Epirb

[TomT13]

Does anyone have a preference as to EPIRB's? I have looked at the Pains-Wessex, McMurdo and ACR units and do not see a major difference between them. What about an outlet that has a good price, good being cheap! Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[Capt.Erich]

Does anyone have a preference as to EPIRB's? I have looked at the Pains-Wessex, McMurdo and ACR units and do not see a major difference between them. What about an outlet that has a good price, good being cheap! Any help would be much appreciated.

My personal preference is ACR. Cheap EPIRB? To me that's like shopping for a doctor that isn't board certified. (Insert smile icon here)

I guess the real question is how much of an EPIRB do you need for the type of cruising you will do? If you are going to stay insight of land or tied to the dock I wouldn't go crazy with it. If you're going to do some passages off shore you might want to rethink it. The other thing is to REGISTER IT.

The cheapest I've seen about $500 for an ACR or McMurdo. You can even find them on ebay sometimes.

 

[bdewar]

I recently purchased a McMurdo. It has a very flexible antena. You can bend it double and it is stored that way. I purchased from Safety First in St Aug. FL. My other EPIRB had a broken ant. needed a new battery and did not send the GPS cordinates with the distress call.

 

[thoward]

We went with a McMurdo PLB. The difference in the epirb and the PLB is after 5 years the battery of the epirb has to work for 48 hours the PLB 24 hours. The PLB needs to be held above water where the Epirb will float. An epirb stays with the boat whereas the PLB can go to other boats.

 

[No Hurry]

Make sure you read up on the operating characteristics, some of the personal epirbs won't transmit well if the ant. isn't manually unfolded. They also won't float on their own with the ant. in the upright position. This might or might not be a concern depending on what your expectations are. I went the ACR globlefix II. This unit has internal gps and will float with the ant in the upright position. It also will auto activate if it is gets wet and is out of it's bracket. It will not auto activate if it gets wet while in the bracket.

I initially was looking at the ACR 406 aqua fix PLB, but after reading about it's limitations ( ant needs to be unfolded for best reception and must be held in the upright position) I decided in an emergency situation those were things I didn't want to have to worry about.

I went with the Cat II (cat I will auto activate and deploy from bracket if it submerges below 13 feet) because at the time I purchased it I was boating on a foam filled center console that wouldn't/shouldn't fully sink. If I were purchasing today I would get the Cat I for my Hatt. (and still might get one)

I think the PLB's are a good "Personal" epirb. An item you carry in you own bag as a supplement to the boat's primary epirb, or if you boat with various other people on different boats and want to carry your own. But every offshore vessel should have a primary Cat I or II mounted epirb.

In my opinion, the diff in price of the PLB (aprox $500 -$600) vs. a cat I or Cat II ($800 -$1100), is a non-isuue. You should buy one based on your use and needs, not price. If you cant afford an EPIRB, you don't need to be boating offshore (in my humble opinion).

I'll get off my soapbox now, but I think too many people spend gobs of money on boats and boating gadgets for pleasure and comfort, then nickel and dime the safety equipment.

Just ask yourself: If your boat was sinking 100 miles offshore, what would you give for a device that would call the coast guard and give them you exact position every few minutes for 48 hours?

Just my thoughts,
Benjy

 

[Bob Bradley]

Whichever you settle on check out the Life Raft and Survival Equipment company in Portsmouthm RI (1 (800) 451-2127). After buying mine online for the best price I could find, I discovered them to be $35 less for the same model.

 

[TomT13]

Bob,

Thank you for the contact. When I said "Cheap" I meant priced well. Sorry for the confusion! I do fish offshore and my current epirb is out of date. Maybe I should have said "a fair price or maybe competitive price"? But thank you all for your comments and useful information.

Tom