lustyd
Well-known member
I did and several pictures show the device floating in the water. Perhaps it will work fully automatically but it’s safer to assume it won’t and have a plan to address that.
Do PLBs ...save lives....regularly...? Or...?
- Thread starter Tippy2024
- Start date
Petertheking1982
Active member
'Life Jacket Integration
The PLB3 is designed to install within a life jacket and activate upon inflation of the jacket (semi-automatic). Installation is made simple using the included oral inflation tube clip to attach the PLB3 to the life jacket with a ribbon connected around the bladder of the life jacket. Once correctly installed, the action of the life jacket inflating triggers deployment of the antenna and activation of the beacon.'
Looks good to me.
The PLB3 is designed to install within a life jacket and activate upon inflation of the jacket (semi-automatic). Installation is made simple using the included oral inflation tube clip to attach the PLB3 to the life jacket with a ribbon connected around the bladder of the life jacket. Once correctly installed, the action of the life jacket inflating triggers deployment of the antenna and activation of the beacon.'
Looks good to me.
lustyd
Well-known member
I didn’t say it didn’t look good. There’s nothing there to suggest it will be successful in all conditions or that it works with all life jackets. Quite the contrary, the videos are littered with disclaimers and caveats.
graham
Well-known member
By coincidence my vhf started making alarming noises a few months back the screen gave me bearing and distance to the " casualty "who it transpired had accidently activated their plb (Hard to see how )
I sail single handed a lot and have a plb attached to my lifejacket. The thought of bobbing around in my lifejacket with no means of raising the alarm isnt nice.
I sail single handed a lot and have a plb attached to my lifejacket. The thought of bobbing around in my lifejacket with no means of raising the alarm isnt nice.
lustyd
Well-known member
We’ve had this on every sail in the Solent last year. It was people on ships testing devices. Unfortunately it’s so regular I now just hit cancel to shut the thing up, making these devices less useful in busy waters. The trade off there is that in such busy waters a casualty didn’t really need the device in the first place so likely won’t change the outcome.
Mark-1
Well-known member
Well yeah, and I always tell myself that, but then sometimes it's 5am on rainy day or at night in Winter and I realize that there are times even in the most crowded waters where a rescue before exposure gets me is not going to be as simple as hailing down a passing boat.
HH VHF and mobile cover it, but they're bulky.
Sandy
Well-known member
A plan to address that is ideal if you have a high Glasgow Coma Score, not so if your score is low.
The device is designed to operate with an unconscious wearer of a lifejacket, can you show me any other device that comes anywhere close to what the PLB3 does?
lustyd
Well-known member
All I’m saying is it’s not fool proof and it’s better to have a plan. At no point have I criticised the device or design yet you seem rather put out by my suggestion that it’s not foolproof. If you’re happy to rely on marketing to save you then go ahead. For me, I understand that low powered space comms don’t work with the antenna in the water so any kind of waves and you’ll need to hold it up.
RunAgroundHard
Well-known member
Understanding how things work is core to reducing risk. However, we also need to be careful about applying controls to risk, upon risk, the sum of probabilities, as low probable events can get obscured by layered what ifs.
Threads like these produce lots of stuff to ponder and think about.
Threads like these produce lots of stuff to ponder and think about.
ylop
Well-known member
Is it easy to cancel? I’m just thinking I’ve been through enough rearming kits in my sailing lifetime to buy a PLB3 but never been in distress… one of them I wasn’t wearing the time!
lustyd
Well-known member
No. On the device you press and hold the button to turn it off, but then the phone calls start…
Better a false alarm than a corpse though.
ylop
Well-known member
But no other distress mechanism will work if you are not conscious enough either? This one might, it has a feedback loop so if you are compus mentus you will know you’ve done enough.
lustyd
Well-known member
Yes I agree, I never said otherwise.
ylop
Well-known member
Whilst false alarms remain rare that is fine, when they become common enough for distress responses to be delayed so they can verify if it’s someone who’s fallen off a pontoon or actually just a LJ in a locker then it might not be ideal - I guess what surprised me was the trigger is LJ inflation alone rather than needing to be wet too.
lustyd
Well-known member
And imagine the fun you’d have triggering it without letting the LJ off
I think their trigger makes a lot of sense and looks like it’ll work well enough.
I wasn’t commenting on false alarms, just highlighting that although it’s easy enough to turn off the device, you will then need to have a conversation with at least one MRCC and probably some follow up paperwork so they can track these things. Same as if someone says mayday on VHF in the Solent, the CG will happily spend a few hours finding them and taking down their details. The question was whether it’s easy to cancel and realistically the answer is no, even more so if you’re out of phone range.
Mark-1
Well-known member
Sounds like false alarms are not rare, they're overwhelmingly more likely than real calls. Hence the achilies heel of PLBs if you want a fast rescue.
Mark-1
Well-known member
Tippy2024
Member
Fellas!!
I think I have the answer...??
The......All-in-One !
?
sMRT Shield+
sMRT Shield+ = DSC, AIS, 406 and the other other one...! Plus..RLS ...and enough RAM memory to load on your personal 10 Desert Island Discs!
Views?
I think I have the answer...??
The......All-in-One !
?
sMRT Shield+
sMRT Shield+ = DSC, AIS, 406 and the other other one...! Plus..RLS ...and enough RAM memory to load on your personal 10 Desert Island Discs!
Views?
Tranona
Well-known member
Does not answer the question you originally posed which was about whether PLBs feature in callouts to rescue MOBs. Adding additional features over existing devices MAY make this one more effective IF it is used.
Tippy2024
Member
Indeedy.
Yes, i did digress on my own topic...but all the other posts got me muddled up.
The RNLI man was the wise voice i think.. He said that there were situations were a PLB would have made the difference in loss of lives.
But i also stated in my post that i was getting a PLB.. and this seems the best choice.
Other threads that may be of interest
