A Great Day - SPOT Satellite Messenger - Polaris Ranger XP
Super Cooper and our Polaris Ranger in the mountains with Bartlett Lake in the background.
Me and Cool Hand Coop hit the road to put some more miles on the Ranger and to do some more testing on the Spot Satellite Messenger. The Ranger continues to impress me. It is fun, comfortable, dependable and I have yet to get it stuck despite numerous legitimate attempts.
The SPOT also continues to impress me as well as my family and friends. It is quickly becoming my electronic binky. To put this in perspective, imagine this scenario. You and your 9 year son head off into the mountains to get out and enjoy the backcountry. You aren't exactly sure where you are going but you tell the wife not to worry and that you will be back about dinner time. Everything is going great when you suddenly slump over the wheel of your ATV. You are a long way away from 911 and the cellular phone won't work anyway. You are down and your kid is on his own in the middle of nowhere. Now what?
Well, if you are me, you have taught young grasshopper how to use the Satellite telephone, how to run the GPS and what channels might get him some help on the VHF radio. He also knows how to start a fire, lay out the Rescue Streamer, turn on the strobe light and sit tight. Even with all that preparation, the little guy is going to have a tough time keeping it together. Shoot, I have seen adults in less challenging circumstances fall to pieces and soil themselves.
Coop De Ville sending a Check/OK message to Mom and Uncle Cody from the SPOT. Piece of cake.
With the SPOT, all he would have to do is take it out, turn it on, hit a button and forget about it. Everything else takes care of itself.
Look, I can give you a hundred situations where it makes sense to carry a SPOT but not all of them are emergencies. Sometimes it is just nice to be able to check in and let somebody know where you are and that everything is cool. SPOT gives me the ability to check in, ask for help from my buddies or send an emergency distress signal. I am telling you guys, you gotta get one of these and make it part of your system. Consider it inexpensive insurance against the many what ifs that are part of wilderness activities.
Reward for doing it right. Graduating from the single shot, bolt action Chimp Monk to the same Ruger 10/22 that my brother and I used as kids. Another American rifleman in the making.
What a day. We had a great time. We didn't see another soul, we had lunch at the tail gate café and shot until we ran out of ammo. Cooper will remember the swarm of bees that chased us, the cows that wouldn't get out of the way and the water bottles that he bagged with the Ruger. I will remember a picture perfect day with my son that Hallmark couldn't describe in a million years.
Thanks.
Wade Nelson
Editor
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