Fastfind or Rescue 406?

[Novice]

I am considering buying an EPIRB. The McMurdo units got a pretty good write up in PBO last year, and so these are the favourites at present. The Rescue 406 comes with a bracket and strobe, but needs to be sent away for battery replacement, hopefully after 5 years of inactivity except testing at specified intervals. By all accounts the cost of this is fierce, up to 50% of the purchase price.

In contrast, the FastFind uses the same electronics as the Rescue 406, but does not come with strobe and bracket, but has a user replaceable battery, meaning much lower cost of ownership (and the purchase price is less).

So, I can forgo the strobe and bracket, and buy a Fastfind, or pay more up front, and every time the battery needs replacing for the Rescue. I'm inclined to the former, but what would you do?

Jon

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[Talbot]

you seem to have decided on the Mcmurdo, but there are alternatives, and I would recommend a visit to <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.sartech.co.uk/products_list.asp?id=4&strLevel1=epirbs&strLevel2=epirbscategoryII>here</A> to check out the alternatives (and the prices seem pretty good as well) /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

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[StephenSails]

Hi,

The fastfind is a very popular product with us, one of the main reasons is that it is so compact. Also if you have a transportable VHF license you can carry the unit on your person possibly in a lifejacket if you ever wanted to go sailing on someone elses boat for instance.

ACR also make very good EPIRBs and the basic version equivilant to the McMurdo Rescue EPIRB is more compact and also comes free with RapidDitch bag which is worth about £60!

I personally would always go for the Fastfind and if you stump a little bit more go for the Plus version with in built GPS!!

Cheers

Stephen

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[MartinGPerry]

Before buying McMurdo check this out...
http://www.equipped.org/406_beacon_test_summary.htm


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[LadyInBed]

That report makes me wonder if the version with built in GPS is worth the extra cash.

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[Novice]

As a thick novice sailor, am I right in thinking that this test report details the GPS position fixing abilities of the EPIRBS tested, and not their ability to send a distress signal to the satellites for onward transmission to the search and rescue coordination centre?

From what I read, it appears that the only epirbs tested were the ones with an internal GPS or a GPS interface, and it was the GPS performance of the McMurdo which was a problem. I would have thought that if the distress alerting function was problematic, then this would have been shouted from the rooftops.

Jon


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[LadyInBed]

You are right, hence my post. Is worth the extra for a built in iffy GPS?

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