it seems like good sense to carry one. I never leave home without my PLB, and I certainly don't want to dive without one again.

I am still amazed to see plenty of divers don't even have a flimsy smb in their kits!

Well, yeah - I've noticed that too. First device I deploy is my SMB so my boat can probably find me, even before I surface - and so that hopefully other boats might take the hint and not run over me, altho some don't take the hint. If my boat doesn't seem to see me, then I have my Storm Whistle and my Dive Alert whistle, dive light on every dive or 2 on night dives, and usually my camera with strobe I can fire. If things go bad tho, I don't want to spend hours or even the night drifting, hoping they are searching - much less a few days before I pass out. I like that I can pull my PLB out of my car console, my back pack, or my dive canister, that it floats if I drop it and is waterproof enough on the surface, and that I can set it off to activate search and rescue (SAR) - the global 911 call...!!

Several divers are carrying them nowadays.I'm sure this guy was glad he did: Missing diver rescued thanks to 'life-saving' equipment As cheap and convenient as they are now, I think it's a good idea for anyone who ever leaves town, much less anyone who leave civilization, but let's talk about diving with PLBs.

Now I am trying to include good hyperlinks here and there. I hope you find some useful.


​

There are several choices in Distress radio beacons, but these are my favorite choices...

The ACR 2881 floats, is waterproof enough to use on the surface, small enough to be unnoticed in a back pack, and cheap. With current $50 rebate, only $200, good for 5 years standby.
ACR 2881 ResQLink+ PLB Personal Locator Beacon
If you have to use it and return it with a good rescue story, they'll replace the battery for free.

The Ocean Signal PLB1 rescueME is smaller, floats if kept in pouch included, waterproof enough on the surface, $240 and good for 7 years standby.
Ocean Signal PLB1 rescueME Personal Locator Beacon

90% of PLB activations are accidental and false alarms, and if you do that - you have to have a new battery installed by a qualified technician - expensive. Just don't. My dive trips are not as frequent as they used to be so I had been renting a dive canister from Outdoor Equipment Rentals, but I found a cheaper & lighter dive canister - so I own one now...
Diver Locator Satellite PLB Canister from HDVSEATEK.Only $95 including worldwide shipping. Here are the internal dimensions of the Large & Small canisters: Large 70mm x 150mm; Small 70mm x 130mm / 2.75"x5.9" and 2.75"x5.1". No, I can't see carrying one in a BC pocket, but clipping one to my BC like I have the heavy aluminum canister will work. Remember: use silicone grease on the O-ring like almost all others you give with, and the pouch included is for topside only (not for underwater use).

 

[Lorenzoid]

You may recall this long thread that you participated in. Good discussion there. I recently re-read the whole thread because I was looking for a storage canister for a phone, not a PLB. I bought a McMurdo Fastfind canister. I wasn't aware of the HDVSEATEK. Cheaper and lighter indeed. Oh well.

 

[dreamdive]

That presumes you have time to activate the device before you die or become otherwise incapacitated.

I also live by: NEVER GIVE UP AND NEVER SURRENDER!

Some people have been found dead a couple of feet from a cave entrance (this is an argument of principle rather than application for the PLB) using their last breath to write a good-bye note to loved ones rather than trying to make it out alive. Meaning: I rather try to the very end to get out a bad situation rather than looking for a device in a pocket to activate.

Of course there are many viewpoints on this and there is no right or wrong one - it's one of personal preference. Looking forward to a constructive discussion.

Claudia Sotis MD

 

[kwinter]

Again, a PLB is for loss on the surface and must be manually activated. Loss underwater currently has no tracking technology or passive device to assist with locating a victim. I believe more divers are lost underwater than at the surface. But I carry a PLB in a rescue canister on every dive.


iPhone. iTypo. iApologize.

 

[DandyDon]

You may recall this long thread that you participated in. Good discussion there. I recently re-read the whole thread because I was looking for a storage canister for a phone, not a PLB. I bought a McMurdo Fastfind canister. I wasn't aware of the HDVSEATEK. Cheaper and lighter indeed. Oh well.

A phone? An obsolete camera housing wouldn't fill the need? My antique cell phone is waterproof to 3 feet I think, good enough for on the surface - which was my aim for this thread discussion, but no way to make it float on its own if I drop it taking it out of the canister. Fortunately, when that dive boat sank on an illegal channel crossing in Cozumel a few years ago, one diver was able to make one phone call to the Op owner who started the search, but it still took them all day to find them drifting towards Cuba.

That presumes you have time to activate the device before you die or become otherwise incapacitated.

I also live by: NEVER GIVE UP AND NEVER SURRENDER!

Some people have been found dead a couple of feet from a cave entrance (this is an argument of principle rather than application for the PLB) using their last breath to write a good-bye note to loved ones rather than trying to make it out alive. Meaning: I rather try to the very end to get out a bad situation rather than looking for a device in a pocket to activate.

Of course there are many viewpoints on this and there is no right or wrong one - it's one of personal preference. Looking forward to a constructive discussion.

Claudia Sotis MD

Yeah, it's difficult to start a thread and keep it on my aim for this thread discussion. If I die below surface, it'd probably be from a mistake - one that I knew better to make. I brought this up to discuss being lost on the surface.

Again, a PLB is for loss on the surface and must be manually activated. Loss underwater currently has no tracking technology or passive device to assist with locating a victim. I believe more divers are lost underwater than at the surface. But I carry a PLB in a rescue canister on every dive.

Yeah, I'm not trying to fix all of scuba problems in this thread. Just drifting out of sight. So which PLB & canister do you carry...??

 

[KathyV]

Let's talk about PLBs. No, not Pursed lip breathing. I mean Personal Locator Beacons. They are just so cheap now, so easy to carry, that it seems like good sense to carry one. I never leave home without my PLB, and I certainly don't want to dive without one again.

Well, yeah - I've noticed that too. First device I deploy is my SMB so my boat can probably find me, even before I surface - and so that hopefully other boats might take the hint and not run over me, altho some don't take the hint. If my boat doesn't seem to see me, then I have my Storm Whistle and my Dive Alert whistle, dive light on every dive or 2 on night dives, and usually my camera with strobe I can fire. If things go bad tho, I don't want to spend hours or even the night drifting, hoping they are searching - much less a few days before I pass out. I like that I can pull my PLB out of my car console, my back pack, or my dive canister, that it floats if I drop it and is waterproof enough on the surface, and that I can set it off to activate search and rescue (SAR) - the global 911 call...!!

Several divers are carrying them nowadays.I'm sure this guy was glad he did: Missing diver rescued thanks to 'life-saving' equipment As cheap and convenient as they are now, I think it's a good idea for anyone who ever leaves town, much less anyone who leave civilization, but let's talk about diving with PLBs.

Now I am trying to include good hyperlinks here and there. I hope you find some useful.


​

There are several choices in Distress radio beacons, but these are my favorite choices...

The ACR 2881 floats, is waterproof enough to use on the surface, small enough to be unnoticed in a back pack, and cheap. With current $50 rebate, only $200, good for 5 years standby.
ACR 2881 ResQLink+ PLB Personal Locator Beacon
If you have to use it and return it with a good rescue story, they'll replace the battery for free.

The Ocean Signal PLB1 rescueME is smaller, floats if kept in pouch included, waterproof enough on the surface, $240 and good for 7 years standby.
Ocean Signal PLB1 rescueME Personal Locator Beacon

90% of PLB activations are accidental and false alarms, and if you do that - you have to have a new battery installed by a qualified technician - expensive. Just don't. My dive trips are not as frequent as they used to be so I had been renting a dive canister from Outdoor Equipment Rentals, but I found a cheaper & lighter dive canister - so I own one now...
Diver Locator Satellite PLB Canister from HDVSEATEK.Only $95 including worldwide shipping. Here are the internal dimensions of the Large & Small canisters: Large 70mm x 150mm; Small 70mm x 130mm / 2.75"x5.9" and 2.75"x5.1". No, I can't see carrying one in a BC pocket, but clipping one to my BC like I have the heavy aluminum canister will work. Remember: use silicone grease on the O-ring like almost all others you give with, and the pouch included is for topside only (not for underwater use).

Don, I am looking at the 2 beacons you've listed here and I saw a reference to leakproof to 15 meters - do you have a recommendation for a water proof canister that would work with either of these units? Thanks!

 

[DandyDon]

Don, I am looking at the 2 beacons you've listed here and I saw a reference to leakproof to 15 meters - do you have a recommendation for a water proof canister that would work with either of these units? Thanks!

Diver Locator Satellite PLB Canister from HDVSEATEK.Only $95 including worldwide shipping.

Here are the internal dimensions of the Large & Small canisters: Large 70mm x 150mm; Small 70mm x 130mm / 2.75"x5.9" and 2.75"x5.1".

 

[KathyV]

Diver Locator Satellite PLB Canister from HDVSEATEK.Only $95 including worldwide shipping.

Here are the internal dimensions of the Large & Small canisters: Large 70mm x 150mm; Small 70mm x 130mm / 2.75"x5.9" and 2.75"x5.1".

thanks!

 

[mikeycanuk]

Not sure I agree with the title of this thread, bodies they don't find for the most part don't reach the surface. A PLB isn't going to do anything if you are dead.

Back on topic.

I tried the canister above and had 2 of 3 leak no matter what I tried so I got Light Monkey to make me 3. Not cheap for sure but as usual you get what you pay for.

I paid $225 each and I've got SOLAS "BEACON" stickers ordered from SOLAS Diving Stickers : DiveSigns.com: Reflective hard wearing vinyl stickers for all your diving needs..., Be Seen When It Counts

It fits nicely on the tank band up against the back on our BCD's, out of the way. And with the SOLAS sticker quite obvious as to it's contents (should I be incapacitated or worse)

Some pics:

 

[Akimbo]

Wow, here is a commendable bit of info on the ACR PLB under the More Info tab:

If you use it...we'll replace it, Free of Charge. Simply submit your story on our Survivor Club link, send us back your used beacon so we can have it mounted on our Wall of Fame and we'll send you a brand new beacon of equal or greater value.

https://www.acrartex.com/products/c...or-beacons/resqlinkplus/#sthash.QeYc7PyG.dpbs

The re-deployable antenna and test mode is a huge improvement over my older FastFind 210.

I use a PLB in conditions I don’t have “bet my life on it” total faith in the operator or conditions with low boat traffic and/or fast currents. Most of the time locally, I use a Nautilus Lifeline for the convenience of being able to talk to the boat without an all-out SAR response. Both will transmit a distress signal with your GPS coordinates but the Lifeline’s range is limited — probably 5+ miles to a boat and maybe 15 miles to a rescue aircraft.

You always have to consider what happens if the boat you are on becomes disabled or sinks, while you are underwater or not. A Lifeline is of lesser value if you are on the only boat for miles, you are in an area of the world with limited SAR capabilities, or you don’t have 100% confidence in the boat operator.