knafelc wrote on Apr 16^th, 2012 at 2:37am:

Peace of mind is actually a big part of why many of us seek out the wilderness. A communication device can now help and aid us in getting that.

I get the peace of mind, safety aspect but as a long time solo paddler, that would actually detract from the experience for me. Fear is never boring. My first solo was before the internet, before I even knew they made solo boats. I fully expected to be told "go home idiot" the first time they asked for the alt group leader. To me, a lot of the allure is being self sufficient, being by my self like it once was for some.

Honestly, if I ever really needed to press the help button, I wouldn't be able to or pride and the possibility of embarrassment would prevent me from doing it until it was too late. (Which wouldn't be a bad thing either I guess. They'd know where my corpse was. ;))

To each his/her own. Cool tools but I don't even have a cell phone or the desire to be that in touch every second of the day. Leave a message at the tone. I'll get back to you when I feel like it.