We have owned a Personal Locator Beacon for a number of years. It has been on lots of trips with us, just knowing it’s there is peace of mind.  My sons have now got to the age where they are heading off on a hunting party without us. It’s peace of mind knowing that they have it with them.

One night in November, the boys headed off.  It was foggy, drizzly, and cloudy with no moon. They went to a place they had been a few times, but with no moon to see any bearings, they later got disorientated.

After walking around for about 3 hours, they realized they were lost; with heavy rain starting to set in.

Mid Canterbury high country conditions are very severe and they started to quickly get cold. My eldest son had also badly sprained his ankle so they sat down, pulled the Personal Locator Beacon out and waited for rescue by local search teams at 2 in the morning.