We know that safety equipment is boring, expensive, and there are so many other cool gadgets that you want to get. Tools like EPIRBs and Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) are basically life insurance that you hope you never need to use. Regardless, it’s important to understand how these safety beacons can help you.

1) Beacons Cost Over $1,000

Not any more, EPIRBs start at just $500 and Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) start at just $300. Here are few things you spend on your boat/outdoor gear each year that cost more and won’t save your life: Gas for your boat, bait and beer, fishing rods, and electronics!

2) My Boat is Too Small for an EPIRB

Every boat should have some kind of 406 MHz distress beacon. If you have a small boat like a kayak, SUP, canoe, bass boat or even a pontoon boat, consider a Personal Locator Beacon. If you are going offshore, an EPIRB is the right beacon. Smaller boats typically prefer the manual release category 2 bracket, while larger boats enjoy the automatic release and activation of a category 1 bracket.

3) I Don’t See How an EPIRB or PLB Will Help Me Go Boating, Hiking, Fishing, etc.

Does your wife/husband/fiancé/mom/kids/etc. ever worry about you going offshore, into the woods, or off the beaten path? Sure they do! Introduce them to our beacon technology and educate them on how it can save your life should something unexpected happen while you are away. We like to call this Peace of Mind, and when they worry less, you get outside more!

4) EPIRBs and PLBs Are Only Useful if My Boat Sinks, But I Know My Boat Won’t Sink

EPIRBs and PLBs are for more than sinking boats. They are for life threatening emergencies. We have survivors that have had medical emergencies, have come across someone else that needs assistance, boat fires, over turned boats, snake bites, we have even had two different incidents with boats hitting whales. The fact is, anything can happen, EPIRBs and Personal Locator Beacons are designed to ensure you get home safely no matter what mother nature has in store for you.

5) I Hate Subscription Fees and I Don’t Want Another One

So do we. 406 MHz beacons don’t require any service subscriptions. They work directly with the Cospas-Sarsat satellites which are government run and are a direct link to Search and Rescue. There are no subscriptions required, the only thing required is to register your beacon with your national authority (it’s Free). We do offer a testing subscription service called www.406link.com (USA Only), but its optional only if you want to receive testing confirmation via email/SMS text message.