DB the rescue was free. I had, however, purchased optional evac insurance as it was only $12 additional along with the SPOT basic plan. The helicopter pilot, when asked, informed me that the chopper was $4.5 million. They said they had an uptick in rescues since the introduction of the SPOT (2 this year). The last guy had snapped his paddle and had lost his spare and had been blown into a swamp and activated his.

My intent with the SPOT was to give my wife peace of mind that I was fine. Perhaps in the back of my mind it could of been a crutch of sorts but I likely would of went in without it. So complete was my self deception that I disregarded the rather serious injury that happened only a month prior. I had set up and tore down 4 shows in that interval and had just come off an 11 day trip feeling good (except for the immediate aftermath when some celebratory horsing around put me down). Some folk seen this coming as KF took the liberty to PM me to bluntly suggest that I "wasn't ready". I replied with my usual bravado (Woodland Caribou is after all a "park" is it not  ;) ).

I found it surprising that the chopper and the floatplane that I chartered to retrieve my boat were both equipped with a SPOT. That tells me a lot about their reliability.

In retrospect I failed to use the SPOT to its full capabilities. I could of used the pre-set text messaging mode to better effect. A simple "send floatplane" message to my wife would of been the ticket.