APRS vs. SPOT tracking comparison...

[DaveK]

But, unless they've been detached for a significant time, I still struggle with why someone couldn't/wouldn't simply pick up the mike and say something like..."Uh, guys.....I think I'm lost....Uh guys, where did you turn?...did you guys turn or go straight back there"? The microphone is a contingency to all other good practice on the trail.

That is exactly the point. From a distance, the wayward traveler can be directed back to the fold, and it can be done just as you suggest - with a microphone. Without knowledge of where he is and what he has to do to correct his error, it is difficult, if not impossible, to get him back on the right trail.

If the guy has APRS, that means he has a radio. If he has a radio, that usually means he has a microphone. If he has a microphone, that would tell me he's probably not suffering a speech impediment (not too bad I'd assume).
What are the odds?

The "if" I am most concerned about is "if" the driver is injured and cannot push the 911 button or call for help.

Where a life is concerned, the odds are not the first thing I consult. I know that we have had this discussion many times, but it is always a great example. I never use 99% of the stuff I carry in my first aid kit, but I still bring it. The odds of using everything in the kit are very, very low, but I still bring it. You carry the SPOT. What are the odds that you will use the 911 button. How many times have you actually used the 911 button?

See, I'm still not convinced it's nothing more than a novelty for the average ham, even within our pastime. For emergency services, wildland fire, SAR, it has tremendous benefits. Being able to coordinate teams and visually see where teams have scoured over the course of a days or weeks long search or suppression effort is HUGE! Other than that, it's nowhere near necessary and just plain fun stuff and there's nothing wrong with that.

I know that this discussion has probably not altered your vision of APRS as a novelty, but I hope that it has at least opened the door to some of the valuable tools that it offers for the offroad traveler.

[OLLIE]

When you have the "Track Progress" feature on the SPOT it requires that you reset it every 24 hours. You can set it up with the people monitoring you back home that if it isn't reactivated in a certain amount of time they should send help.

[Chazz Layne]

When you have the "Track Progress" feature on the SPOT it requires that you reset it every 24 hours. You can set it up with the people monitoring you back home that if it isn't reactivated in a certain amount of time they should send help.

That sort of "dead man's switch" feature could be quite useful.

[OLLIE]

When you have the "Track Progress" feature on the SPOT it requires that you reset it every 24 hours. You can set it up with the people monitoring you back home that if it isn't reactivated in a certain amount of time they should send help.

That sort of "dead man's switch" feature could be quite useful.

Yep... My sentimentals exactly. My wife knows to pull the panick switch at the 12 hour mark when I'm alone and six hours if my son is with me. Additionally, we have assigned windows for sending the "OK" message as well.