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Base price · 22-09-2020 6:50pm #1

Hi, I'm looking for information about what type of plb to buy for my son.

Background info - he is based in Galway, kayak fishes with a friend both at sea and in fresh water. He also sea fishes from rocks. He has a vhf hand held radio. He has a sea survival course done as he is required to have it when he was working on the marine research vessels - Celtic Explorer and Voyager.

He says that a plb is a instrument of last resort but tbh I want to get him one for my own piece of mind.

Thanks in advance.

AndyBoBandy · 22-09-2020 6:54pm

Base price wrote: »

Hi, I'm looking for information about what type of plb to buy for my son.

Background info - he is based in Galway, kayak fishes with a friend both at sea and in fresh water. He also sea fishes from rocks. He has a vhf hand held radio. He has a sea survival course done as he is required to have it when he was working on the marine research vessels - Celtic Explorer and Voyager.

He says that a plb is a instrument of last resort but tbh I want to get him one for my own piece of mind.

Thanks in advance.

Go for an Ocean Signal PLB1. They are the smallest PLB in terms of form factor, and considered a fairly good unit. I’ve mine 2 years now and thankfully haven’t had to use it.....

Marine Parts Direct sell them.

https://marineparts.ie/ocean-signal-plb1-the-worlds-smallest-plb/

Base price · 22-09-2020 7:14pm

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

Go for an Ocean Signal PLB1. They are the smallest PLB in terms of form factor, and considered a fairly good unit. I’ve mine 2 years now and thankfully haven’t had to use it.....

Marine Parts Direct sell them.

https://marineparts.ie/ocean-signal-plb1-the-worlds-smallest-plb/

Thank you for your quick response and for the link.

Tom44 · 22-09-2020 9:53pm

I use a SMARTFIND, but haven't tried it out :eek:

https://www.chmarine.com/mcmurdo-fastfind-220-plb/

https://www.outsidepursuits.com/best-personal-locator-beacon/

kirving · 22-09-2020 9:59pm

Base price wrote: »

He says that a plb is a instrument of last resort but tbh I want to get him one for my own piece of mind.

Just like a bike helmet or an airbag is an instrument of last resort, but a good idea all the same.

There are unfortunately too many people who I'm sure wish they had a PLB. Great foresight to get him one, and in all likelihood will never be needed, but when you want it, nothing else will do.

AndyBoBandy · 22-09-2020 10:03pm

One thing I would also advise OP is to buy the PLB from an Irish retailer as a U.K. bought one will be preprogrammed to be set up with the U.K. body (OFCOM?), whereas Irish purchased PLB’s will be preset to be set up with Irish authorities.

(I may have the wording on that incorrect, but they are sold to be country specific I believe)

Tabnabs · 23-09-2020 11:52am

Where do you keep the PLB; in a pocket, or hanging up in the boat, or? Just wondering how portable they are on a small boat?

AndyBoBandy · 23-09-2020 12:59pm

Tabnabs wrote: »

Where do you keep the PLB; in a pocket, or hanging up in the boat, or? Just wondering how portable they are on a small boat?

On board my boat, it's at the nav station, in it's floating pouch clipped onto the chart table light in full view. Although its not an EPIRB, I treat it as such for the boat because;
A. I'll always be on board the boat when it puts to sea, and;
B. For the foreseeable future, my cruising grounds will be mainly Irish Sea coastal waters, so the shortened operating period (~24 hours as opposed to an EPIRB's ~72 hours) of a PLB I deem to be sufficient for my needs.

When I was on passage 2 years ago from The Solent bringing the boat home to Dublin, it was only myself & a delivery skipper, so when I was on watch I kept the PLB attached to me.

Tom44 · 23-09-2020 9:53pm

I carry mine on my belt, where it can't fall off, unlike me. :eek:

No point in waving to it sailing off into the sunset if I'm overboard.
I often boat alone. (Locally)

If I'm aboard, I've flairs, VHF and phone.

Essential to be carried on ones person if at risk.

I know of mountaineers who use them too.

Daibheid · 02-11-2020 2:17pm

Tabnabs wrote: »

Where do you keep the PLB; in a pocket, or hanging up in the boat, or? Just wondering how portable they are on a small boat?

I wear it on its lanyard round my neck. First of all it's pretty useless if it's not on your person, even if you're not solo. If you as skipper go overboard the crew should be putting all effort into returning to recover you. If they're unsuccessful ( visibility/tide/conditions), activating your PLB may happen late and make it much harder to estimate whereabouts. If you've never seen a dive boat struggle to find divers in open water you might not believe how far off target a boat will be after some disorganised searching and false sightings.

Second, wearing it on my belt means I can't readily get at it if I'm in the water hanging from my buoyancy jacket. Water pressure may even make it impossible to access without undoing the BA or LJ!
Furthermore I risk losing my grip on it moving it from the belt pouch up to the surface and my face to activate it.
Think adrenalin/cold/shock/fright/etc
The lanyard round my neck means it's not trapped under layers of gear and I can get at it with no risk of losing it. If I add layers under way, it's still easy to access.
Note these things don't transmit underwater and are unlikely to get a GPS fix attached to a belt under water.
I did think about attaching it to the belt on my buoyancy jacket where my personal VHF sits because it'd be harder to forget but anything on there takes an occasional knock. It's easy to ensure the VHF is working , not so the PLB.
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Base price · 06-05-2021 9:25pm

Just an update - I didn't buy a plb for youngest as shortly after my op he applied for a job in Scotland which thankfully he got. He is now recently based there but I still want to get him one which I understand has to be a UK preprogrammed one. I was talking to him about it during the week but he was saying that the automatic ones aren't suitable for kayak fishing cause your always getting wet between water spray and rain. Originally I was going to buy him this one https://marineparts.ie/ocean-signal-plb1-the-worlds-smallest-plb/

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

AndyBoBandy · 06-05-2021 9:51pm

Base price wrote: »

Just an update - I didn't buy a plb for youngest as shortly after my op he applied for a job in Scotland which thankfully he got. He is now recently based there but I still want to get him one which I understand has to be a UK preprogrammed one. I was talking to him about it during the week but he was saying that the automatic ones aren't suitable for kayak fishing cause your always getting wet between water spray and rain. Originally I was going to buy him this one https://marineparts.ie/ocean-signal-plb1-the-worlds-smallest-plb/

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

The Ocean Signal one you’ve linked (same one I have) is not automatic. It needs to be manually activated.

I know that some EPIRB’s can be automatic in that if the boat goes down, they’ll auto release, float away and activate, but I don’t believe PLB’s do this (certainly not the Ocean Signal PLB1 anyway).

Base price · 06-05-2021 10:23pm

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

The Ocean Signal one you’ve linked (same one I have) is not automatic. It needs to be manually activated.

I know that some EPIRB’s can be automatic in that if the boat goes down, they’ll auto release, float away and activate, but I don’t believe PLB’s do this (certainly not the Ocean Signal PLB1 anyway).

Apologies, I should have explained better that the Ocean Signal plb (as above link) isn't automatic but it does seem to be suitable for kayak fishing. I was looking for other alternatives to compare.

pullandbang · 21-12-2021 8:19pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117096499#Comment_117096499

Think I kayak fish with your youngest :-)

Ubbquittious · 30-12-2021 11:55am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/114700867#Comment_114700867

I bought one from UK retailer and had to send it back to one when they realised they f'd up and programmed it for UK. Got it sorted though.

Base price · 30-12-2021 9:46pm

I should have updated my op but I didn't cause I lost my posts when Boards went to feck last year due to the upgrade. I bought him the Ocean Signal RescueMe PLB1 from Gael Force Marine in Inverness which he collected.

He came home a couple of weeks ago to spend Christmas with family and friends (clear Covid tests) with the kayak on the roof rack to do a bit of lake and sea fishing. I got worried that the UK registered RescueMe wouldn't work here but he said that it does due to the CTA.

Base price · 30-12-2021 9:48pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118357885#Comment_118357885

Here or there?

pullandbang · 31-12-2021 1:44pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118393180#Comment_118393180

If it's the same person it's here now, as he's back home for a bit :-)

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