KTI SA2GN PERSONAL LOCATOR BEACON
A lightweight, reasonably-priced, Aussie-made PLB.
By James McCormack
(This story originally featured in Wild #177, Spring 2020)
OK, so it’s a bit hard reviewing a product that you hope you never use, and that you can’t really test its primary function. (I don’t overly want to explain to rescue services I beckoned them as part of a review for Wild). But given that, thanks to COVID, we may be engaging in more solo activities than usual, it seems a good time to talk about PLBs.
OK, so it’s a bit hard reviewing a product that you hope you never use, and that you can’t really test its primary function. (I don’t overly want to explain to rescue services I beckoned them as part of a review for Wild). But given that, thanks to COVID, we may be engaging in more solo activities than usual, it seems a good time to talk about PLBs.
Now, I have a confession to make; in the past, I’ve only occasionally taken one with me, even on solo jaunts. In fact, when I went to head off to NSW’s rugged Mugii Murumban, I discovered my old PLB’s battery had expired over a year ago. But Mugii—full of canyons, slots, cliffs and hidden valleys—was the type of place no-one’s likely to find you if something happens (in fact, it’s the type of place that even if you are with someone, they‘ll struggle to adequately describe your location). Besides, I think I’m beginning to get wiser too, and, perhaps most importantly, the last thing I wanted now was to stretch the resources of potential rescuers. In short, I looked into getting a new PLB.
I went with KTI’s SA2GN. It’s Australian-made, which when it comes to PLBs is not insignificant. While you can use PLBs purchased overseas in Oz, it’s best to use an Aussie PLB. Unless reconfigured, PLBs send signals to the MCC (Mission Control Centre) specific to the country they were made and/or purchased in. And Canadian and US devices, for instance, don’t meet Australian standards.
Anyway, unpacking the SA2GN— Wow! It was so much smaller and lighter (nearly half the weight) than my old GME one. Instantly, a key barrier to me taking out a PLB more frequently vanished. As well as being compact, though, the SA2GN is dustproof, waterproof (for up to an hour at 5m), and has a 10-year warranty and battery life. Its GPS accuracy is, reassuringly, within 3m.
But there was something else the SA2GN had over my old one besides weight, (oh, and the price, which was definitely lower). While I said you can’t test a PLB’s primary function, that’s only in terms of actually triggering a rescue. In terms of whether the device works, that you can test. And while my old PLB required getting a (separate) slender implement to dig away at a small hole to flip an embedded test switch half the size of a matchhead, with the SA2GN, I just hit an easy-to-reach button with my thumb for a few seconds and Voila! Tested. It’s a simple action to give you peace of mind, much like the device itself.
NEED TO KNOW
Dimensions: 88mm x 64mm x 31mm
Weight (as tested): 139g
Weight of included carry pouch: 57g
Waterproofness: Yes, for up to an hour at 5m
RRP: $325.00
More info: kti.com.au