Travel Safely, Be Prepared, Carry a PLB or better.

[MudRunnerTD]

Here is a post I found in a Vic High Country Group on Facebook and had to share it here. A great reminder from the guys in the sky.

Hello everyone. Thanks for allowing me to join your group.

Having had a gentle peruse through recent posts I can see a large number of people are wanting to take in the high country to enjoy the winterscape this season.
I’m an avid 4x4er and camping enthusiast in my time away from work. My work has me as one of the states (Victoria) airborne search and rescue assets. We’ve had quite a few calls/rescues in the last couple of weeks with people being unprepared and subsequently getting vehicles stuck. Not only the unprepared, but the prepared (if you can call them that) are also getting themselves into trouble.

Reason for my post is to highlight the importance of taking suitable comms with you up there. When I say suitable, I’m referring to satellite comms.
At a bare minimum please buy/take a PLB. Mobile phone coverage is not always available and with a stuck vehicle, people are walking hours in unfavorable weather conditions to find reception. This is where a seemingly basic situation becomes life threatening.
The best sat comm I can recommend are the ‘Communicators’ like the Garmin inReach. You may not require emergency services because you’re stuck and can message people/loved ones to seek help.

With a PLB we can fly to within a handful of meters of your location, without one, we can spend days looking for you and in so many cases, never find you.

We spend thousands on 4x4 modifications, for just a few hundred dollars you can ensure you’re fully prepared. If your heading up to the high country this winter, fully prepared means having a PLB at a minimum, a Communicator as ideal or a Sat phone in the perfect world.

I don’t wish to offend or scare (too much) anyone but I see first hand how family’s lives are ripped apart because a loved one perished in the bush when a couple hundred $$$’s would have seen them reunited with their family.

Enjoy the the beauty of a white high country everyone. It truly is a beautiful place.

Stay safe.