by Ed » Tue Oct 15, 2013 10:20 am
Glad people's comments are helping.
Regarding the Garmin Etrex 20, I forgot to mention that it is a fairly new model, seems to be selling well, and the price is widely discounted. I'm sure there are plenty of consumer reviews on REI, Amazon, and other websites.
Regarding SPOT's versus PLB's, I have both, but rarely carry the PLB now. Yes, there are very legitimate complaints about SPOT: the customer service, the annual fees, the billing practices. And when they rolled out the SPOT II a few years ago, they had technical problems - I think they were battery problems - that they handled very badly.
But the ability to send an 'OK' message, and a customized message such as 'OK, but running late' are very valuable. They not only reduce stress levels at home, they may deter people at home from triggering an SAR operation that is unnecessary, embarassing, and expensive. For example, you could find yourself in a situation where the wise thing to do is hunker down for the night, but you can walk out on your own when daylight comes. If you have a PLB rather than a SPOT, you can't send a reassuring message home, and may be inclined to blunder your way down in the dark.
Regarding reliability, I accept the opinion of experts that PLB's are more reliable. But I've sent many SPOT messages, every one has been received, and this seems to be the experience of most users.