Re: cell phones, GPS, etc

[Susan Evans Garlinghouse <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>]

Dolores Arste wrote:
 Does anyone make a emergency beacon that can be
> carried? I usually ride alone and it used to be that if I didn't return at
> a reasonable time, I could depend on my husband to call out the troops.
> Now, he's been sent to never-never land to work and I still need to train.
> Fear has set in that I'll be dumped and never found. We are mostly out of
> cell phone range so any help would be appreciated. This may seem like an
> irrational fear, but about 15 years ago, I was dumped. 

This is not irrational fear, this is being sensible and prepared for
eventualities.  REI carries an emergency strobe that runs on batteries
and will flash once every 15 seconds for several days, or it will flash
more often for a shorter period (or you could carry spare batteries). 
This little sucker is BRIGHT.  I don't remember the exact price, but it
was very reasonable, I think about $12.  It's quite small and light and
fits nicely into my fanny pack, along with assorted other S**t-Happens
supplies.  It was suggested to me that you carry the batteries
separately from the strobe so that it doesn't accidentally get turned on
and batteries worn out while in the pack.  I always carry it on ME (as
opposed to on the horse) whenever I go riding into the boonies.

A few weeks ago there was a story on the news here in L.A. about an
injured hiker that spent a very cold, wet night up in the local
mountains looking at the lights of L.A. because his cell phone didn't
reach out of the canyon where he'd twisted his ankle.  The local SAR
found him the next day, but I'll bet next time he carries something more
than a cell phone that may or may not work when you need it.

Susan Garlinghouse