GME has been producing Emergency Beacons since its first EPIRB in 1979. It is a globally trusted and reliable Australian company.
Depending on which state or territory you reside in, there will be different laws governing the use of EPIRBS out at sea. In NSW, they are mandatory when travelling east of 2 nautical miles. This is a widely accepted law due to the risks associated with the open ocean. EPIRBS are associated to the vessel as opposed to an individual, which is where a PLB can come in handy.
Having said this, do we need to start paying more respect to the potential risks of headed into remote regions inland? Fishing, 4WDing and adventuring can take you into some very remote locations, often without reception or easy access. What happens if there is a true emergency?
PLB stands for Personal Locator Beacon. Unlike, EPIRBS, they are associated to the individual. The GME MT620GR is the most up to date model with loads of impressive features.
Some of the things that I liked about the unit itself is how light and transportable it is. There is a 7 year battery life and 6 year warranty. It’s dust proof and inherently buoyant which is perfect for fishing, maybe on a remote kayak adventure? And you do not need a university degree to operate the emergency sequence and understand how the device operates.
THE GNSS (Global Network Satelite System) is extremely accurate in triangulation within a few feet of your position.
One of the upgrade from their pre existing model is the RLS (Return Link Service). This sends a signal back to the person in distress notifying them that the call for help has been received and help is on the way. I can imagine that this would be very reassuring if you ever neeed to deploy the device.
This is something you hope to never use, but will hate to not have by yourside when the need arises.
I highly recommend this product for those that are in remote locations regularly. Even more so, if they are with a young family, are not able bodied or have underlying health issues or are solo adventuring.
RRP $569
More info at www.gme.net.au/au/
