EPIRB or PLB?

[Dockhead]

Why on earth should ultimate battery life have any bearing on the matter? Do you intend being in the water for 5 or 6 years? Read my explanation. The two devices serve different but related purposes. In coastal waters an EPIRB has little or no advantage over a DSC radio. Offshore it is the most practical way of alerting rescue services. The PLB as its name implies is a personal device intended to locate a person in the water.

So no, they do not do the same thing although they use the same technology. If they were interchangeable then only one product would be offered, the other would be redundant.

You will see from other replies that people make different choices dependent on their needs, and of course many boats will have both.

With respect, I think you are confusing what they are intended for with what they are.

You correctly describe what they marketed for, but EPIRBs and PLBs are in fact the very same devices which are, to a great extent, interchangeable. EPIRBs are the larger versions with larger batteries, and must meet a different standard of battery life -- 48 hours instead of 24 hours for PLBs. The larger size of EPIRBs also means that less compromise is required in the antenna design, so it's possible that the data will be transmitted more reliably. You may buy a hydrostatic release bracket for an EPIRB, which will activate and release the device automatically in case your boat sinks suddenly. Another difference is not in the device, but the way they are registered -- EPIRB to the vessel, and PLB to the individual. But other than that, they are exactly the same devices, and many sailors, including me, use a PLB instead of an EPIRB, as it's cheaper, and you can keep it on your person.

In coastal waters, neither device is overwhelmingly useful, as a DSC distress call over VHF will get a much faster response (the protocol for processing an EPIRB/PLB distress signal is more complicated and takes more time). A PLB is not such a good MOB device because of the response time issue, but it's certainly better than nothing. A much better bet for MOB in coastal waters would be a personal AIS SART beacon like the Kannad SafeLink, which unlike a PLB will instantaneously and directly communicate the casualty's position to the boat he fell off of, and other vessels around. If you lose a man overboard with a PLB, you will get position information only after some time, and only relayed by the Coast Guard.

But still, I think at least one PLB is worth having on board -- if you end up in the life raft, for example, without having had time to get off a DSC distress call, you will be glad for it. For crossing oceans, surely most sailors will want a full-sized EPIRB.

 

[Dockhead]

If my boat has sunk, then I hope I've managed to evacuate to the liferaft. If things happened so fast that I couldn't get at the liferaft and the attached grab-bag, would I have managed to get a (manual) EPIRB instead?

Once we're in the liferaft, the next step is to initiate a rescue. A handheld VHF isn't going to work unless there's someone quite nearby, flares likewise (actually the nominal range of a parachute flare is greater than a handheld), and visual signalling with a sun mirror or a strobe light is less reliable still. I have all of those things in my grab bag (belt and braces...) but the primary means of summoning help is the PLB. I can't see a problem with holding it while sitting in a raft.

A huge advantage of a PLB, maybe an overwhelming advantage, is you have it on your person, which means there is much less risk that you will end up in the liferaft without it, compared to an EPIRB. I keep mine lanyarded inside my life jacket.

I might buy an EPIRB for an Atlantic crossing I might do later this year, but I would only want an EPIRB in addition to and not instead of a PLB. A PLB does virtually everything an EPIRB does, but an EPIRB does not do a couple of things PLB's do, which will be pretty important to some people -- namely being with you if you go overboard, and being sure to be with you if you abandon.

 

[prv]

Another difference is not in the device, but the way they are registered -- EPIRB to the vessel, and PLB to the individual.

I agree with everything you said - except this bit.

As far as I can tell, there is zero difference in how Falmouth registers an EPIRB versus a PLB. The form is the same, there is no box to tick for EPIRB / PLB, and since their use on land became legal (for walkers in remote areas etc) I've heard of mountaineers puzzled as to what they should put in the "vessel name" field for their PLB.

For mine, I used the general "notes" field to mention that it's a PLB and, although it's usually on the boat whose details are on the form, it's possible that I have taken it to use elsewhere. If I hadn't written that, there would be no way to tell from the database (they send you a printout of your entry) that it's a PLB.

Pete

 

[Dockhead]

I agree with everything you said - except this bit.

As far as I can tell, there is zero difference in how Falmouth registers an EPIRB versus a PLB. The form is the same, there is no box to tick for EPIRB / PLB, and since their use on land became legal (for walkers in remote areas etc) I've heard of mountaineers puzzled as to what they should put in the "vessel name" field for their PLB.

For mine, I used the general "notes" field to mention that it's a PLB and, although it's usually on the boat whose details are on the form, it's possible that I have taken it to use elsewhere. If I hadn't written that, there would be no way to tell from the database (they send you a printout of your entry) that it's a PLB.

Pete

I stand corrected! My PLB is registered in the States, where this difference does exist. Now I know it's not true in the UK; thanks.

 

[Buck Turgidson]

I stand corrected! My PLB is registered in the States, where this difference does exist. Now I know it's not true in the UK; thanks.

It's similar here in Switzerland too where PLBs are more popular than EPIRBs for obvious reasons.

 

[JimC]

... a DSC distress call over VHF will get a much faster response ...

If that's the case wouldn't a waterproof handheld vhf with built-in DSC be a better option for coastal sailing? provided you kept it securely attached to your person of course.

 

[prv]

I stand corrected! My PLB is registered in the States, where this difference does exist.

That's interesting. I'd always wondered why people (in the UK) keep asserting that PLBs are registered to the person and EPIRBs to the vessel, despite it being manifestly untrue and obvious to anyone who's ever registered one. Clearly those people have just been regurgitating US websites.

(Registering them differently probably would be sensible, along with other improvements like being able to update contact info directly, having a different set of fields for land-based beacons - and not taking six months to send the acknowledgement letter. But I'm describing what we have, not what we'd like.)

Pete

 

[Buck Turgidson]

If that's the case wouldn't a waterproof handheld vhf with built-in DSC be a better option for coastal sailing? provided you kept it securely attached to your person of course.

This would be my choice. I would add a sat phone and plb for ocean as I know they work. There is a good argument for a sat phone being as if not more useful than an EPIRB/PLB when accompanied by a DSC VHF.

 

[GrahamM376]

That's interesting. I'd always wondered why people (in the UK) keep asserting that PLBs are registered to the person and EPIRBs to the vessel, despite it being manifestly untrue and obvious to anyone who's ever registered one. Clearly those people have just been regurgitating US websites.

(Registering them differently probably would be sensible, along with other improvements like being able to update contact info directly, having a different set of fields for land-based beacons - and not taking six months to send the acknowledgement letter. But I'm describing what we have, not what we'd like.)

Pete

When I phoned to register our PLB, I was given the option of personal or vessel registration and told they would still keep the out of date EPIRB on record until such time as I tell them to remove it - when self test fails due to battery expired.

 

[KellysEye]

> There is a good argument for a sat phone

We carried a satphone just for an emergency, if you only want it for that then you don't need to buy airtime because the emergency number is free.

 

[Dockhead]

If that's the case wouldn't a waterproof handheld vhf with built-in DSC be a better option for coastal sailing? provided you kept it securely attached to your person of course.

I agree! I would be the first to buy a very compact DSC handheld with non-rechargeable lithium batteries. However, such a thing does not yet exist. I have a SH HX851 which is far too bulky to always have on your person; plus you have to keep it charged.

Ideally, I think what we woukd all like to have on our persons is:

1. PLB
2. AIS personal SART beacon
3. DSC handheld.

Wouldn't it be cool if someone would make a single compact device with all these functions? I doubt that it would present the slightest technical challenge.

 

[JimC]

... I have a SH HX851 which is far too bulky to always have on your person....

Is it really? I should have thought one would fit in the hip pocket of a sailing jacket with the aerial sticking through a gap in the zip? I ask because I was thinking of buying one.

 

[lustyd]

Is it really? I should have thought one would fit in the hip pocket of a sailing jacket with the aerial sticking through a gap in the zip? I ask because I was thinking of buying one.

No they really are massive. If you want something to be with you buy a PLB if you want a handheld radio buy the 851. It is a great radio and I highly recommend it.

 

[boomerangben]

I agree! I would be the first to buy a very compact DSC handheld with non-rechargeable lithium batteries. However, such a thing does not yet exist. I have a SH HX851 which is far too bulky to always have on your person; plus you have to keep it charged.

Ideally, I think what we woukd all like to have on our persons is:

1. PLB
2. AIS personal SART beacon
3. DSC handheld.

Wouldn't it be cool if someone would make a single compact device with all these functions? I doubt that it would present the slightest technical challenge.

And a day/night flare

 

[FishyInverness]

Ideally, I think what we woukd all like to have on our persons is:

1. PLB
2. AIS personal SART beacon
3. DSC handheld.

Wouldn't it be cool if someone would make a single compact device with all these functions? I doubt that it would present the slightest technical challenge.

Other than the regulatory one! Combination signalling devices would need to get type approval, considering the kerfuffle it took to get Porable DSC approved for use in the UK, I would say this one is a long way off

Dockhead/lusty, I agree the HX851e has bricklike proportions, but have you tried ICOM's offering, the M91D? Certainly a lot slimmer, although the height and width don't have much reduction, it's still there, and it is definitely a slimmer depth. Also has the MOB button so that if you're *not* the one that went overboard, you can at least hit the button and have a track back to that point....