Reddit Reddit reviews acr 2880 ResQ Link PLB-375 Personal Locator Beacon

We found 16 Reddit comments about acr 2880 ResQ Link PLB-375 Personal Locator Beacon. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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acr 2880 ResQ Link PLB-375 Personal Locator Beacon
This Personal Locator Beacon is pre-programmed for registration with the US country code. Whilst it will function anywhere around the world, the initial point of contact during an emergency situation would be the US Search and Rescue authoritiesShould you wish registration outside of the US, please purchase our from our ‘ACR ResQlink Non-Buoyant PLB - Programmed for Rest of World’ and advise us which country you require for registration. The device can be registered in the country of your choiceThis PLB is programmed for registration with the US country code. Whilst it will function anywhere in the world, the initial point of contact during an emergency situation would be the US Search and Rescue authorities with whom the PLB would be registeredPLBs have been proven, tried and tested in some of the world's most remote locations and treacherous conditions.Even in extreme conditions and situations, ResQlink activates easily.Just deploy the antenna, pull the anti-tamper seal and press the ON buttonThis PLB should only be used in situations of grave and imminent danger to life. False alerts endanger lives and cause expensive disruption to Search and Rescue services. Deliberate misuse of the device could result in a penaltyBattery, typical Performance : 30 Hours @-4°F (-20°C)
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16 Reddit comments about acr 2880 ResQ Link PLB-375 Personal Locator Beacon:

u/SimplyCmplctd · 17 pointsr/IsItBullshit

It’s not always the best strategy. this poor lady followed the ‘stay put’ advice and never moved for nearly a month while hiking the Appalachian trail, but ended up dying. She was one mile from the trail the whole time.

If you’re ever traveling somewhere and fear getting lost, it’d be a good idea to buy one of these GPS emergency beacon that can be located anywhere in the world.

u/iHelix150 · 6 pointsr/LifeProTips

The most important things to carry are things that will keep you alive. WATER is the most important. You can live without food for weeks, you can't live without water for more than a few days. Don't eat anything you aren't sure of (being sick is worse than being hungry) and don't eat if you don't have lots of water (digestion uses up water). Next is clothing- carry a spare jacket or snowpants in your car and a good set of gloves. You may be dressed comfortably for inside or in a heated car, but that will be a problem if you lose your engine in the middle of nowhere at night. From there you might consider a sleeping bag to keep you warm at night.
After that- LIGHT. If you are stuck somewhere at night, you will need as much light as you can get. Carry multiple flashlights, ideally one of which is a headlamp and one of which is indestructible, and carry spare batteries for each one. Chem-lights (Cyalume sticks) are also good to have but should be a backup to a real flashlight.

From there you might consider survival supplies- high calorie foodpacks, flares, signaling supplies, reflectors, fire starting equipment, knives, tools, etc. A simple Leatherman or Swiss Army Knife can be a big help in such a situation.

Carry some jumper cables and a pad of steel wool. Jumper cables have an obvious use (starting the car) and a few non-obvious uses (as rope or tools), but if you need to start a fire, use the jumper cables on the steel wool (few seconds at a time at most) and it will glow red hot.

Also, one of the simplest, stupidest things to carry is a cell phone charger. If you get stuck somewhere your cell phone could be out of juice even though your car battery has plenty of power. Don't get stuck by such a stupid problem.


If you're in backcountry places or go there during the winter (skiing etc) have at least one means to call for help that isn't a cell phone.

I heard about an accident that happened a few years back, a guy goes off the road during a snowstorm and his car disappears into the woods. Snowplow plows over the tracks so nobody can see where he went off the road, and he's pinned inside his car and can't move much. He sat there for almost 2 days before a passing trucker heard about the missing vehicle and happened to catch a glint of twilight off his side view mirror. If not for that, nobody'd have found him until spring, but he got lucky and was rescued.

The cell phone wasn't usable for this guy (either it was damaged in the crash or it had no service), if he'd had some other way of calling for help he'd have been rescued much sooner.

Your best bet is a 406MHz PLB, which is a satellite homing beacon (many models exist, some float and/or have a display). These cost a few hundred bucks, but have no subscription fees. (ACR offers an optional subscription service, but you don't need it). The battery is sealed in the unit and has to be serviced every few years, but you know it'll work because it has no useful function other than to call for help.

The cheap version of that is the Spot Satellite Messenger, which does much the same thing just with a less powerful radio and a commercial satellite phone network. Not quite as reliable as a real PLB, and needs a yearly subscription fee, but has other functions (you can have it check in every 15min and show your course on a map, or a newer one can be used to update your Facebook status, ugh). Spot takes AAA or AA batteries, so carry spares. Spot makes a few versions of this, and there's now a variant from DeLorme that works with Android phones.

You should also consider a good set of two way radios. Ignore the '50 mile range' type crap, its all bullshit (the ones linked above have better range than most with a full 5watt transmitter, but it's no 50 miles). Leave these in the charger, and leave the charger plugged into your car's trunk outlet. If you are doing a multi-car trip, put one in each car- that way if there's a problem you can easily signal the other car (if there's no cell service, you might run into a situation where one car has a problem and the other car doesn't see them stop for a while). They're also a lot of fun on road trips and great for skiing. The units linked above can also run on AA batteries instead of the rechargeable pack, so keep spare batteries around.

You might also look into CB Radios (many models available). A CB is usually mobile, not portable (ie it plugs into lighter socket with antenna on the roof) but CBs have the advantage that all the truckers use CB radios. Truckers will tell you about road hazards like accidents, dangerous conditions, and speed traps; and will often have different routes to suggest. Be warned that truckers have their own CB lingo so it takes some practice to figure them out.


u/BrianFranklin · 5 pointsr/Survival

I carry an ACR ResQLink PLB with me when I go wilderness camping (solo) in case anything happens. When you get the device, you register its serial number and attach some contact info so if you ever need to use it, they know who needs help. In an emergency, you pop up an antenna, give it line of sight to the sky, and activate it. It'll alert search and rescue and also act as a beacon for search crews who respond to the general area to locate you quicker.

I prefer this type of thing to the alternatives because I don't want to have to actively let people know I'm okay rather than actively requesting help. There's the off chance that something so bad could happen that I'd be unable to activate the unit, but I leave detailed plans with people before I leave as a backup safety plan.

Like you noted, there's no subscription plan, but the battery isn't user serviceable. I've read that you can send it in at the end of its life and pay for a replacement battery to be installed, but mine hasn't reached the end of its life yet so I haven't had to do this.

Also, consider where you carry something like this. I keep mine in a little scout bag (Arc'teryx Maka 2) when backpacking so if I ever ended up separated from my backpack in a river-crossing-gone-wrong or similar event, I'd have the PLB on me still.

u/genericdude999 · 5 pointsr/Survival

Yeah, I read your other link. She was an experienced through-hiker, so she had to have probably had the Ten Essentials, including map and compass? A little GPS like I linked weighs about 5 oz. Through hikers are famous for stripping their gear down gram by gram. Probably couldn't justify the weight even if it was about equal to her cell phone, which she did have.

Well-monied but weight-conscious through hikers should probably start leaving their cell phones at home, in favor of something like an inReach to stay in touch with family back home. 6.7 oz. That's what the local Forest Service volunteer society here recommends. I have a PLB, but they told us those are less useful to SAR because you can't tell them whether you have a broken leg or hypothermia or heart attack etc., just "here I am, help!"

u/rowlanry · 4 pointsr/videos

Na but this can at less than half the price. https://www.amazon.com/ACR-ResQlink-Non-Buoyant-PLB-Registration/dp/B005E1OU1A

Also having a radio and alerting park rangers of your plan and knowing their freqs can be helpfull. Most importantly simply not getting into dangerous situations is the best defense

u/use_reddit_sparingly · 4 pointsr/amateurradio

I looked into those and may invest in one soon. However, they have drawbacks (namely it is impossible to communicate anything besides "HELP COME GET ME"). I'd like to have some other options for communication.

In case anyone comes searching in the future locators don't necessarily require a monthly fee. Seems like the most common solution is a unit by ACR, "ResQlink." (The "plus" version is floating; in other regards AFAIK they are identical.) These seem to be the power player in the PLB (personal locator beacon) market. There are other solutions for maritime use etc.; Wikipedia has good info.

Was once lost in the backcountry (poor planning, stupid mistake). Used a cell phone to let others know "hey, I'm lost, here's about where I am, I can keep walking, but wanted to advise someone of my predicament." A radio would allow me to do the same if I am ever in a similarly bad position. Given what I've learned from other commenters here, it seems like the most foolproof combo would be a combo of a VHF/UHF handheld and a PLB for worst-case scenarios.

Thank you for the thoughts!

u/JacquesDeMolay13 · 3 pointsr/Survival

There are several different kinds of beacons that serve different purposes. I was carrying one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/Backcountry-Access-Tracker-Beacon-B-30000/dp/B00G7IUO9Q/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1521136945&sr=8-5&keywords=avalanche+beacon

It gives off a signal, and if you're buried in an avalanche, another person with a similar beacon can use theirs to find out where you're buried. They work, but the survival rate is low, because an avalanche that completely buries your will suffocate you in a matter of minutes. The signal can only be picked up at close range (~100 feet). They're mainly for one partner to rescue another, which assumes they don't both get buried.

There's also personal locator beacons:

https://www.amazon.com/ACR-ResQlink-Non-Buoyant-PLB-Registration/dp/B005E1OU1A/ref=sr_1_2?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1521137134&sr=1-2&keywords=rescue+beacon

These send a (long distance) signal to search and rescue services, indicating that you need help. They work, but in my opinion, wouldn't have helped in this situation.

u/arglfargl · 3 pointsr/Dualsport

Standard PLBs like this one (which I own) have no service charge, but you have to actually activate them in an emergency. So they're only useful if you're conscious and you didn't lose it in your crash.

I got mine for hiking, but it's nice to have for biking, too. On the plus side, their signal is a lot stronger than a Spot's, and you don't need to worry about battery recharge/replacement for 5 years.

u/SpikedJester · 3 pointsr/CampingGear

Link for the lazy. I have never had to use my ResQlink so I can't say personally how good it is, but all the reviews that I have read say it is the best you can get for SOS beacons.

u/TinyMetalTube · 2 pointsr/wyoming

The real LPT is always in the comments.

Get yourself a ResQLink. It's a button that calls emergency search and rescue, anywhere in the world, as long as you have line of sight to space.

And of course, always have a few basic emergency supplies in your car. A good blanket, a little food and water, a source of heat, fire extinguisher, etc. Basically a full bug-out bag.

u/Gullex · 2 pointsr/Bushcraft

No subscription needed, no service plan. You buy it, you get in trouble, you push a button, rescuers come looking for you.

https://smile.amazon.com/acr-2880-ResQlink-Non-Buoyant-PLB/dp/B005E1OU1A/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=plb&qid=1558019720&s=gateway&sr=8-3

u/jon1746 · 1 pointr/flying

I just picked this guy from amazon. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005E1OU1A/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Its the a good size. I am flying across Lake Michigan and Erie these days so I thought I better have one. What life raft did you pick up.

I got one off of Ebay for 200 bucks. It was as 10 years old looked like total crap. I thought no way am I betting my life on this. So I was going to toss it in the trash. But before I got rid of it I pulled the cord. Dammit it work perfectly.

u/Hoonsoot · 1 pointr/cycling

Its not an app or service but one option is to carry something like this: https://www.amazon.com/ACR-PLB-375-Personal-Locating-Beacon/dp/B005E1OU1A

I carry one when touring in case I ever wind up in a ditch but am still able to move enough to activate it.

u/thefaceofnerdom · 1 pointr/WildernessBackpacking

I took my first backpacking trip solo. Consider dropping money on a personal locator beacon--they're expensive, but you may find a bargain on eBay. I use a Res-Q-Link:

​

https://www.amazon.com/acr-2880-ResQlink-Non-Buoyant-PLB/dp/B005E1OU1A

u/pkvh · 1 pointr/news

That's the standard MSRP. When I got it there was a mail in rebate for 50 bucks, but they don't really get that much of a discount often. I've never really seen them on sale at any retailer.

Note though, the one you linked is the floating version is a a bit bulkier. If you're not going to be around water often it might be best to get the normal version. You can always tether a float to it if you're going on a rafting trip or something.

This is the non-floating version:
http://smile.amazon.com/ACR-PLB-375-Personal-Locating-Beacon/dp/B005E1OU1A/ref=sr_1_4?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1464290136&sr=8-4&keywords=resqlink%2B