Reddit reviews Spot 3 Satellite GPS Messenger - Orange

A Spot unit does the trick but the Garmin units all rely on BT connection to your phone which in turn uses your data plan to relay location...basically a convoluted version of the RoadID app.

Edit: these are the Spot units, worth the money if you do a lot of backcountry and off grid sports. If you do backcountry ski or snowboard do not expect this to work as an avalanche beacon, get a true PIPS unit.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00C8S8S4W/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1449369551&sr=8-2&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=spot&dpPl=1&dpID=419EjY0YtwL&ref=plSrch

If you are really worried you can always purchase a [Spot Satellite GPS Messenger](https://www.amazon.com/SPOT-Satellite-GPS-Messenger-Orange/dp/B00C8S8S4W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8 &qid=1479135499&sr=8-1&keywords=spot+GPS) You just push a button and emergency services are notified of your GPS coordinates but it requires a $15 a month subscription.

I don't think you need this because of the number of people on the trail but if you or a loved one needs some peace of mind it is an option. I am surprised how often I see people carrying gear because a loved one at home is concerned and made them promise to bring something.

I was just doing some remote field work in Alaska and northern Canada for the past 6 weeks and I carried one of these with me:

https://smile.amazon.com/SPOT-Satellite-GPS-Messenger-Orange/dp/B00C8S8S4W?sa-no-redirect=1

Also, I suggest taking a wilderness first aid course and buying/borrowing this book or a similar one:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/the-wilderness-survival-guide-joe-oleary/1117737219/2680888273567?st=PLA&sid=BNB_DRS_Marketplace+Shopping+greatbookprices_00000000&2sid=Google_&sourceId=PLGoP24104

I don't doubt it! You might want to help them assemble a kit for the car, including basic first aid (and make sure they know how to use it!), a 36-hour food/needs kit, paper/pens for leaving a note (but also instructions as to when they should and shouldn't leave - teach them S.T.O.P.: STOP, before you do anything, and relax; THINK about where you could have gone wrong; OBSERVE: what do you have that may help you, what's the weather, what natural resources are available, and where is a good place to make camp; and PLAN a course of action that will best utilizie your limited reservoir of energy. If it's dark, stay where you are.), and consider getting them a Spot Gen3 Satellite GPS Messenger - basically a way for their mom to see where they are and for them to get a message out in an emergency. They're only $150 and can not only help them out of a tough spot, but also help everyone involved (them, the mom, the authorities) get piece of mind and locate them quickly.

Ninja edit: You may already be well aware of this stuff, so apologies if I'm stepping on your toes by making these suggestions. Glad they're safe!

Can you go often, but buy fewer things?

Our store is five minutes by car, and it's a nice walk for me. You might be out walking and have a seizure, so that's something to balance this with, but you could maybe walk to the store, and walk home. The important thing is, you could do it yourself. Check the trail system (fewer people around to check on you than sidewalks, but you won't wander into the roadway). Check into a Spot (https://smile.amazon.com/SPOT-Satellite-GPS-Messenger-Orange/dp/B00C8S8S4W/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3P9PQK3E3VELN&keywords=spot+emergency+beacon&qid=1557965640&s=gateway&sprefix=spot+emergen%2Caps%2C215&sr=8-2) so even if you are out and walking, you can get help if you feel a seizure and you're on a trail. You don't need to call 911, you don't need to get your phone out, you don't need to do anything but push a button. Conversely, you can send a different message, if you want, giving an, "I'm ok" message.

But maybe you could go to the store three or four times a week. I know going to the store isn't the most exciting thing, but hey, it's out of the house and you can do it yourself. Believe me, I know. Some weeks my biggest accomplishments on my own are going to the store and the drug store. But, it's also really good exercise.

I saw you ask someone else about waiting six months. I drove for 25 years, and I got diagnosed last December. Seizures started in October out of the blue. We're still playing with my dosages. Just upped my Trileptal this week (OMG, my stomach! I woke up yesterday morning, naturally while on a business trip, and had to dash to the toilet to sit there and be sick a bit. Then leave the meetings and go sit in the bathroom some more. How do you explain that one to colleagues. "Yeah, we just upped my anti seizure drugs and I'm having a side effect issue, so I'm currently shitting out my brains, I'll be back in a few minutes, sorry for the smell! I know, I hadn't told you I'm an epileptic. Well, this is a shitty way to find out, get it?"). Legally I can drive, but I couldn't deal with hurting my daughter or someone else. So I've put it on myself to be six months between seizures. My husband is dealing with it, but not super well. "How many days until you can drive again?" It's not been easy for our family. A huge change in our lifestyle. And like you, we live in a place that is NOT set up for life without a car. But I walk. I walk a lot (though not this last week, I hurt my hip a bit, and that pushed me over the edge and I cried). It's good for me, I like it, and I kind of hope I continue it after I can drive again. We'll see.

But I'm actually anxious about driving. I'm excited to get my independence, but I'm scared. I'm still having auras. And the side effects are weird, making my body feel curved (like my hands are on the computer, my elbows are to my right, and my body and head are seeing the computer). Can I really drive? Is this safe? And what if the seizures come back? What if, what if, what if.

I know it's frustrating. It will always be frustrating. I won't tell you to NOT be frustrated, because this is life with epilepsy. Last week I was so frustrated I had to call my best friend to give me a ride (I couldn't take another Lyft, just couldn't) and I broke down in ugly tears in his car (my husband was out of town, otherwise I would have parked myself in his building for six hours until he was ready to go home for the day). But, hope for the best, and look at the amazingness you have. And, when the frustration comes, know you have awesome people around you who you can lean on (in real life, and people in your pocket online) who totally get it and who support you.

But seriously, look into walking. :)

Basically a personal tracker. SPOT is brand name.

https://www.amazon.com/SPOT-Satellite-GPS-Messenger-Orange/dp/B00C8S8S4W

GOOD JOB! Also just checked, the Spot Gen 3 is only $45 on Amazon today after a post purchase rebate!

Spot 3 Satellite GPS Messenger - Orange https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C8S8S4W/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_d7ZoDbVBBQB01

Click on this link to look to the right to "find a retailer". Typically it will be an outdoor shop.

https://www.findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=100

Otherwise, it's $148 on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/SPOT-Satellite-GPS-Messenger-Orange/dp/B00C8S8S4W/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8

Keep in mind.... there is a $200/yr fee. You can cancel the subscription for the following year if this is a one time trip. https://www.findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=130

While not the cheap, the device and one year subscription will cost about the same as a nice one night hotel room. Good insurance and the 5 minute tracking means loved ones can log into a private webpage to see where you are at any time.

On 9/11 the terrorists turned off the GPS transceivers from the cockpit of the plane to prevent it from being easily tracked. In 2014 the pilots of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 did exactly the same thing turning off GPS tracking from the cockpit.

It shouldn't even be possible to completely disable GPS tracking of a commercial airliner from the cockpit yet there is still no secondary GPS reporting method that can't be disabled from the cockpit that would have given us even a vague idea of where the plane might be.

The technology to build such a secondary system is cheap enough that completely losing a plane as large and sophisticated as a 777 is inexcusable yet it still happens.

A spot device is the correct gadget if things go ugly and you are out of cell range. Some have the ability to send messages so you can send checkin messages to those back at home. Usually hardware + subscription, but not terribly expensive compared to a sat phone plan.

Antenna height makes a big difference - more of a line of site. I get ~4 miles on the ground with a 5w aviation radio, and around 8nm once I'm a few thousand feet in the air. (double that if the aircraft has an external antenna) I wonder if one could broadcast up to the planes flying overhead on 121.5 if things were truly an emergency. I know I've been able to relay information from someone on the ground to ATC when flying. Wrong tool for camping, however.

While it does not help with broadcasting - a shortwave radio is a lot of fun to pack in camping. One of the guys we camp with will pack in a shortwave and what seems like a hundred feet of wire as he attempts to listen in to Swedish radio from the BWCA in Minnesota.