So, ahead of a seaside holiday I fancy getting a pair of GPS trackers for the kids - six and two. I've had a look, and I can get a 'smart' watch for anything from £20 to £200, all of which get extremely mixed reviews. I can also get the Vodafone V-Bag, which is a rebranded Alcatel tracker, for £59 with a £3-a-month data-only SIM, and that gets better reviews from what I can see (and has four-day battery life, and is waterproofish.) Only snag: for some reason the V-Bag, which is a small puck-shaped object that comes with a silicone case for attaching it to your bag, doesn't come with nor have the option to buy a wriststrap. Yeah, I thought that was a bit of an oversight, too, especially as Vodafone's pushing the "keep your kids safe" angle. Does anyone have any experience of kid-tracking GPS stuff? Any recommendations?
Parents GPS track their kids? Not passing judgement, this has just surprised the bejangles out of me.
I think it's an age thing, young kids can be a nightmare to keep track of, and the easier you can find them the better. Gareth wouldn't be tracking teenage kids (they'd have phones that could be tracked anyway !). I'm much more surprised that Gareth hasn't just built something to do this.
I was thinking of getting this done... http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/in-store-services/microchipping
Hahaha, i'm a "trained" microchipper, want a quote? Those aren't GPS tracked chips. Can get one that is GPS though, I believe. Not sure where from and I can't see it being cheap. And highly unlikely for humans... haha
Wot 'e says. I've got a six year old and a two year old, and when they're running around having fun it's all too easy for 'em to slip out of sight - the eldest one, at least. Have 'em carry a GPS tracker, you can grant them a little more freedom than would otherwise be the case and easily find 'em when it's time to go. I've 'lost' the six-year-old when she wandered off from a playground in a wooded area before, and it's bloody terrifying - a GPS tracker would have meant considerably less wandering around in a panic shouting her name. I got lost on some sand dunes when I was a wee kid, too. My mother was frantic, asking everyone she saw "have you seen a fat kid in orange shorts?!" Charming, that. It's pretty easy to receive GPS and send the coordinates off somewhere, but somewhat harder to do it in a package that's got good battery life, is waterproofish, and won't weigh the kid down...
I feel like I'd get preoccupied with checking it... probably to the extent that if she ever did get lost I'd be out of battery to track her down anyway. I didn't get a video monitor (or one of those horrific "check they're still breathing" mats) when she was a baby for just that reason. Yeah I got that, all it really needs it a return address though. I'd write it on her forehead but there's always a chance of it washing off
That's what tattoos were invented for On a more serious note, would a bluetooth based tracker be to short a range (60-100ft)?
Get a pack of walkie talkies, they enjoy playing with them and you can always get old if them. You will have to listen to their garbage but the novelty wears off and they end up just wearing them and answering eventually when you call. On GPS side a friend of mine sells a few things that seem to work well, I use for car/caravan tracking but he has pet and wearable that would work https://www.evolve-innovations.co.uk/
We already use those with the older one, but they don't do a lot of good if they don't know where they are. Sounds like I'm going to be picking up the Vodafone V-Bags, then!
I guess people do what they see fit. I'm glad they weren't about when I was a kid, some of my favourite memories are from getting out of sight of my parents. Helped with my sense of independence and self reliability.
A baboon in Portugal tried to adopt me when I was 4. True story. To be totally safe, you should also consider that possibility...
No 4 and 5. And yes. Use to 'lose' myself alot. Drove my parents mental. That wasn't the half of it. Trot on yourself. I find your tone rude.
Lets stop it right there, peeps. However people choose to raise their kids is up to them as long as no one's getting hurt. If you've got nothing on topic to say, say nothing at all.
Our friends use AngelSense for their kids as their youngest boy has a habit of legging it to 'explore'. The thinks he's a pirate at the moment.... Anyhoo, they wouldn't be without it and wish they'd used them for the oldest when he was a sprog. Here's a quick video of how the attachment works:
That looks good, but it's not available in the UK yet (says the website, anyway.) I just can't believe that the V-Bag thing doesn't have a wrist strap option - if it did, I'd never have made this post. I'd have just bought a pair. Might see if I can knock something together with a V-Bag, a kids bracelet, and some Sugru... EDIT: Looking quickly at the video, it looks a bit V-Bag-esque too: a clip that'll work on the straps of a bag or a belt, but kids don't often wear belts or bags, especially at the beach. Hence my desire for something wrist-borne, which does exist but is universally panned as being rubbish.
That makes sense, they're Americans. I just assumed it'd be a globally available product. Seems there's a market for it!
I remember seeing what you're describing in a documentary about Shenzhen...after googling for a while I think this is it. Cheaper than the v-bag and seems to be reviewed pretty well