Navionics / GPS questions.

[cougarmeat]

John, You are right - I’ve been spending too much time in lakes . I forgot about reefs - like the one off Orcas North Shore and the one of Patos Island, etc. I should have emphasized the features of a topo map rather implying it was equal to a chart. We are of the same school when it comes to gear. If your phone is also your camera, video recorder, gps, SAT communications and it stops working - or you run out of battery or left your charging cord at the last camp site (happened to a couple we assisted at Pirate’s Cove) - you’ve lost the use of all those devices at once.

The Broughton Group was a discussion Dave and I had here. Before I left I had entered the camp site waypoints and when we got to the area and I brought up the 76GPSMAP’s enhanced (Extra Canadian Blue Chip) chart, it just showed tents (my chosen icon) floating in the water. What was worse, we know the GPS direction is straight line and sometimes there was a big Island between HERE and THERE that didn’t show up.

They initially had a trade-up window but I had missed that. And because the unit was discontinued, they wouldn’t even consider servicing it.

That’s when I switched to my iPad and Gaia, iNavX, and AyeTides (with a Legend and paper backup). I still use the 76 for a speedometer, arrival time estimator and bearing while underway. But I preview the days activities on the iPad before I take off.

 

[JohnAbercrombie]

Some of my friends who have many many more kayak miles 'under the keel' (than I do) use the phone/iPad for navigating.
Also, I don't know the details, but I think Freya Hoffmeister uses a phone or iPad when underway ?She has the 'full tech kit' with sat phone + devices for sending and receiving data from campsites- she updates her blog from the tent most evenings when she is paddling.
So I need to keep an open mind! Perhaps I'll just buy a ruggedized waterproof and shockproof iPad - the one with the slide-in replaceable battery packs ..... oh, wait.....

 

[JohnAbercrombie]

The Broughton Group was a discussion Dave and I had here. Before I left I had entered the camp site waypoints and when we got to the area and I brought up the 76GPSMAP’s enhanced (Extra Canadian Blue Chip) chart, it just showed tents (my chosen icon) floating in the water. What was worse, we know the GPS direction is straight line and sometimes there was a big Island between HERE and THERE that didn’t show up.

Was the conclusion that it was a '76' problem, not shared with the 78 or 64? Or a Bluechart problem?
I have a 76 here (I bought it used for doing demos in a nav class) and I recall it has some 'quirks' about the chart display.

 

[cougarmeat]

About 50-50 with the 76 and the BlueChart. The 76 had become dog slow in drawing any map. I have the least expensive BlueChart; not a G2 or G3, whatever those upper categories are. I didn’t get the upper category chip because the 76 wouldn’t support it. But still, it was over $100. The problem had something to do with USA charts were bitmap and the Canadian charts were raster - or the reverse of that. While the islands within USA borders were nicely rendered, the islands in Canada - if they showed up at all - looked like drops of putty. Note this was a chip specifically for that area.

Aside from viewing a chart, the rest of the GPS functions well. It floats. It has a decent battery life. It will still tell you the distance and bearing toward your waypoint (campsite), though it may not appear on land it shows tide tables for nearest station. If I use it at all, it’s on my deck, propped up against those two Mariner cleats, and I set it to show speed, direction, and estimated time to destination. Maybe I put time of day on that screen too.

If I had a foam block to put it at a better angle it would be nicer. Though it is waterproof, I still keep it in a water proof bag. During research long ago, I read that the waterproof rating many devices are given only applies to the first year. Often there are seals that could use maintenance but the user doesn’t have access to them.

If you use the 76 for waypoints in USA waters it has the best chance of success. I don’t know why, over time, it has gotten so slow in rendering. Maybe all my other gear has gotten faster.

Aside from not being able to read it in direct sunlight, the screen real estate on an iPad mini is pretty sweet. But I do a lot of “homework” before I leave - create a float plan with tides/currents/departure times/lat-long site locations, etc. and have that printed out. So the electronics is mostly for any adjustments along the way - should that be necessary.

 

[jamonte]

Here's a question worth pondering: How long will Garmin last as a company? Personally, I don't think it will last another seven years. Here's why: First, look at Garmin's product line. Once upon a time, Garmin's NUVI navigation system was hot stuff. Now, everyone uses their smartphones for directions while driving. Take a look on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace, there hundreds of old NUVI's for sale for super cheap. Garmin also produced a line of GPS watches used by trail runners. Neat stuff. Then along came Apple's iWatch, that could do so much more than just track your location and your heart rate. Apps like GAIA are now chipping away at Garmin's main turf, the GPS, and if Google or Apple or Samsung or Huawei start making phones with better satellite antennas, I could see that market disappearing, too.

Now let's talk about the future. Garmin's current market cap (the value of the whole stinking company) is 18.63 billion dollars USD. Do you know how much Apple spent on R&D in 2019? Over 16 billion dollars!!! And that was just Apple. Google, Samsung, Huawei and many, many other tech giants are spending as much or more on R&D, and then there are the thousands and thousands of smaller companies working to design software apps and other accessories so consumers can do even more with their phones. Garmin thinks that all they have to do is make better products than Magellan and they're golden. Sorry, suckers! You are now competing with the big boys and they are eating your lunch. The GPSMAP 78 came out in 2012. It's successor, the GPSMAP 86 was just released this year and, as far as I can tell, it's not much of an improvement over the 78. So after eight years of waiting, you can now spend close to $500 for a marginally improved product. Now think about how much have smartphones improved over the past eight years. The comparison between Garmin and big tech is so extreme it's laughable.

Since buying DeLorme, Garmin probably makes some money off their subscription service for InReach. I own an InReach (the last model built by DeLorme, not Garmin's version.) It works okay for social communication. During my GC trip, I got to see how it works during an emergency. I was not impressed and I dearly missed my old Globalstar sat phone that I finally sold after Globalstar did away with their cheaper plans. (And BTW, Globalstar is another company like Garmin that is living on borrowed time because the big tech companies are destroying their market, too.)

As I mentioned earlier, Olympus' camera division just closed shop. It did so because it had not turned a profit in the past four years. Why? Because smartphone cameras destroyed the market for entry level and mid-level cameras. The only segment of the camera market where companies are still spending money on R&D is the very top end. But while top end DSLRs get better and better, the mid level cameras don't receive any meaningful improvement. My Olympus TG-4 (which I bought in 2015) was actually a much better camera than that stinking TG-6 I bought for my Grand Canyon trip! There is simply nothing to be gained by improving mid-level Point and Shoot cameras now because smartphone cameras are so good they're now competing with mid-level DSLR's in terms of photo quality.

I am probably one of the biggest Luddites on this site when it comes to technology, but I'm finally seeing the light. Now I just have to learn how to hold a damn smartphone to take a picture while paddling!

 

[JohnAbercrombie]

Lots to think about (and argue about!) in those statements, jamonte!

I have a new iPhone, a nav system in the car, and a Garmin car GPS. I've used them all for car navigation. The Garmin wins. BTW, in BC you can get a $$$ ticket if your phone is visible and within reach of the driver, so not the most convenient for navigation.


There's no phone or tablet that actually can do what an 'old' GPSMap 64 or 78 can do in the kayaking environment.
Waterproof - really. No case required
Rugged - no easy-break screen. Screen replacement 'is a thing' in the phone world.
Easy to operate with wet gloved hands
Can be 'repowered' in 1 minute (by swapping AA cells)
Visible in full sunlight

And, it will continue to do all those things even if Garmin disappears as a company....which I don't think is likely, since their earnings are quite stable. BTW, Garmin owns Navionics - those great apps for phone and tablet...

As cougarmeat points out, the older GPS units can still do all the basic navigation jobs perfectly well. My 90's Garmin 12XL that I used on my sailboat would still do the job, though it would need a serial to USB adapter in order to communicate with the computer.

 

[jamonte]

Sorry, I'm not done ragging on Garmin just yet...

Another "revenue stream" for Garmin is their maps. About the time I bought my GPSMAP 78, you could still buy Garmin topo maps on DVD. They were about $100 each and each one was a "region" in the US. (Southwest, Northwest, etc.) Since the 78 had a micro-SD slot that could read up to a 32 Gb card, you could load A BUNCH of Garmin topo maps onto one external card. But that wasn't good enough for Garmin! They decided to "monetize" their maps even further so they quit selling maps on DVD and only sold them on SD cards (which could not be loaded onto your computer.) So instead of having multiple regions of maps stored on an SD card in your device, you could only have one region at a time. Why does this matter? Well, when I was paddling down the Snake River (which is a boundary between Garmin maps) I could choose between having contour lines on my left or contour lines on my right but I couldn't have both! When I pointed that out to a Garmin Tech Supporter, he said, "Gee! I never thought of that!" I guess it's hard to imagine being on a wilderness trip when you live in Olathe, Kansas, the home of Garmin. Have you ever been there? I have, several times. Just keep driving! And BTW, there are TONS of FREE topo maps available online so why would anyone want to fork over $100 a pop for Garmin's proprietary maps? (I say proprietary, but all these maps are just standard issue USGS maps. Garmin never paid to have these maps made, of course, so I don't know why they think they are proprietary, but there it is.)

As I mentioned earlier, I spent a lot of time learning how to get around all the glitches on my GPSMAP78 and I was actually quite fond of mine WHEN IT WORKED! So it's not like I'm particularly eager to learn how to use a smartphone as my new GPS. Also, I"m not opposed to spending $60 on a used GPSMAP 76 as a back up until I grow more comfortable with the phone. We'll see.

 

[JohnAbercrombie]

only sold them on SD cards (which could not be loaded onto your computer.)

It's different with the Bluechart SD cards, I guess. With those, you can put the card into the computer and it works just fine. Actually, you can copy the Garmin chart SD card and the copy will work in the computer (but the copy won't work in a GPS).
The advantage of the SD card over the DVD is that the card can be popped into any Garmin GPS and it will work. So you could take the card from your broken GPS and put it into your spare/backup GPS, or sell it to somebody. The DVDs had a system where the DVD chart was 'locked' to one GPS unit - people have complained online about that; apparently it was a hassle to change the DVD chart to another GPS unit..

As I mentioned earlier, I spent a lot of time learning how to get around all the glitches on my GPSMAP78 and I was actually quite fond of mine WHEN IT WORKED! So it's not like I'm particularly eager to learn how to use a smartphone as my new GPS. Also, I"m not opposed to spending $60 on a used GPSMAP 76 as a back up until I grow more comfortable with the phone. We'll see.

It's unlucky that you got a 'bad' Garmin 78, for sure. With intermittent electronics problems, for me, it's 'one strike and you are out' , pretty much.

BTW, I would opt for a used 78 or 64 over a 76 - used 78 units seem to be going for about about $100 US online. I've gotten some good buys for myself and friends by keeping an eye on the local 'for sale' listings.

 

[jamonte]

Hmmm... I never had a problem transferring Garmin's maps from DVD onto my computer and then from there onto several different Garmin GPS units. At present, the maps are sold on micro SD cards and, as I mentioned, it's not impossible to paddle "off" one map and into the vast unknown. Ever tried changing a micro SD card on a GPSMAP 78 while at sea? I sure haven't and I don't want to try!!! Which brings up another design flaw in that unit. As you know, the micro SD card sits behind the batteries in the battery compartment. It does not go into a secure slot as with most any other electronic device. There is a tiny metal flap on a hinge that is supposed to hold the card in place, but the card can easily be dislodged every time you change batteries. A small piece of Scotch tape over the flap can help, but really??? I'm supposed use Scotch tape to hold together my brand new device? What a joke! I haven't bothered to look, but I would not be surprised if Garmin failed to correct this flaw when they designed the 86.

Another design flaw with the 78 is how information is stored and accessed by the device. The internal memory is not very large and can only hold 2,000 waypoints. But you can't put "extra" waypoints on the external micro SD card because the device can only access waypoints from its internal memory. GPX files don't take up much space and if the device can access a map on an external card, why can't it access waypoints, too? It makes no sense at all. When I queried Garmin about this flaw, they couldn't imagine needing more than 2,000 waypoints for one trip. Well, of course, if you're hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, you're going to need several times that many waypoints. In my case, I hit the road for the Southwest in order to run a half-dozen rivers over several months, and I had more than 2,000 waypoints I needed to store in the device. Garmin's response: Why don't you just bring you're home computer with you so you can update the waypoints before each trip! Again, the company can't seem to imagine how their products will be used and so they are incapable of designing a truly functional GPS.

So was my particular GPSMAP 78 a lemon or did the problems I encounter stem from the many inherent flaws in the design of the hardware and software of the device? It's sure hard to tell. One thing is certain though: It never failed me the same way twice. It always came up with a new way to fail. And on at least three different occasions I stumped the support staff trying to figure out why it failed in a particular way.

But it's not just the 78 with incomprehensible flaws: Here's a flaw I ran into recently while using my InReach during an emergency in the Grand Canyon: After turning on the device and hitting the SOS button, my device spent the next couple hours downloading a total of seven non-emergency messages that had been sent the night before! (Being down in the canyon, it was not uncommon to have to wait 15 to 20 minutes for each message to send or receive.) You would think that once you hit SOS the device would block out or delay older messages from transmitting, but that's not what happened. Again, can't these people think through the process of how their devices will be used in the field? Their incompetence boggles my mind.

 

[JohnAbercrombie]

At present, the maps are sold on micro SD cards and, as I mentioned, it's not impossible to paddle "off" one map and into the vast unknown.

I can see how that would be a big problem when inland. For marine use, the Bluechart (HXUS039) I use covers US/CAN including AK and Hawaii, so I won't be paddling off that chart!

Ever tried changing a micro SD card on a GPSMAP 78 while at sea? I sure haven't and I don't want to try!!!

Nope. I agree it would be awkward.

Which brings up another design flaw in that unit. As you know, the micro SD card sits behind the batteries in the battery compartment. It does not go into a secure slot as with most any other electronic device.

I've only seen the 'pop-out when pressed' style of card slots. The 76 had that style of card slot. Not secure at all.

There is a tiny metal flap on a hinge that is supposed to hold the card in place, but the card can easily be dislodged every time you change batteries.

The metal flap on the hinge slides sideways to lock in place, as you know. I've never had it release accidentally in my units, and I've changed batteries a lot. Actually, I need to use a fingernail to slide that flap if I want to remove the card and it's not always easy. Perhaps the flap was defective and wasn't locking properly on your 78? If the card isn't locked in place, the unit will do strange things (or nothing).

Another design flaw with the 78 is how information is stored and accessed by the device. The internal memory is not very large and can only hold 2,000 waypoints.

The internal memory is 1.7GB, so I don't think that's a constraint on the waypoint number. Since the unit sorts the waypoints (I have mine set to show the nearest waypoints first), perhaps it's a processor speed problem??

So was my particular GPSMAP 78 a lemon

Yes, IMO.

Here's a flaw I ran into recently while using my InReach during an emergency in the Grand Canyon: After turning on the device and hitting the SOS button, my device spent the next couple hours downloading a total of seven non-emergency messages that had been sent the night before! (Being down in the canyon, it was not uncommon to have to wait 15 to 20 minutes for each message to send or receive.) You would think that once you hit SOS the device would block out or delay older messages from transmitting, but that's not what happened. Again, can't these people think through the process of how their devices will be used in the field? Their incompetence boggles my mind.

That software probably was designed before Garmin bought inReach, so the well-deserved blame should point to the inReach guys!
I bought a 'before Garmin' inReach and it was very poorly made. The buttons didn't work properly and when I took it back to MEC the sales person pulled two more off the shelf and they had the same problem. I think most people 'pair' the inreach with their phone, so the poor mechanical design of the inReach isn't such an issue.
I also didn't like their whole 'philosophy' of software design. I couldn't try any of the features on the unit (no demo mode, so couldn't try the buttons) without signing up for an expensive data plan, and it was a big hassle getting out of it when I returned the unit. I'm hoping that Garmin might change the design to the (good) GPSMap buttons. I have a SPOT (Gen3) which has replaceable batteries (AAA?).

SPOT and inReach both have been reported to have delays in getting rescue help. A PLB is the more reliable device for real emergencies, I think.

When you get accustomed to using the phone app that replaces the Garmin GPS, it would be excellent if you put up a bit of a 'user manual' or comments here. It might encourage dinosaurs like me to 'get with it' !

 

[cougarmeat]

One good thing about using a tablet/phone with InReach is you can add your own operational notes (via a “notes” app) to the phone for reference.

Sometimes I have to remind friends that a computer program isn’t “magic” - it was something designed/implemented by a human. When they read a novel, if the verb tenses are wrong or some such, they don’t think, “That’s the way it is with these devices (books). When things are wonky in a computer program, it is usually not because of some technical limitation. Someone was just lazy or the project manager chose profit over “doing it right."

As with all many things we older folk see today, and shake our heads at the lack of craftsmanship, so it is with computer programs. When I was a young pup programmer, we prided ourselves at getting the plurality correct in messages. The computer “knows” how many things it’s dealing with so our program message would say, for example, either, “Are you sure you want to attach this file.” or “Are you sure you want to attach these files.” - whichever was appropriate.

If someone created a button control, “Open”, that you had to click in order to “Attach” a photo to an email, that person would be laughed out of the room.

Better end the rant here before I go into our economic model and how in pursuit of $$$ the art is left behind and the customer has to just live with the consequences.

 

[JohnAbercrombie]

Better end the rant here .......

Your comment about 'Open' and 'Attach' reminded me to not always blame "What were they thinking???" features of software on the 'oh, whatever' generation. The idea of 'Press Start to shut down your Windows computer' came from designers (programmers doing their bidding?) who are getting into the 'senior citizen' aka 'old' group now.
I do find myself ranting :"Did you test this software on ordinary human subjects???" fairly often, still.


Smart phones : Designed by aliens to suit their 2 mm diameter tentacle tips.

 

[cougarmeat]

Yes, Windows designers; NOT Apple designers (while Steve was around). Now Apple has gotten almost as bad, using what look like Slide buttons as Push (on/off) buttons.

 

[JKA]

As an aside, recently I was considering an InReach versus a SPOT and asked a friend for his advice. He owns an event-tracking company and this is his edited response. He has interesting points about Garmin's "delay feature"!

NOTE his reference to satellite location; we are in New Zealand. YMMV.

Translation note: "tramping" = hiking

It depends on what you want to use the tracker for, if it's mostly tracking then the SPOT Gen 3 is very good value, and quite reliable. It can send out 3 pre-programmed messages if you're just advising for a pickup or for some other reason. The Spot doesn't work very well under forest cover or with a big hill on the west side (the tracker needs to see a satellite which can also see Australia). They have very good battery life, a week on 5-minute tracking at 16 hrs + a day

The inReach has very good coverage and works better in all environments, but as you say it is more expensive. The messaging works reasonably well when paired to a smartphone but is very frustrating without it. Tracking is a minimum 10-minute intervals (5 for a Spot), but you get a higher percentage of successful transmissions. Garmin have a "feature" which delays the sending of tracking points and/or messages if it's getting used a lot, it doesn't happen all the time, but it is very annoying when it does.

For this reason we don't stock inReaches or use them for tracking in events, the device is great, but Garmin adding delays (up to 12 hours sometimes) makes it unworkable for us. Battery life is very poor on a Mini - about 24 hours, on the larger models it's up to 100 hrs. If you have an inReach you'll also need to buy a cache battery to keep it charged.

I don't use messaging a lot so an inReach is not much use to me. However, if I was tramping in west coast rainforest I'd definitely prefer an inReach.

 

[jamonte]

JKA, thanks for that info. Very interesting! Just like the big telecom companies who sell "unlimited" data plans to their customers, and then limit data, it sounds like Garmin puts very real limits on their "unlimited" InReach subscription plans. I don't think that was the reason my SOS communications to/from the Grand Canyon were delayed, however. I think it was simply a matter of being deep in a canyon with very limited opportunities for my device to hook up with a satellite. And that problem was greatly exacerbated by a bunch of non-emergency social messages sent the night before by friends around the country that somehow took precedence in the message queue over the emergency messages. Of course, this is a simple software problem that could be fixed by Garmin and then sent to every InReach device (regardless of whether it was manufactured by Garmin or DeLorme) when you synch your device on the computer. Synching a device doesn't just update your messages or maps, it's also a software update and it is laughable to think that Garmin couldn't fix this problem on any of their devices, as was previously stated upthread.

In regard to using a satellite messenger for tracking, I found that a ten-minute interval makes for some pretty funny tracks in a sea kayak! Who knew I could paddle right through an island! By contract, a track recorded by my Garmin GPS looks nearly seamless, as every little twist and turn I take gets recorded. So if a Garmin GPS can track my movements nearly continuously, why can't a Garmin InReach? Again, I think the reason has more to do with Garmin intentionally limiting data (via software) rather that some sort of hardware limitation.

 

[cougarmeat]

FWIW - when you consider the yearly fees, the InReach devices can be about $175/year cheaper. That’s because the Spot requires a yearly operational fee and the inReach only needs a small yearly activation fee and then you have various monthly operational plans. As I only use the tracker about three months out of they year - that’s a great savings for me (but comes at the cost of a little more complexity).

It’s my understanding that the tracking interval of TheSpot is 10 minutes but you can PAY MORE to be able to adjust the tracking period down to 5 minutes.

As to the InReach tracking, note that InReach was acquired from DeLorme. The communication technology was built into the Garmin GPSMAP 66i (for “only" $600 at REI).

I’ve never had a problem with my Spot over water - it’s located me right in a specific boat slip. On land, if I get near a mountain I can get a “bounce” that might put one errant waypoint completely off the actual track.

I’ve never experience any kind of delay - though the message, understandably, may not go out immediately.

The only awkwardness with the Spot was when I’d turn it off immediately upon landing. In that case, the last waypoint tracked might be many yards off shore. To someone watching my track path, it may appear was still off shore - never landed. For better or worse, no one watching at home has ever asked me, “What were you doing just off shore for three hours?"

The Spot is way simple and no computer interface is necessary.

BUT - instead of about $250/year for The Spot, I just need to pay $25/year for the InReach and about $15/month for the months I use it. In addition to simply reporting waypoints, it gives me the ability to send short, realtime (instead of pre-trip fixed text ) messages back and forth to someone at home. I’m referring to the Gen2/3. There is a Spot what gives real time messaging ability but given the cost of their basic unit, I didn’t even bother to investigate their message-ability device.

You can manage your accounts/payments via your InReach account but to cancel your yearly payment with TheSpot you have to call and talk to an agent - maybe they’ll offer a reduced price to keep you subscribed. At this time I could have both active before my Spot fee runs out. Too bad travel is not suggested or allowed (into Canada) this summer. I suppose I could test them together when hiking. It’s just always been a paddling safety device for me.

 

[jamonte]

I think the difference between tracks recorded by a GPS and tracks recorded by a satellite messenger has more to do with the cost of transmitting data to/from the satellite than the cost of GPS technology in the device. A track recorded by a GPS is stored in the device and can be viewed on the device or downloaded onto your computer (and shared) once you get back home. A track recorded by a satellite messenger is sent up to the satellite and then back down to Garmin's communications system and is shared in real time with the folks back home. So, yeah, it makes sense that tracking data recorded by a satellite messenger is going to be quite a bit less frequent than tracking data recorded by a GPS.

 

[JohnAbercrombie]

So, yeah, it makes sense that tracking data recorded by a satellite messenger is going to be quite a bit less frequent than tracking data recorded by a GPS.

Exactly!
And, don't forget that your SOS message is probably competing with those tracking point uploads for satellite bandwidth.

 

[jamonte]

No, tracking data should not have interfered with the emergency messages I sent from the Grand Canyon because I keep tracking turned off on the InReach unless I'm solo and going somewhere "unexpected." (For example, doing a side hike away from the river.)

In four years of owning an InReach, this was the first time that I paid for an "Unlimited" plan and I did so since the cost was being shared by seven other people in my group. Usually, I'm solo or with one or two other people at most so I just pay for the cheapest, most basic plan available. And every night night when I get to camp I send a free "preset" message that says, "I'm camping here for the night. All is well." And since the folks back home have my itinerary and get these daily updates about my location, I'm fairly confident that the search area will be relatively small if I go missing without sending an SOS message from the device. I figure that's good enough for me... and a heck of a lot better than what Lewis & Clark had.

 

[JohnAbercrombie]

No, tracking data should not have interfered with the emergency messages I sent from the Grand Canyon because I keep tracking turned off on the InReach unless I'm solo and going somewhere "unexpected." (For example, doing a side hike away from the river.)

I wasn't talking about your tracking data, but tracking data from other inReach users. Besides, the Iridium satellite bandwidth is shared among many users- (sat phones, other services??).
And I'd expect that inReach is only paying for a limited slice of that bandwidth.
And, the lack of SOS priority over incoming messages and other messages in the queue didn't help, for sure.

BTW, that's an excellent habit you have of taking your inReach with you on hikes away from camp. I'm going to try to make that a habit with the PLB, even when I go away from the tent/kayak down to the shore or to toilet. What happens if I stumble and break my leg on a solo trip and the PLB is in my PFD in the kayak?