balance the need for ammunition for other survival uses with the chance
of someone hearing your shot.
,stroud’s Tip
No matter what type of noise you are making,
the international signal for distress can come in handy.
Whether you’re clanging pots together, blowing on a whistle,
or blasting from an air siren, repeat the sound three straight times
which indicates you’re in need of help.Technological Signals
UNLIKE TARGETED SIGNALS, WHICH NEED TO BE SEEN OR HEARD by someone in
your direct vicinity to be effective, technological signals carry your message
over greater distances. If technology shines anywhere during a survival sit
uation, it’s in signaling. Cell phones, satellite phones, twoway radios, and
PLBs have saved the lives of countless stranded adventurers.
EPIRBs (Emergency PositionIndicating Radio Beacons), ELTs (Emergency
Locator Transmitters), and PLBs (Personal Locator Beacons): Among a
class of devices known as tracking transmitters, these beacons all function
by sending a distress signal that allows searchandrescue personnel to
locate your position almost immediately. EPIRBs commonly signal mari
time distress; ELTs signal aircraft distress; and PLBs are for personal use.
Although the basic idea behind all these devices is to get the person res
cued within 24 hours of activation, this is not always the case, particularly in
developing nations. I once made a survival film off the coast of Belize. My sail
boat captain explained the reality that the authorities there probably would not
act if I set off a locator beacon, and that they might not even know what it was.
He dared me to set mine off and see what happened. I did and . . . nothing.
SPOT satellite messenger: First implemented by SPOT Inc., the satellite
messenger is one of the greatest technological innovations to hit the world
of outdoor adventuring—and surviving—in recent years.
Signaling (^) | 63