When traveling in places with no cell phone coverage and little chance of a passerby finding you, carry a personal locator beacon. These emergency devices trigger search and rescue via a satellite that allows rescuers to home in on your location.

Advanced models include a Global Positioning System receiver that broadcasts your exact location.

As an experienced search and rescue professional with the Civil Air Patrol, I cannot emphasize enough how easy this makes the job of a rescuer.

If you carry a personal locator beacon and get into trouble, it takes far fewer resources and far less time to get help. Entry-level GPS-equipped PLBs retail for about $500.

When my phone rings at 2 a.m., I would much rather hear that you need help at a specific set of coordinates because you are carrying a PLB. The alternative could be a 100,000-square-mile search area, hundreds of rescuers, dozens of aircraft and a whole lot of praying that we find you in time.

Nash Pherson

Mankato, Minn.