Just arrived my new McMurdo Pains Wessex Fastfind Plus 406MHz PLB (Personal Locating Beacon) and Dive Canister This PLB transmits in 406MHz band (COSPAS-SARSAT), 121.5MHz band (homing signal) and a GPS location accurate to 100yd range. It came with a lifetime battery replacement offer from the manufacturer and the battery can be replaced by the user every 5 yrs.
The 406MHz band is better than the old 121.5MHz homing band ‘cause the satellite receivers for the 121.5MHz band are going to be shut down in Feb 1/2009 and only aircrafts and watercrafts equipped with 121.5MHz receivers are going to be able to pick and monitor this band (Search And Rescue or SAR agencies). Also in 2003, it was legislated that in the US, the 406MHz band can be used in land, making this device more versatile for land expeditions to remote areas.
Since this PLB is water proof to a depth of 15ft, I could have chosen to leave the PLB at the surface with the surface float, but I decided that such an expensive piece of safety gear should be with me at all times during the dive, minimizing the chance of it getting lost if the float line gets severed for any reason (when Murphy hits you, hits you multiple times). So I also got the 150m depth rated Dive Canister specifically designed for this PLB. I got to admit that it hurt me a lot, like a kick in the groin, to buy the Dive Canister, in my opinion, it’s a rip-off to pay $250.00 for a piece of anodized machined aluminum with 2 o-rings, but better safe than sorry.
This device isn’t for every diver, but for Open Ocean divers where there’s no land reference nearby, it could prove life saving in the event that you surface and find no boat near you for whatever reason (remember the silly movie open water). This device, isn’t intended to replace common sense, good planning, experience, safety procedures and gear like SSD (safety sausage), mirror, Dive Alert, dye, flares, strobes, ect. It’s intended to supplement all the above and should only be activated in a life threatening situation, and as a last resort option when all attempts of a normal rescue have been done. Intentional false alarms and hoax calls carry a hefty $250,000.00 fine, some jail time and restitution of all costs incurred by the responding agencies. Accidental activations have an established protocol that should be done in order to save valuable resources that may be needed in a real emergency and avoid the fines.
This is one of those expensive gadgets that you wish to never need to use, but will be glad you have it if the sheet hits the fan.
New Chicken Switch 
