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Honestly, isn't it well known that if you go hiking you should carry a PLB? Especially now that some are cheaper than hiking boots? https://www.rei.com/c/plbs-

• stewx 4y ago
  No, these are not a requirement to go hiking. Let's not make people think they need to spend hundreds of dollars to go for a walk in the woods. No doubt, satellite communication devices are useful but people have been hiking and surviving outdoors for millennia without them.
  • marcyb5st 4y ago
    In my opinion if you go hiking where you suspect that there's no phone signal you should have one. I agree that perhaps always having them is too much (even if once you have one they don't add much weight to your pack).
• cykros 4y ago
  They're a lot more widely used amongst long distance backpackers, particularly on multi day or week section or thru hikes. This guy set out on what sounds like it would have been a day hike (I'd expect, given the distance, and the <gallon of water he brought). Given that he was setting out for what he thought was a moderate trail, I'm not in the slightest surprised he didn't have one. Though yes, when I saw the headline, I was trying to figure out how his InReach managed to spark a forest fire...then I saw that he literally was TRYING to set a whole tree on fire. This is just plain stupid. He got his life rescued, and his lesson.