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Having two-way communications would help tremendously, because then you can say "well, pressing the button will cost $100, but the person on the other end will know if I need rescue now or later".

> the SOS button is still fundamentally potentially a completely open-ended liability if you haven't taken Garmin's 30 buck annual insurance option for it.

Not in Canada. SAR is completely free in Canada for the reason you've basically alluded to in your next paragraph.

> but I can absolutely understand why people would wait a bit longer than they should before pressing.

I've been to a number of presentations from the local SAR, and whenever they're asked about this, they say that the reason SAR has no cost is precisely because they never want people to hesitate before pressing the button or making the call.

> capped at $50k

oh well thank God for that. this won't bankrupt anyone.