McMurdo FastFind 220 Personal Locator Beacon - Black and Yellow

This is one of those odd purchases that whilst requiring a reasonable outlay of funds you hope you will never have cause to use it. The way to look at it is that it is a small price to pay for the peace of mind that it provides.I hike alone in areas such as the Lake District, Snowdonia, Peak District, Scotland, and on occasions in Europe. I enjoy the peace and solitude of being on my own in the wilds but that does come with risks. While I am confident with a map and compass, do not extend myself beyond my capabilities and am careful of where I venture if the weather is inclement accidents can happen. I have been very aware that if I did suffer an accident in a remote region my situation could be potentially very serious and also life threatening.This device provides a means of contacting the SAR services from anywhere on the globe and as such supplies significant peace of mind, not just for myself but also for my family, in knowing that I have a much improved chance of summoning help should the need ever arise.Do not be put off by the fact that this model is marketed primarily for marine use. Having spoken to the manufacturers about the differences this is exactly the same internally as the Ranger model which is marketed at overland use, and this one is cheaper!A worthwhile purchase for the peace of mind it provides!

Purchased this for peace of mind when my student and I were working on the Greenland Ice sheet far from help. We could have rented a sat phone for less, but my rationale is that if disaster strikes it's much easier to activate this than try to dial for help (maybe with frozen fingers) and try to relay GPS coordinates etc. The unit was thankfully not needed but it has a long battery life (2025) so we can rely on it for future trips at no extra cost. One thing to note: the registration process with Falmouth Coastguard was easy to initiate but took a very long time. I Purchased in May for late July field work and the coastguard registration came though in early November. This is presumably because the coastguard are swamped with registrations now that these units are affordable to the masses. On the plus side, I read that the emergency services will respond to a device even before it's registered (check this yourself before trusting this advice though).

If you leave the shore and take to open water then this plb is a must. It is easy to operate, waterproof and won't sink if you drop it overboard (providing you keep it in it's neoprene buoyancy pouch!) It also came with a very handy bright yellow carry pouch and lanyard so it can be fitted very simply to your life preserver.At this price it was a no brainer for me, less than £200 for the knowledge that if all else fails, I have a reliable backup for dire emergencies. It compliments my inshore flare pack and handheld VHF radio which are my first line of help but what if that fails? VHF only work reliably over a relatively short range and require line of sight, flares are only any good if someone happens to be looking in that direction.No matter why you take to the water, be it kayaking, fishing, sailing of other, keep yourself safe and buy one of these!

Purchased for land-based emergencies, and particularly a skiing trip. A device like this deservedly receives a 5-star rating - but If I have to "eat my words" I may not be able to update this review!! But I do have some reservations, so only a 4-star. So to assess the product itself, it came with a neoprene pouch which assists with floatation. It also came with a bright yellow belt pouch, which secures the FF220 inside a Velcro flap, and there is a closed belt loop on the back. It also came with a replacement cover and screw should the fitted one be used/removed in an emergency. Of course this isn't a toy, and the cover should only be removed in the event of a life-threatening situation.Operation is easy enough. pull up the "red cap" release and pull the whole cap assembly away from the main body. Unfurl the antennae, and press the On button which was previously covered by the safety cap/cover. There are plenty of YouTube demonstrations.On the negative side, it comes fitted with a lanyard. I felt that the nylon cord looped through the FF220 could wear and break after time. Its also a bit short and not easy to fit over a helmet and goggles (so you have to take them off, if you forget to put on your FF220 first).The Test button. OMG its ergonomically useless. Is the round bit in the middle, the test button? is the whole oval shape, the test button? The cartoon drawings in the instruction manual are not very clear. The test button itself is hard to press. A very hard press is required until you hear/feel a "click" and by pressing and holding, this activates the battery test. When attempting a GPS test, the feedback of LED flashes is not clear, according to the supplied booklet. According to the manual, what exactly is a slow flash? Testing the device involves a little "guesswork" in recognising a successful test. Do I really want to be doing this in an emergency situation in the wild? This should be clarified. My last gripe which is not a fault of the FF220, is the registration of the PLB. this can take many weeks (I was quoted 6-10 weeks when I registered online) and although emergency services will still be dispatched to your location if you activate the beacon, some planning is required if you want to make sure it's registered in your name, and also if the home/base country is not your current residence. Registering in your name will help avoid false alarms and the registered owner can be contacted in required. Maybe there is some online guidance to operate this successfully and reliably, but I may not have access to YouTube in the mountains, so this should be clarified in the supplied booklet. I hope I don't have occasion to use it.

The item arrived promptly - you need to register it with the MCA which I did on line and got an acknowledgement back within a few days. If unregistered it will still function but registering gives SAR some additional information which may help them.Of course I cannot rate how well it works and I hope I will never have to test it in anger. One real advantage of this model over some other PLBs on the market is that there is no annual fee. The battery should last for around 6 years but it does need to be returned to the maker for battery replacement.One thing to bear in mind is that the unit is not positively buoyant and needs to be in a buoyancy wrapper which is supplied. One would also need to be conscious to trigger the device and be capable of holding it in the air for transmission.