BOATS & GEAR
PRODUCT ROUNDUP
Satellite comms in your hand ACR’s new Bivy Stick has one-touch tracking and SOS By Brian Hagenbuch
CR Electronics is billing the new ACR Bivy Stick as the “world’s smallest and most simple satellite communication device,” and it certainly is sleek and simple. At just 100 grams (3.5 ounces) and 4.5 by 1.8 inches, the device fits easily in the palm of your hand, and has just three small buttons, two tiny lights, and a USB port. The Bivy Stick pairs with a cell phone but can then be used when there is no cell phone service. One of the buttons — the check-in button — will send a prewritten, queued up message to set recipients, along with your GPS coordinates. A signal light will blink indicating the message has been sent. There is also an SOS button on the device, which is activated by lifting a flap and holding a button down for five
A
seconds. This will send an emergency message along with your location, updated at various intervals, from anywhere in the world to Global Rescue, an industry leader, providing 24/7/365 medical, security, and evacuation. Simple instructions for SOS and check-in messaging are on the back of the device, as is an easy-to-read key on the signal and status lights on the side of the Bivy Stick. When used in conjunction with a smartphone and the ACR Bivy app, the device also has a weather screen, which will update via satellite when the phone is out of cell or WiFi service. Satellite weather forecasts can take a few minutes to process, depending on the satellite signal, and can be purchased in three-day, three-hour increments; or seven-day,
Get the power of satellite technology in your palm.
two-hour increments. A tracking mode on the device also lets a third party get the Bivy website and view your location, which is updated every 10 minutes.The device itself has an MSRP of $349.95, and flexible plans mean fishermen can pay for the months during the season. An unlimited plan costs $49.99 a month with no annual fee. Usage plans are $40 for 100 credits and $18 for 20 credits, with one credit per SMS message, tracking interval, location report, or basic weather report.
ACR BIVY STICK www.bivystick.com
More fishing, less plastic Grundéns introduces compostable packaging By Brian Hagenbuch
any of us fish in the same waters as the Great Pacific garbage patch, a vortex of trash — mostly plastics — that, depending on the source, is either as big as Texas or twice as big as Texas.We’re not innocent, of course; our fishing gear sometimes gets lost in the ocean, and our worn out deckwear will labor somewhere on earth for a very long time after it starts to leak on our sweats. According to foul-weather gear leader Grundéns, just 1 percent of the some 500 billion plastic bags that are used around the world annually are recycled, and the Washington State-based company is doing its part to cut down on plastic waste by rolling out fully compostable packaging.
M
38 National Fisherman \ September 2021
“With plastics in the ocean playing a major role in the health of many fisheries around the world, we’re taking the lead in bringing an alternative to poly bags to the market,” said Grundéns CEO David Mellon. Instead of the plastic sleeves Grundéns used to sell their gear in, all new products shipped this year will be in a 100 percent biodegradable packaging made from the glucose in corn starch. When cut into strips, the packaging decomposes in under a year and is suitable for either home or municipal composting systems. “This new compostable packaging will allow customers to drop it into their own home or municipal compost stream, confident they aren’t adding
Cut into strips, the new packaging is soil in a year.
plastic waste into the environment,” Mellon added. Grundéns is producing the packaging in six sizes, which means they can make the biodegradable packaging fit the product. Extra packaging means needless air is shipped along with products, and the packaging project is open source, with supplier information printed on the outside of the package. Grundéns hopes to serve as example and bring other companies along on its mission to reduce plastic packaging. GRUNDÉNS www.grundens.com
www.nationalfisherman.com
