My two passions.
It's cool when they come together!
I frequently ride alone in the mountains of Colorado, sometimes in remote areas. I've thought about getting an EPIRB (Emergency Personal Rescue Beacon, very similar to what they use on planes to summon help after an emergency landing aka crash) for a number of years, but their $600+ price has always put me off.
Spot Inc. has recently introduced a new device, the SPOT messenger. It uses GPS and Satellite phone technology to determine your location and send an emergency message to local search and rescue teams in your area (pretty much anywhere on the globe) if you press the '911' button. Nicely priced at $150 + service of about $100 a year. I take it everywhere I ride now...
It definitely gives me peace of mind when I'm off someplace isolated and riding alone (note the SPOT mounted on the KTM Super Enduro's handlebars).
In addition to its emergency rescue function, it offers some cool added features. There is an 'OK' button. When pressed, it will send a customized but pre-configured "I'm OK!" message to your list of recipients. It also sends along your GPS coordinates and a link to Google Maps so your friends and family can see where you are. Super easy to use! I plan on setting up a mail list server so anybody who is interested can subscribe and get these messages whenever I push the button, probably once a day.
It also has a TRACK function, where it will create a breadcrumb trail and allow anybody to see where you have traveled in the past seven days (of course the device needs to be on). If you want to take a look, here is my breadcrumb trail:
MAP VIEW OF MY LAST 7 DAYS OF TRAVEL
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