Thread: For Those Who Have Used Your PLB

Not as exciting at the the other reports so far, but I once found myself stuck on the wrong side of a swollen river with 2 kids. We had had a cold and wet walk all morning, before finding our river crossing unpassable (from calf deep the day before to raging torrent overnight), and no chance of walking out another way before dark. I had told people at home and the PLB hire place to raise the alarm by the evening of that same day. I had shelter and food with me, so could have sat out a cold and wet night with the kids if I had to. We would then have walked out the looooong way the next day to get cellphone reception and get someone to come and get us. It would have sucked, but we would have survived and chalked one up to experience. However, I couldn't stop anyone from raising the alarm and Land SAR or choppers start looking that evening or worse, later in the dark. I had gotten myself a bit stuck, the kids were cold and wet, and I failed to come up with a solution to self-rescue or to get to a high point to try and find cellphone coverage. So while I felt very stupid, I thought it better to call for help during daylight. I hated it, but I pushed the button, got the kids into dry gear and got some hot food into them, and waited for the cavalry to arrive. Within 30-40 mins they arrived and got us across the river. I felt incredibly stupid, but it could have got a lot worse if I had either pushed the kids any further, or if rescuers had come out in the dark. Chopper crew told me I had done the right thing, we were the 3rd party to be lifted off the hill that day due to the unexpected rainfall. The river took days to go down to a safe level for crossing. I still feel embarrassed telling that story. Lesson learnt: next time I'll give myself an extra day as contingency before others are to raise the alarm.

Originally Posted by Moutere

Although I’ve never had cause to set off my own beacon, I’m one of the people that responds when you do. We can easily get a couple of beacons per shift in our high summer season so we’ve seen everything from simple panic and broken bones, to dead bodies. That’s the reason I often post on these beacon threads as I feel I have a bit of skin in the game to offer. Although there has been a historic poor understanding by the general public about what their beacons can and can’t do, this is getting better. Interestingly hunters seem to make up a noticeably low percentage of our beacon missions, I assume this is a mixture of stoicism, preparedness and high self reliance.

These two points so far are great takeaways.





I would also add:
If you require help, do it a soon as you reach that decision. Helicopter minimas typically quadruple at night, so getting on location during daylight is far more reliable for you (and safer for us) than trying to do it at night if there is weather. There is a real witching hour leading into last light, often for emergencies that may have occurred in the afternoon.
On the flip side of that, some people will try and make far too many decisions on our behalf that delay help. An example, we picked up two extremely hypothermic trampers recently whom waited until first light before setting off their beacon. We could have gotten them off the hill hours earlier in the dark had we known, or gotten a Land SAR crew close to them had the front been still yet to pass. Also of note here, poor decision making and cold often go hand in hand in my experience. Hopefully neither of them has ongoing health problems from being so critically cold for so long, this relates to Joe_90 point above about living with your health outcomes from treatment delays.

Thanks, your post clarified a question I’ve often asked myself and that’s when to push the button. Don’t wait till an hour or two before daybreak or a gap in the weather if you’re thinking that is not immediately life threatening. You have no idea what’s ahead in the next 10-12 hours that you’re waiting for, and that the final decisions on when and how are ultimately up to the rescue crews. You may cost them a valuable rescue window, day or night. It’s what they’re trained to do so put your trust in them to make the right and proper decisions.

Have set mine off 3x over the years, none of the activations for me personally. 1: For a woman tramper who was in anaphylactic stress, her airway was compromised after bee stings. She was allergic but the stupid bitch wasn’t carrying an epi-pen or anything. I had given her antihistamine tablets from my first aid kit but to little effect as too much time had elapsed from being stung. She survived. 2: A hunter from another party we encountered. As we watched him hocking rear legs we saw a potential problem but before anyone could say anything he cut himself high inner thigh, very deep. Major blood loss and pressure bandage etc wasn’t going to cut the mustard so pushed the button. Chopper arrived within 20 minutes, happened to be at Wairau hospital at the time so handy. He survived but has trouble walking still. He was fukin lucky. 3: Godley Head gun emplacements. Was there with wife and kids sightseeing. Saw a woman and kid. Boy was running along not looking and ran over edge of emplacement trench. Boy was briefly unconscious when we got to him. Big lump on head, fluid coming out of ears, pupils were fixed. Didn’t hesitate, ran to car park and activated beacon. Rang 111 while going back to accident site and passed on details. Chopper was there quick smart. Guess kid survived ok. Fukin mother nutted off at me for doing what I did, she reckoned she’d have been alright driving him to hospital. Good that they replace activated beacon’s for free otherwise it could get expensive helping other people.

For Christmas last year my partner got me a new garmin 66i inreach, mostly so i can text her while away hunting etc and it doubled as a plb.
Fast forward to the 1st of March this year, myself, older brother and a mate are hunting a farm an hour east of dannevirke. It was last light, the weather was about about to pack in and we had just spied some deer on the bush line.
My brother and I made a 100 m dash to a spot we could shoot from, dialed up and pulled the trigger.

The next thing I remember was it being pitch black and the sound of a chopper coming in over head.

Just after we pulled the trigger I rolled over off the rifle and had a big seizure (a first for me) and was unconscious for over a hour

There was no cell coverage and it was the first time on that farm but luckily we had the inreach

It scared the shit out of my brother (and my mrs when the the people from gamin called to say my inreach had been set off and if she knew where I was)

Shout out to garmin and the hawkesbay chopper crew

Originally Posted by Sidetrack

Thanks, your post clarified a question I’ve often asked myself and that’s when to push the button. Don’t wait till an hour or two before daybreak or a gap in the weather if you’re thinking that is not immediately life threatening. You have no idea what’s ahead in the next 10-12 hours that you’re waiting for, and that the final decisions on when and how are ultimately up to the rescue crews. You may cost them a valuable rescue window, day or night. It’s what they’re trained to do so put your trust in them to make the right and proper decisions.

You got it !

That is a very interseting thread thank you everyone that posted

What Huk said...A very good thread with some sobering accidents etc. We have a hut just on the South side of Hari Hari, my mother in law 76, wife's uncle 80 spend time down there when they can, cell phone coverage is slightly better these days but used to be as useful as tit's on a you know what. About 3yrs ago I bought a PLB to be kept at the hut for their peace of mind...cos ya never know. I'm actually on my way there now and I'll be off to a wee spot in the bush about 6km south of our hut and given what I've read on this thread I'll be taking the plb with me.

Bloody good thread. I've had an Inreach now for about 6 years, never had to use it in an emergency but it gives my wife security when I'm away as I'm usually by myself. Not only do I do a lot of hunting but I also spend a fair bit of time on the bikes. She can track me where I am and on one occasion was pouring up a beer for me when I arrived home. One of the best things with the inreach is being able to communicate with not only the rescue organisation but also family and friends etc. I've being into places and needed to be lifted out earlier than intended, and being able to contact the helicopter company has been great. Being able to get an up to date weather forecast for the area where you are is fantastic, I guess this is one of the reasons why the Canterbury Mountain Radio has now shut up shop. Yes, there is a conscription fee but if you use it as much as I do, it's minimal. And, NO, I don't get paid by Garmin for making comments like this.

I have set mine off once, took Mrs into Jollybrook hut at Mt Thomas and on the day we walked out it was pissing down, there's a few side creeks that turned into raging torrents but we managed to get across them and kept heading back towards the carpark. Then a bit further on a random rock that had freed itself from somewhere above us due to all the rain came hurtling down through the trees and smashed Mrs in the thigh, we had been creeping g around the edge of the main river when it happened and she slipped over and started getting carried away by the water, her pack (which had all our dry clothes in it) was shoving her face first into the water but I managed to half grab her while screaming at her to let the chest strap go so the pack would come off, she managed to dump it and I managed to drag her out of the water. Then, with all our dry gear gone and it still pisisng down rain and getting late in the day we made it back nearly to the carpark with just a river crossing to go which was a no go as it was really pumping by that stage. It was getting late and I was super cold and could tell my thought processes weren't working properly so I hit the button before things got worse. They pulled us out of there and took us to chch hospital before discharging us later that night. One of the cops from Rangiora came and picked us up and took us back to the station and let us hang out there and have a nap in their common room for a few hours as he didn't want me driving untill I'd had a good rest, then took us to pick up my truck the next morning. So many little things I could have done different but was one of those situations that just got worse and worse and was very grateful for the button and the quick response from all involved.
I've also set of my plb on farm once after we had a girl who was only 18 have a stroke on farm, we didn't know what on earth was happening but she was stone cold unconscious for what seemed like an hour whilst I was screaming at the 111 dispatch lady trying to explain how our farm at the time (near rakaia) was not in the Manawatu, and I ended up setting off my PLB for the chopper crew

PLEASE TAKE NOTE!!! make sure your PLB is in a secure place on your person so it can not be dislodged from yourself if or when shit happens like it did to me. My PLB always lived in my bum bag and when I fell it got ripped off and I couldn't get at it I was too badly injured

Originally Posted by 57jl

PLEASE TAKE NOTE!!! make sure your PLB is in a secure place on your person so it can not be dislodged from yourself if or when shit happens like it did to me. My PLB always lived in my bum bag and when I fell it got ripped off and I couldn't get at it I was too badly injured

Second that. You see a hell of a lot of people, perhaps new to the backcountry, with their PLBs looped through their shoulder straps. It’ll be the first thing to go if you fall through a whole lot of leatherwood.

Yep myself and @chainsaw have set one off.

Up the head of Ferguson creek.

Got bluffed after a long day of slipping and sliding on rocks, absolutely drenched and no way out with hypothermia setting in. Doggo looking at me like; Dad this isn't what usually happens?. So pushed the button, unloaded rifles completely.
2 hours later IRM came over with a certain well known pilot at the controls, due to the angle it was a scoop net extraction so me, doggo and rifles piled in. Then the second load they got Chainsaw and the packs. Landed and asked us where to go. So back to the hut much to the suprise of our 2 other party mates.

Not something I'd want to do again in a hurry but my takeaways from that trip were a few things.
Firstly doesn't matter if you follow the 7 P's shit just happens and go with the flow to minimize what you can't control.
Secondly for roar blocks like that make sure you speak to people who've been in prior and ask specifically about the areas you plan to go but be mindful everyone's own comfort levels and fitness are very different.
Thirdly. Do not be embarrassed or ashamed to hit the button. As one of the local cops whose a good sort said to me following it; you can't push the button if you fall down a cliff and are dead. Swallow the pride and get out alive trust me no amount of pride is worth it.

Just a question guys ? Who pays for the chopper ,

In our experience you don't.

It's a mixture of funds that pay for it is my understanding. Some from ACC, some like lakes district gets donations( I think other areas do the same?) And some gets rate payer funded for that area with some from central govt.

With a 406 beacon (PLB,EPIRB,ELT) costs come out of RCCs budget and ACC if there is an injury.

Satellite communicators like inReach and spotX, you’re at the mercy of who they contact to raise your distress alert. My understanding is inReach goes to RCC, where it goes sideways normally is when family or friends get involved on your behalf and end up in the 111 system.

With an inReach and cell phone, depending whether you end up in the 111 system, the helicopter operator can often carry the cost burden of the flight as the tasking agencies bicker as to who’s paying. This is particularly brutal on foreigners as they don’t share the same entitlements, it’s not unusual for them to skip the country without ultimately paying. Trusts ultimately pick up this sort of shortfall in most cases. Cellular satellite can also create the same risks as to whom pays, this is also compounded by residency.

Edit to add: there is no cost to a foreigner using their 406 beacon in New Zealand and vice versa, a Kiwi using their beacon overseas.