The great outdoors is a wild place to be. And when you’re out of contact with friends and family on an extended backcountry trip, things can go wrong without anyone ever knowing about it. Obviously bringing along a cell phone is a good idea, but some people travel in areas much too remote for a wireless signal.

We discovered a subscription-based satellite personal tracking device called SPOT that allows the user to send an emergency 911 call or “OK” message from practically anywhere, and it doesn’t rely on any part of the telecommunications industry, like cell towers. You let people know you’re doing fine just by pushing a button, providing your current coordinates in latitude and longitude along with the date and time. SPOT lets users save their tracking data as well, which can be reviewed at a later date. SPOT also lets others track your progress (in real time) using Google Maps from any place on earth.

We tested SPOT during a trip to the San Bernardino Mountains in California. At first we were a little leery of exactly what was promised on the SPOT website. The claims all sounded too good to be true. We could stay in touch with people from practically anywhere on earth, just by the push of a button? No cell signals, no wires, no fuss?

We went online and registered our new SPOT and added several email addresses with a brief message just as the directions indicated. The message we wanted to send provided the basic details of our trip, like what route we would take and when we expected to return.

On the trail, we began dropping breadcrumbs, basically sending out “OK” signals now and then to our list of authorized users. SPOT can automatically send breadcrumbs at a set interval, or you can do it manually like we did.

Within no time, we learned that our messages had been received and that our progress was being tracked on Google Maps. Our friends and family could now zoom in on our route to see what kind of terrain we were in and exactly where we were headed. Pretty cool stuff, considering that the location we were driving in was very remote and covered with trees, and it had snowed most of the day.

On just one set of batteries, SPOT can send up to 1,900 “OK” messages. SPOT operates in altitudes as low as 300 feet below sea level to 21,300 feet above, and in temperatures from minus 40 degrees to plus 185 degrees Fahrenheit. The initial cost of the SPOT unit is $99 for the basic service with the option of purchasing SPOT features like Track Progress or $100,000 in GEOS rescue coverage.

The SPOT personal tracker isn’t for everyone. It’s designed for extreme hikers or campers that travel in the backcountry frequently. In that regard, SPOT seems to live up to its reputation as a reliable and secure way of communicating with those around you. For more details on SPOT, visit them online at www.findmespot.com.