SPOTMuch has been written about the SPOT Personal Tracker.  It is clearly a crossover product judging from the various sources covering it.  Ben Ellison has covered it extensively on Panbo, I've read about it in the New York Times and Outside Magazine touted it's terrestrial uses.

Will SPOT replace the EPIRB for us boaters?  I doubt it.  They are different animals that do different things and, although the initial $169.00 investment looks attractive versus the entry level $500 EPIRB, there are recurring costs to be considered with SPOT that evens out the playing field.

When you purchase and register SPOT you have the option to sign up for three different services.  There is a 1-year $99.99 subscription for the emergency response feature and a friendly messaging service.

For another $49.99 you can add a tracking feature which pushes your position on to web services such as Google Earth so your friends can follow along.

For another $8.00, you can buy what is essentially an insurance policy, underwritten by Lloyd's of London, to pay up to $100,000 of your emergency response costs in the event of a rescue.  This is where it gets interesting.  SPOT doesn't use traditional government resources, like the US Coast Guard,  for emergency responses, but instead uses the GEOS Alliance, a private security and emergency response contractor.

Should you get in trouble without the insurance policy you are on the hook for the cost of the rescue.  A cursory Google search puts global helicopter service and emergency personnel at thousands of dollars per hour.  The $8 a year is probably worth it.  It should be noted that you could be charged for a rescue by Government agencies also depending on the circumstances, so an EPIRB isn't neccessarily a free ride either.

So the day you buy and register your new SPOT, you are out of pocket $326.98.  Now next year you will have to shell out an additional $157.98 to keep all your services active.  The tracking feature is a neat option if you use it but it would be the one to go if you don't, so you are spending a minimum $107.99 a year to keep it going.

You can see it's not going to take to long to get to the price of an entry level EPIRB.  The SPOT though should be considered an active device to be used for features besides Emergency response.   An EPIRB is simply a passive device you hope to never use and probably only think about when a surveyor tells you to get it serviced.

The friendly message feature called "SPOTChecking" allows you to send a prewritten email with a Google Earth link to your position to any friends or family you have designated in advance.

The other difference between the two is the coverage areas.  There are some legitimate gaps in cruising areas around the world with SPOT.  Now most of us aren't doing our daily boating in any of them, but SPOT would not be enough for the world cruiser.

I have one sitting on my desk and they are a neat little package.  There are thousands of weekend warriors, skiirs, mountain bike riders and boaters who will feel more comfortable with SPOT in their backpack.  There are thousands more boaters who should also have an EPIRB onboard.