SOS Mode sends a silent alert from your Totem Compass to the friends you’ve Bonded with, telling them it’s time to come find you. To use it, press and hold the recessed SOS button on the back of your Compass for about three seconds, until the red light behind it starts blinking. Your Bonded friends’ Totems will light up with your alert, and their Compass can lead them to you.
One important limit up front: SOS only reaches the friends you’re Bonded with. It doesn’t contact event staff, medical teams, or emergency services, so it’s not a replacement for them. If you or someone near you needs medical help or is in danger, go to event staff or a medical tent, or call your local emergency number.
The Totem Compass is a screen-free wearable that helps you find your friends at festivals and other huge events without relying on cell service. If you’re new to the festival scene, or you’re at a massive one, dense crowds can quickly become overwhelming. One minute you’re vibing hard with your friends, and the next you’re surrounded by strangers with no familiar face in sight.
The Totem Compass is designed to give you freedom. Freedom to roam, freedom to dance. And to feel free, you have to feel safe. This guide covers how to send an SOS, what your friends see, how an SOS looks different from a lost connection, and what SOS can and can’t do.
What Is SOS Mode on the Totem Compass?
SOS Mode is Totem’s built-in way to call your friends to you. Sometimes at a festival, we’re not in the headspace to venture out alone and find our friends, but we still want to link up with them. Maybe you feel overwhelmed, maybe you’re dehydrated and need to sit down, or maybe someone nearby is making you uncomfortable. SOS Mode lets your friends come to you instead.
It works through your Bonds, the connections between your Totem Compass and your friends’ Compasses. If you haven’t Bonded with your group yet, do that first: here’s how to Bond your Totem Compass.
How to Send an SOS Alert
- Find the SOS button. Turn your Totem over. There are two buttons on the back: the raised one is the Power Button, and the recessed one beside it is the SOS button.
- Press and hold the SOS button until the area around it starts blinking red. That’s your signal that SOS Mode is on.
- Stay where you are, if it’s safe to. Your friends’ Compasses point to your Compass’s location, so staying put makes you easier to reach. If you can, move a few steps into an open area, away from big structures, to help your Totem keep a clear view of the sky.
The SOS feature is designed with simplicity in mind. Festivals are places where it’s easy to experience sensory overload, and when you’re in a vulnerable state of mind, it can be hard to think clearly. One press-and-hold is all it takes.
Press and hold the recessed SOS button until the red light blinks.
When SOS Mode is on, the light by the button blinks red.
What Your Friends See When You Send an SOS
Your SOS goes to every Compass you’re Bonded with:
- On their Totem: your alert shows on their Touch Crystal, which glows and flashes red, so they can spot it even while their Compass is hanging in Vibe Mode.
- When they pick it up: in Compass Mode, the light that represents you blinks, pointing the way. They follow it just like any other Bond Light.
- In the Totem Compass App (optional): friends who use the App can get an SOS notification and see your SOS status on the App’s map.
An SOS alert arriving on a friend’s Totem.
SOS Alert vs. Pulsing Light: How to Tell the Difference
Your Totem uses light patterns to talk to you, and two of them are worth keeping straight:
| What you see | What it means | What to do |
| Your Touch Crystal flashing red | A Bonded friend has sent an SOS | Pick up your Totem and follow their blinking light to them |
| A friend’s Bond Light pulsing | Communication with their Compass has been lost. Their Totem may be off, dead, or out of range | Follow at your own risk, since it shows where they were, not where they are |
In short: an SOS arrives as a red alert on your Touch Crystal, while a pulsing Bond Light on its own means lost communication, not a call for help. Our guide to Bond Lights and Colors explains every light, including how Version 5.0 handles inactive Bonds.
What SOS Mode Can and Can’t Do
What it does:
- Sends a silent, discreet alert to your Bonded friends’ Compasses
- Works without cell service, since it travels directly between Totems
- Can be sent and received even when your Totem doesn’t have a satellite fix, such as indoors, though your friends’ Compasses need your location to lead them to you
What it doesn’t do:
- It doesn’t contact event staff, security, medical teams, or emergency services
- It doesn’t reach anyone you aren’t Bonded with
- It can’t guarantee your friends will see it in time. Like everything on your Totem, it depends on their Compasses being on and within range, directly or through other Totems nearby
- It isn’t a supervision or child-safety device. If you’re bringing kids to a big event, see our guide to keeping track of kids at large events
Why the SOS Button Is Designed This Way
SOS Mode is designed to be an intentional action. The SOS button sits slightly below the surface of your Compass, so you have to apply real finger pressure to turn it on. That way, getting jostled in a crowd won’t accidentally send your friends running.
The SOS button is also completely silent. It won’t alert the people around you, only the friends you’ve Bonded with. Sometimes, when we’re feeling vulnerable or frightened in a public place, we don’t want the people around us to know. The discreet design respects your privacy.
A Real SOS Story From the Totem Tribe
One Totem owner, Adrian from Garland, Texas, shared this in a review. At a festival, their group split up, and one friend suddenly felt lightheaded after skipping a meal, and the friends carrying her snacks were waiting somewhere else in the crowd. They sent an SOS. After a few minutes, the rest of the crew noticed that “the SOS beacon was flashing on their totems,” made their way over, and helped get her feeling better. You can read the full review on our Totem Compass reviews page.
It’s a good reminder of what SOS is for: getting your people to you. For anything serious, bring in the pros.
SOS Mode lets your friends come to you.
Tips for Using SOS Mode With Your Group
- Bond before you split up. SOS only reaches the friends you’re Bonded with.
- Agree on what an SOS means. Before the first set, decide as a group: an SOS means drop what you’re doing and come find me.
- Try it once at camp. Send a test SOS while everyone is together, so the whole group knows what an alert looks like.
- Know where help is. Find the medical tents and info booths when you arrive. SOS gets your friends to you; staff get you care.
- Stay charged and updated. An SOS can only go out, and be received, from Totems that are on. Charge overnight and update every Totem in your group before you go.
Your Safety Matters at Music Festivals
Imagine a world where everyone feels completely safe and free at a music festival or live event. It would be filled with more joy. More dancing. More beautiful memories. More love. That’s the world Totem is working toward.
Safety at a festival isn’t just about your physical wellbeing. It’s a feeling that weaves through every dance, every shared smile, and every moment of pure joy. When we feel safe, we dance without restraint. We belly-laugh. We open ourselves to the beauty of human connection.
The Totem Compass is designed by festival-goers, for festival-goers, and it’s now used by 65,000+ people in 80 countries. The SOS button is there for peace of mind, so that even in your most vulnerable moments, your friends are one press away.
If your crew is getting Totems together, the Totem Compass Bundle builder lets you customize the best Bundle for your group size, for up to eight people, and you can split the payment with friends at checkout using Paysquad.
The Totem team.
Build your group’s Totem Bundle →
Already have your Totems? Here’s how to Bond your group before you go.
