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Written by JT
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 As humans we have a desire for information at our finger tips. A result of this and our advances in technology we have managed to shrink the world and make it smaller so to speak. Despite this however the world is still a big place and many areas are still in hospitable for us. Sometimes this is because of nature being what it is and other times it is of our own doing as humans. Those of us with less than normal jobs or just a sense of adventure and exploration seek these places out on a regular basis. I feel very safe in saying that one of the goals is to be able to travel to these places and bring back the information to share with the rest of our social network, job, or what have you. In order to do this you must make it back alive and in one piece. This is more of a challenge than it sounds like at times.
Communications systems in these areas are less than stellar. So is the transportation systems as they also fall prey to attacks, hijackings and so on. So suffice to say that when “it” hits the fan as they say you are not left with a lot of options. The options that you do have at the time to put it bluntly really suck. As experience has shown not just with myself but with others that I am close to and aquatinted with; when it comes to rescue the market does not have much to offer.
Sure there are SAT COMS (satellite phones and systems), ELTs, Personal Radio Beacons, and a few others out there. They all have one thing in common though they are really expensive. In addition most are emergency use only. So even if you are safe you cannot contact others to let them know that and they do not need to send the calvary after you. So for years this has been a problem and a logistical nightmare. You had to have plan A-Z, code words, call signs, rendezvous points and the challenges were enormous. It just seemed that it made your life as a planner infinitely harder. This changed for myself and others a little over a year ago.
Slightly over a year ago at the Shot Show we at Shooting Resources ran across a little booth with and interesting blaze orange “brick”. Reluctantly we stopped and we came across something that would make our lives exponentially easier while on expeditions, clandestine ops, flight ops, or just plain wilderness fun. What we cam across is known as the SPOT. The SPOT is a Satellite Personal Tracker that in many ways makes up for the short comings of all other rescue devices in this category. This little orange brick also had the endorsement of Les Stroud whom I have an enormous amount of respect for. The more that we talked with the SPOT representative the more that we were impressed, we decided to get two and try them out.
As you can see from the pictures the SPOT does not look like much at all and has four basic functions. Actually it is very bright and in the sunlight can be rough on your eyes. It is pretty plain for all intent and purposes. However one thing I have learned from experience something does not need to be pretty it just needs to work. The SPOTS four basic functions are ALERT 911, Ask for Help, Check In, and Track Progress. SPOT uses satellites and the same basic technology that handheld GPS units use. It uses these GPS satellites to determine the user’s location and transmit that information to either a dispatch center (ALERT 911) or to a cell phone, email, or map (thank you google earth). SPOT uses commercial satellites and not military. This means that 99% of the Earth has SPOT coverage (minor exception is part of Antarctica), and as long as SPOT has a clear view of the sky the reliability is 99.4%. More about the history of SPOT, the detail of functions, and success stories are in the links at the end of this article I highly encourage you to read these.
At Shooting Resources we believe in being though. So we embarked on what would be the longest test to day in Shooting Resources history. We tested and tortured the SPOT for one year. During this time our goals were simple, we needed to see how tough the design was, how reliable the service is, and could we get the SPOT to fail. We tested the SPOT on the ground in various conditions such as extreme cold, heat and humidity, rain (yes it is waterproof), fog, unpopulated areas (think jungle), and urban areas as well. The SPOT was subjected to numerous harsh conditions. It was dropped (repeatedly), kicked, splashed with Jet fuel, bleach, blood (yes blood but not mine), left outside for days, and even went “swimming” with me on a few occasions. It was tested from moving vehicles, ground based and in the air as well. It was tested not just domestically but also overseas as well.
As I said before it was the longest and probably the most in depth testing we have ever done. We did this for a reason though. This was designed as a rescue device and as such you are putting your life on the line with this one piece of equipment. This is your last hope of rescue or survival therefore it must work flawlessly. So before I would say yes this works go check it out I want to make sure that I trust it with not only my life but those that are closest to me too.
 So how did the SPOT hold up after all of this? It was nothing short of amazing to be honest. The SPOT is tough plain and simple, there is not much in the normal world that is going to break this device. It held up under every harshness that we threw at it. It needed just a little more than cleaning or to pick it up and dust it off. Sure is shows a little cosmetic wear but who cares it still works. The service is very impressive as well. The customer service was extremely nice and very helpful in setting up our account and getting our SPOT activated. Now why do you need an account you may ask. Well under all of the functions (except ALERT 911) you can program in up to 10 emails and cell phone addressees for a message (that you type out) to be sent to. You also can go in and change this at anytime you want. We found that the average time lapse from message sent to message received was five minutes. The shortest time being 1 min and 23 sec. and the longest was 13 min and 48 sec. There were also only two occasions that the SPOT failed to send with a clear view of the sky no matter what the weather was. Now could we get the SPOT to fail, not exactly. Like I said there were only two messages that we failed to receive, you have to keep in mind though this could have been an error on the internet end no necessarily the SPOT end. So that questions is kind of open to interpretation. There were locations that we found the SPOT would not work. As expected it was usually in a building or man made type structure. Even with a less than perfect view of the sky (such as an aircraft hanger with open doors) the SPOT would even work. It took a little longer to send and receive the message but the point is it still works. The SPOT held up like no other device in this category I have ever seen, our testing results were impressive to say the least.
 So not only is the SPOT tough, the service is extremely reliable, and yet all of this is highly affordable as well. The SPOT unit itself is between $149-$199 depending on where you get it. In addition to this cost you have a yearly subscription fee. This fee varies depending on what you get, there are a few options. You have the option of activating the Tracking feature which I highly recommend, not only is it useful it can be just flat fun. There is also the option to purchase “rescue insurance” at the time of set up this is about $8, if you purchase it after the fact it is $150. This is for $100,000 that covers that cost of a rescue (yup some places will stick you with this bill) and is insured by Lloyds of London. In my mind this is not an option it is a must but never the less you don’t have to get it. So for between $200-$250 you get a ruggedly tough, extremely reliable, rescue insured, tracking capable, rescue device that can be used in situations other than a rescue.
There was not much that I did not like about the SPOT. Inevitably though there were some short comings but ones that I think can be easily fixed either by SPOT or by and outside company. First the belt clip for the SPOT does not do it justice. It is kind of flimsy and only works so so, it needs to be redesigned in my opinion. Also the belt clip is pretty much the only carry option that the spot really has. There is a place on the top back of the SPOT for a small and i stress small lanyard. SPOT to my knowledge does not have one not endorses one. This needs to be made bigger to accommodate a bigger lanyard or maybe even paracord. Finally is the color, SPOT only comes in blaze orange. Now before you all blast me on this let me make it clear that I do understand why that it is blaze orange and I also understand the thinking behind it. In a perfect world this is great but the world is not perfect and there are situations out there where you need rescue and you don’t need the blaze orange color to do it. It could be a clandestine op or maybe you are trying to stay hidden in a crowd (hide in plain sight) for rescue. In these situations the SPOT stands out and will likely get you killed, unless of course you paint it yourself or cammo it in some way. So to the makers of SPOT I would say please take this into consideration and make it in some other more subdued colors as well as the blaze orange. Those were really the only bad things that I have found to date that I think needs some work.
If you are one of the individuals that i mentioned in the very beginning of this article then this should be a very affordable “standard” piece of equipment that goes with you no matter where you are in the world. It comes down to how much do you value your life because the bottom line is very simple. When things go horribly wrong and sometimes they do this little device can make the difference not if you get rescued dead or alive but possibly if you get rescued at all. The SPOT is tough, reliable and extremely affordable. It is for these reasons that all of us at Shooting Resources, friends, and even a few family members trust our lives with SPOT and never go anywhere without it. |
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Gear Reviews 
