Having access to the best personal locator beacon can become incredibly handy in many instances. The main purpose of a personal locator is that it helps others to locate the person who holds it even in the regions where cellphone signals are weak. A personal locator can send an alert to the authorities in the closest proximity to your location – such information will be useful to locate you and rescue you. These days, personal locators (often called locator beacons) have become a must have in the checklists of campers and other outdoor enthusiasts. Having personal locators or locator beacons is a real lifesaver for any camper .

Top Personal Locator Beacons Reviews

Our personal locator beacons reviews emphasize the best plb products in the market today. We have selected these best plb products based on their performance, portability, reliability and many other characteristics.

01.Garmin GPSMAP High-Sensitivity GPS and GLONASS Receive 

The first item on our plb reviews is handy, multi-featured device; Garmin GPSMAP Glonass Receiver. Best plb device comes with a 2.6” color display which can be readable easily even under bright sunlight. As a value addition, this best plb unit comes with an expandable 8GB memory. This gps beacon is powered by a dual battery system; you can either use 2 X AA batteries or NiMH battery pack to power this gps beacon. The weight of these personal beacons is limited to 230 grams only (including the batteries) and therefore, you cannot complain about the portability of device. The overall design of this emergency locator is admirable. The signal receiving ability of this emergency locator is impressive even under ‘not-so-good’ conditions in the real life.

02.ACR ResQlink+ PLB – Programmed for US Registration 

As the first item on our person locating beacon reviews, we present ACR PLB. In fact, this personal locating beacon comes pre-programmed with US country code; if you are a US based user, this is highly beneficial for you. However, if you are located in another country outside the US, you can ask the seller to change the configuration of this personal locating beacon accordingly. We have included this item on our personal locating beacon reviews because of its reliable functionality. This best personal locator beacon can be used by sailors, anglers, pilots etc. Apart from that, this best personal locator beacon can be used for recreational purposes too. Featuring the characteristics of a best personal locator beacon, it comes with a weight of 4.6 oz only. The size of this locator beacon is smaller even than a standard cellphone. It emits a powerful 406 MHz signal with 121.5 MHz homing capability. In addition to that, this locator beacon comes with a built-in strobe light in order to make your location visible, particularly during the night rescue missions.

03.McMurdo Fast Find 220 PLB  

The next item on our personal emergency beacon reviews is McMurdo Fast Find. Fast Find 220 PLB has reached our personal emergency beacon reviews because of the exceptional features it carries. This PLB beacon is made to be rugged; it matches all the harsh weather conditions out there in the real world. This PLB beacon is made to be resistant to water. Despite the superior functionality of these personal locator beacons, they are made to be very small in size; carrying these personal locator beacons wherever you go is pretty easy. This device can send a strong distress signal (with a frequency of 406 MHz) to the orbiting satellites and help the rescue teams to locate you quickly. The battery life of this emergency GPS locator is impressive; it lasts for more than 6 years. Apart from notifying the precise location, this emergency GPS locator is capable of broadcasting your information too. In addition to that, it features a homing transmitter with a frequency of 121.5 MHz. Thanks to the added SOS light feature of these rescue beacons, you will be easily located by the team even during the night.

04.SPOT Personal Tracker 

SPOT personal tracker is the next product on our personal locator beacon review. These rescue beacons are among the most impressive products in the market so far. This respective rescue beacon can let the other to track your progress, notify when you are checked in and more importantly, call the others to get help in case of an emergency. This rescue beacon establishes a connection with GPS satellite network and locates the most accurate position. Although regular rescue beacon products just call for help, SPOT personal tracker is capable of sending a notification about your location to multiple connections that are chosen by you; for instance, family members or friends. It also allows you to save the waypoints for you and these points will be useful for a future reference. More importantly, in this personal locator beacon review, we must emphasize that this personal tracker is capable of providing a real-time update of your route for the selected contacts. In addition to that, you can call 911 using this device!

05.Bushnell Bear Grylls Personal Locator and Digital Compass 

If you are shopping around for the best personal locator beacon, you should not miss this product. We have nominated this product in our plb review because of the useful features integrated. One of the most significant features we like to mention in this plb review is its improved design with ergonomic shape. This emergency gps locator is a highly simplified device; it comes with two buttons only. Despite its simplicity, this emergency gps locator can store up to three locations. The accuracy of this emergency beacon is pretty impressive; it comes with a high sensitivity GPS receiver to provide the most accurate location. In addition to that, this emergency beacon comes with a self-calibrating digital compass. You can enjoy the best use of this best personal locator beacon no matter if it is an urban parking lot or a camping site.

How to choose the best PLB

Choosing the best personal locator beacon out of the rest can be a pretty challenging task for most of us. In fact, the number of personal locator devices (which are also called emergency locator beacon) in the market today is massive. Each of these personal locator devices has unique features to offer. So, before you purchase your next emergency locator beacon, it is better to do some homework.

The most important thing when you are looking for the best personal locator beacon is the configuration settings. If you are from the US, you should obviously go for a product that supports the country code. Just like that, if you are from another country, your supplier should be able to configure it to match the respective country code.

To call it a ‘best personal locator beacon’ the product must be weather proof. So, check with the seller if they guarantee weatherproof characteristics of the device. This becomes really handy when you are going on outdoor expeditions.

If the device connects with the authorized bodies of the relevant region instead of private centers, that is a huge plus factor. You can ask the seller about this configuration before you make the purchase.

Most of the best personal locator beacon units are associated with additional features like sending notifications to selected contacts, calling 911 directly from the device, keeping a track of the waypoints, sending real-time updates of the location to friends or family members (depending on your preference), integration of SOS lights etc. These features become incredibly handy when you have lost your path in a strange land. So, don’t forget to check those options. However, the best personal locator beacon with all those features may not be the cheapest in the market; eventually, you get what you pay for!