Hi Patrick, My Dad drives back and forth to Mexico a couple of times per year. While in the states he has cell phone access, but as soon as he crosses the border, cell coverage ceases and we worry about him for a day or two until he gets to his destination and can send us an "I arrived safely" email message. Last year I bought him a FindMeSpot personal tracker (findmespot.com) to use during his travels. It's not a traditional 406 MHz EPIRB but it provides similar services using a commercial satellite network. The device uses "bent pipe" satellite channels for sending uplink messages, which means coverage is limited to continental areas (i.e. no coverage over the poles or far out to sea). The FindMeSpot device has a GPS receiver and a satellite uplink radio which can send one of three messages when the corresponding device button is pressed: 1) "I'm OK", 2) "Need help, non-emergency", and 3) "Emergency--send out the equipment." Each such message is sent with the device's current GPS coordinates. When modes 1) and 2) are commanded, email messages and/or telephone text messages are sent to the user's pre-programmed contact list. When mode 3) is commanded, 911 emergency services are summoned--or the nearest equivalent emergency service when beyond U.S. borders. Finally, the device has a tracking mode in which it automatically sends a "here I am" message every twenty minutes. These tracking messages are collected and plotted on a google maps web page, so a traveller's progress can be monitored in near real time. In addition to the peace of mind that comes from knowing he can summon help from remote areas, it was a lot of fun using his personal tracking web page to monitor my Dad's recent trip to and from Mexico. It's very, very slick. Highly recommended. Well worth the $150 purchase price and $150 (I think) annual service fee. Chris