My mate Simon and I were 2 to 3 hours from the car at the end of a 4 day tramp in the rugged Kaweka range, just east of Taupo in the central North Island. We had to drop 200m to a river then climb out and it was then the Kaweka Flats and an easy walk to the car.

As I started to descend, my ankle turned and I collapsed onto my ankle and I heard the crack of a bone breaking. Hoping that it was only a strain I tried to walk but my ankle was unstable and I fell on the track again. Looking down at the unusual angle that my foot was at I knew I was going nowhere under my own steam. I made my self as comfortable as I could activated by beacon and two hours later, over the ridge came the rescue helicopter. It was an easy pickup and within the hour my mate was driving my car back to Taupo and I was being helicoptered to the hospital, were the fracture was confirmed.

Although in this case I was never in any serious danger I tramp on my own and the PLB would be a life saver in a different situation. It certainly made the rescue speedier and made the job of the four people on board the helicopter easier. They spent the minimum of time on this rescue and were then released quickly to help others. What a great product.