Spot Review

In our ever-wandering search for riding areas and places way off the beaten path we sometimes find ourselves quite literally out in the middle of nowhere. This can be a little alarming, and with fuel getting low or sunlight fading it grows even more concerning. Bringing friends has always been a must when we leave the confines of a small ride area to enjoy the wilderness of 100,000 acres, but even then we had concerns of how we would get help if we needed it. Recently I made the trek to the mighty Baja 1000 desert race in Ensenada, Mexico. This races pits man and machine against the terrain, which is the roughest around. The thought of getting lost or hurt in another country is scary enough.

That’s when I remembered a little device I had seen in early 2011 called Spot. This gem is a lifesaver and no pun intended. The small handheld device fits really anywhere, but it controls the contact to the outside world should something go wrong. We set our Spot device to send a beacon or GPS footprint to our Spot Adventure page every 10 minutes; that way anyone we’d listed for texting or emails would be able to see exactly where we were. This made my wife feel a bit better as she could follow my footprints every 10 minutes if she wanted. The device also gives you the opportunity to purchase extra insurance so you would be covered should you need rescue. It was merely $12 and it basically pays the search-and-rescue operation that comes out to get you so you wouldn’t have to.

The Spot is just simply a must-have for any adventurous member of your family or yourself. There is a yearly service charge in addition to the cost of the device, but look at it this way, what is your loved one worth? —Rick Sosebee

www.spot.com