Thread: Carry your PLB in your Pack - Hunter separated from his bag.

�� New Zealand Police have issued a reminder to carry your Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) on your person rather than in your pack or bag, so you can access it when you need it!
A man hunting in the Kaimanawa Ranges yesterday was unable to signal for help when he was separated from his bag containing his beacon and other essential items.
Police responded to reports made yesterday morning of a man overdue from an afternoon hunt on Thursday (27 April) near Otupua Hut, south of Poronui Station.

The hunter had been unable to return to the hut after he sustained a knee injury and lost his bag containing his beacon.

He was forced to spend a night in the bush before his friend, who was at the hut, was able to signal to a helicopter that happened to be flying overhead.
Police were notified, and in the meantime the injured man had set a fire and the visible smoke led the helicopter pilot to his location.

That pilot was then able to transport Police to the vicinity of the man. The Whangarei man was winched out by air ambulance and transported to Rotorua Hospital.
Beacons are a lifesaving tool which allow rescue teams to respond to your location as soon as possible.

If you are exploring the outdoors and are unable to make it out for any reason, or if you have concerns for someone else, please do not hesitate to activate your beacon.

Remember to register your beacon with Rescue Coordination Centre NZ before you head out: www.beacons.org.nz


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Saw a video on YouTube this morning and was good to see them all carrying one on their person and not in the bag

Do not carry them on your belt
When you fall 140m down a cliff anything on your belt will be broken
Carry it around your neck and down your front
Qhen ypu have an accident you will curl up and it will be protected

Falling down a cliff is like being in a concrete mixer
All the corners get knocked off

The voice of experience

How did he get separated from his bag? My bag contains all of my survival equipment and therfore goes everywhere I go.

Originally Posted by akaroa1

Do not carry them on your belt
When you fall 140m down a cliff anything on your belt will be broken
Carry it around your neck and down your front
Qhen ypu have an accident you will curl up and it will be protected

Falling down a cliff is like being in a concrete mixer
All the corners get knocked off

The voice of experience

In fiordland, first period last month, carried mine round my neck tucked down my shirt. I was doing a bit of vertical walking, requiring both hands. The clip on the lanyard came undone as I reached up, and the plb dropped back down where I had come from. Still the best way to carry it, just need a better lanyard with no clips or buckles.


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Originally Posted by Mohawk .308

Was wondering that myself

In a serious fall it is not unusual for you and your pack to depart company. There any many recorded instances of this (e.g. the chap who virtually crawled to Horace Walker hut).
I had a bad fall with my pack and a deer on my back. Everything got ripped off. I was lucky. Broken finger and concussion. The first thing I felt for was my plb and was relieved that there it was on my waist. Never needed to set the plb off but it gave me a terrible fright.
Mine is always on my belt. Akaroa 1's suggestion is good but a little less practical than on your belt.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/safety...UMFEJQP2Y7HN4/

My PLB lives in LH zipped chest pocket of my hunting top. Always with me. You’d be surprised how often you become separated from backpack/ bumbag etc when you take a tumble.