Technology That Helps Us Stay Safe

Are you an avid hiker? Hiking with the whole family can be a lot of fun, given that you are well prepared. So besides the usual: water, snacks and bug repellent you may want to consider some hi-tech devices to keep you safe and on track. This could be very important if you are planning a longer hike, canoe trip or wilderness camping with your kids.

Let’s just imagine that wonderful trail in the mountains suddenly ends and you just cannot find your way back, or a canoe trip where you keep paddling happily all day long just to discover that you actually went in the opposite direction than planned and now there is no camping site in sight. It happens. Now you may have to spend the night in the woods without any proper equipment (watch the video on basic survival skills) and it could get really scary and uncomfortable for the little ones. Brrrr... I can’t even imagine.

You know that it happens but when you are with your kids you just can’t take a chance like this.

So unless you plan to keep close to the campground, you could use some modern technology to keep safe and on track. The obvious piece of equipment is a Portable GPS . It can pinpoint your location at any given time and give you proper directions to your destination. Just as it is useful while driving, it could be just as invaluable when hiking or canoeing.

Another useful hi-tech system is SPOT Satellite Messenger . SPOT is a safety beacon that is both light and small in size and can be used around the world. It can be used to send your (or your child's) coordinates from GPS satellite network to your list of contacts: your friends and family. It also sends a pre-programmed message. If you want it may send your coordinates every 10-minutes automatically for someone to track your location in real-time.
In case of emergency it will call 911 number, which in fact is GEOS International Response Center, which in turn would notify an appropriate emergency personnel (this could be the police, coast guard, embassy etc.) with your co-ordinates. The peace of mind it gives may really be worth its price.

A totally new device PN-60w  from DeLorme Ltd. has just be launched at the Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which combines a GPS with SPOT Satellite Communicator. It is a handheld device, which will enable sending personalized messages, just like the BlackBerry, from almost anywhere, even out of range of regular cell phones. It will become available to the public in spring of 2010, but is available fo pre-order.

Imagine that. Now you can have a BlackBerry to send messages from any remote location around the world.