Originally Posted by
kansarasc
PLBs are an excellent rescue item and highly recommended. They operate in an identical fashion to an ELT (or an EPIRB) except that they are manually triggered. They are very reliable assuming you are in good enough shape to trigger them. Indeed, assuming they are on your person at the time, they are more likely to survive a crash than an ELT is. And any new PLB is going to have a built-in GPS receiver which will encode your exact position onto the 406MHz ELT signal. Most of the GA ELTs don't have this feature. I carry a PLB myself for all of these reasons and more. That's in addition to the 406 (non-GPS) ELT installed in my helicopter. Honestly, I should really move up to a satellite messenger like the Garmin inReach. It can perform all of the same functions as a top end, GPS-enabled PLB as well as provide 2-way satellite text messaging.
It's worth noting that this ELT failed because of, again, poor maintenance on the part of the MRO and the owner. Because of the broken lugs on the switch, broken prior to the crash per the report, it was unserviceable. Also, contrary to what the report says, if you look at the photo carefully you will see the outer jacket and shield of the coaxial cable have been pulled out of the antenna connector. The performance of the ELT would have been significantly degraded at the very least under those conditions.
I just recently went through the battery replacement cycle on my Kannad 406-AF ELT. The cost of having this done is a joke given that it's 10 minutes of shop time and about $50 worth of material. With the cost involved I gave serious though to moving up to a Kannad 406 Integra AF, which is less expensive than replacing the 406-AF and has a built in GPS receiver. But a careful study of the design, and a call to Kannad, confirmed that the GPS receiver in the Integra AF
is only served by an internal GPS antenna. In other words,
the GPS feature is useless in a metal skinned aircraft! 
This sort of nonsense is typical in the ELT world.
Here's a discussion of why ELTs are not so good and why PLBs or satellite messaging devices are a better choice:
Here's a textbook example of how a satellite messaging device can get you home in time for dinner:
I carry bug spray, too. It's important to be comfortable while waiting for your ride home
