Any used one of these yet?

Like a Spot Locator unit you can send pre-set messages, or you can pair it with a smart phone and send any message.

The big difference is the Yellow Brick allows two-way comms. So the receiver of your pre-set message or custom sms message from your smart phone can reply, ask questions etc.

Very long battery life. Weights 305 grams. Relatively chunky looking unit. But also has waypoint recording and creates a basic breadcrumb trail with a point every 15 minutes (I think)

At about 450 Pounds it is expensive. Monthly contract is 8 Pounds per month - you can subscribe month by month when you need to, for example, subscribe just over the winter months.

Perhaps cheaper to get a sat phone? If you don't carry a smartphone, or it ran out of batteries, the Yellow Brick is basically a sat phone with no voice and restricted to pre-set text messages.

http://www.yellowbrick-tracking.com/?page_id=1559