** UPDATE - 12 Feb 2013**
Since this article was published, a full summary of distress communication options has been published at http://campingcommunication.com I highly recommend you check it out.
** UPDATE **
On one of our previous camping trips, we enjoyed several days deep in the bush, to discover on our return to mobile phone range that Toowomba and Lockyer Valley had been devastated by flooding, and Brisbane was underwater again.
Our family and friends in the affected areas were thankfully alright, however we were berated for being out of contact during the crisis by concerned family who had no real idea where we were camping or when we were due back. All they knew was we were camping in a valley by a river somewhere in Kosciuszko National Park.
It got me thinking about what information to leave with family and friends, and how to communicate with them should things go wrong. More importantly perhaps is to communicate with family enough information so that they don't fret if they cannot get hold of you, or can raise the alarm should you fail to come home.
IsatPhone Pro
My parents recently purchased a new generation prepaid satellite telephone running on the Inmarsat network, the IsatPhone Pro. The phone costs about $650 up front, with $100 buying 100 minutes of talk - with a two year valid period. This phone proved really handy on their last adventure, as they were able to send an SMS message from the phone's inbuilt GPS.
