A Real Life Story from Survivor, Ryan, who was rescued by an ACR ResQLink 400 Personal Locator Beacon:

Before Using the Personal Locator Beacon

I was on the last day of an awesome solo 3 day tramp in the seaward Kaikōura’s. This is in the South Island of New Zealand. I stayed the night at Kōwhai Hut. My plan was to walk out along the Kōwhai river back to my car (only 2-3 hours).

There had been some rain overnight (as forecast). And there was light drizzle as I set off from the hut at 9am.

I noticed the river was slightly brown as I walked along a track beside it for the first 50 minutes. I passed the turnoff to Spaniard Spur track that climbs out of the river valley. Carrying on down the riverbed, eventually having to cross the river as the valley started to narrow. I had never been in this area before so I didn’t know how high the river/s flowed normally, but I did notice that the river seemed fairly swift.

At this point, I should have stopped and reconsidered my options of turning back and going up Spaniard Spur but I foolishly carried on. I have done a lot of trail running, including many river crossings so I am comfortable and confident with them, but I think that this actually worked against me as my risk tolerance was set far too high given I had a much heavier pack on my back that day. Which caused me to need my personal locator beacon.

Getting Stuck

As I got further down the river, the valley became very narrow and due to the contributories feeding into it, plus steady rain, the river got higher. However, by now, I had decided that if I could get to the point where the valley opened up again, I would be okay, so I kept pushing forward.

At a fork in the river, it took two tries and a couple of dunkings just to cross part of the current. After bush-bashing across the riverbend, I had to cross the full river again—with no good spots in sight.

After 30 minutes of debating whether to wait it out. I got myself stuck and grew increasingly frustrated. With more rain coming and no safe options, I finally decided to activate the Personal Locator Beacon.

Calling for Help

I pushed the distress button at 10:40am, and by 11:30 I could hear the chopper overhead. The two friendly Helicopter operators gave me a quick ride, only about 3 km down the river, and dropped my wet and bedraggled self in a paddock near my car. 

It was a straightforward rescue, but I was deeply grateful. I learned a lot and will be more cautious next time.

A massive thank you to ACR, and everyone involved in search and rescue for being the safety backup when things don’t go to plan.