I did not read the entire thread, but was left feeling the Spot is still the best option for me. One issue that came to light is the importance of having an advocate you can trust, in place to get the ball rolling in an emergency situation. For me, fairly early on, it became obvious that should I go down, I may not be in a position to push the '911' button. I have learned, not all "I'm OK " transmissions go through and as well, you likely will not send them as often as you should. With this in mind, should you not return, and had not been able to activate the '911' button, it can become a real guessing game as to where you are.
In order to buffer myself against an unfortunate situation becomming worse, I now have 24 hour tracking. With this, the Spot unit sends out a transmission automatically every ten minutes. My Spot is now mounted in such a way as to insure (ideally) that in the event of a crash, the antenna will continue facing upward.
Corey, since you spent the time to read through the entire post, I for one would appreciate you putting together "your take" as gleened from that fellows experience. Perhaps then, it could be posted and made a "sticky" in our Adventure section.... Thanks, Gerry