FastFind 210 GPS PLB

[potty dock]

West Marine has them on sale, are they any good? Price sounds good, just don't know the product., Thanks

[Fish'nFool]

Yes, they are great little units and the best bank for the buck out there in the EPIRB/PLB market. The only downside to the unit is that it does not float on it's own, but they make a case for it that floats or you can hook it up to a lanyard. Check BOE's site for a price before you buy at WM.

[23Dorado]

ACR is based in Ft. Lauderdale and McMurdo is U.K.

I'd rather support a U.S. based company but that's just me.......but any PLB is better than not having one.

[potty dock]

Originally Posted by Fish'nFool

Yes, they are great little units and the best bank for the buck out there in the EPIRB/PLB market. The only downside to the unit is that it does not float on it's own, but they make a case for it that floats or you can hook it up to a lanyard. Check BOE's site for a price before you buy at WM.

Thanks for the quick reply, as I was fixing to pull the trigger. I'll check Jim's price now. Thanks again! I go for best bang for the buck kinda thing. Not so much for more than you need kinda guy!

[Chingator]

I purchased one from Jim along with the floating pouch ( it comes with a yellow and black pouch by the way ). It seems to be a nice little unit, pretty compact and the construction seems solid and durable.

[triumphrick]

Originally Posted by Chingator

I purchased one from Jim along with the floating pouch ( it comes with a yellow and black pouch by the way ). It seems to be a nice little unit, pretty compact and the construction seems solid and durable.

We also bought from Jim last month. Got the floating pouch also. The unit has a 5 yr battery life at which time it can be sent in and replaced...probably a do-it-yourself but maybe they test it as well...and as mentioned, better than no emergency device at all....

[potty dock]

Originally Posted by Fish'nFool

Yes, they are great little units and the best bank for the buck out there in the EPIRB/PLB market. The only downside to the unit is that it does not float on it's own, but they make a case for it that floats or you can hook it up to a lanyard. Check BOE's site for a price before you buy at WM.

Is there a big difference between EPIRB and PLB? don;t they basicly do the same thing? Maybe I need an EPIRB instead? Fish 40 to 50 miles of north west fla's gulf coast. I thought they were basicly the same thing. Just don't wan't to spend the money If I don't need to. I've done plenty of that already. Thanks again guys!

[yachtjim]

Potty Dock, there are lots of threads on this site comparing the 2 (epirb and plb). The comparison just done by ACRguy a week or so ago is the best I've seen yet. Search his username. The bigger points - an epirb floats and works best while floating, a plb must be held upright to work. Epirbs can activate automatically, plb's must be manually activated. Generally its preferable to have an epirb as your first line of defense. If you don't want to spend that much a plb is your next best bet.

[Fish'nFool]

Originally Posted by potty dock

Is there a big difference between EPIRB and PLB? don;t they basicly do the same thing? Maybe I need an EPIRB instead? Fish 40 to 50 miles of north west fla's gulf coast. I thought they were basicly the same thing. Just don't wan't to spend the money If I don't need to. I've done plenty of that already. Thanks again guys!

There are A LOT of similarities between the two. The EPIRB and FastFind PLB 210 use the same satellite network (cospas-sarsat), it transmitts a 406 MHz distress frequency and it has a built-in 50 channel GPS, so the emergency locating technology is the same. Some of the higher $ EPIRB's do auto deploy, but it's my understanding they only auto deploy when they sink below a certain depth, which is good if your boat sinks out from under you and you don't have time to grab your epirb, otherwise it would need to be manually activated just like the PLB. But if your boat sinks you will likely be a drift anyway, but I guess it's better that the Coast Guard has a last fix of your location than none at all. Most EPIRB's have a 48 hr rated battery life while the FastFind is 24hrs. My thought on that is, if they don't find you in 24hrs you have bigger things to worry about!

I like the 210 PLB because it offers the same emergency locator protection as an EPIRB, but it is A LOT smaller - I can fit it in my pocket, it's less expensive and I can take it with me anywhere in the world (plane, another boat, etc) since the PLB is registered to "you" not your boat.

In a perfect world where money is no object you would have both, but one is better than none and you can't go wrong in either case.