ABS avalanche backpacks

Seems pretty stupid to me. Only getting the pack I mean. There is now way it can 100% prevent burial in an avalanche and its not like you can toss use it to save someone else. The pack itself seems like a good idea but not alone. How would you feel skiing with someone who had only a probe and a reciever. Then they could find you, but thats it

website says something bout 95% chance of staying on top. plus i ski with more than one person and they all have beacons and shit. all the pisters wear em at my resort and ive seen them ski bc on their own. just wanted a bit of feeback is all

Great idea, but why not use both?

95% is high, but its not 100%....the beacon could mean live and death in that 5%.

yeh man but i dont have the money for both so its sorta one or the other

If everyone you ride with has a beacon, i'd go that way first.

If you come along some cash later and still want the backpack, then do it then.

You're an idiot. Hope your friends don't mind riding with someone who can't find them.

seriously.

No point in haveing a sweet backpack so you don't get buried and have all your friends buried instead. Without a beacon, how are you going to find them? ABS backpacks and Avalungs are things you should get after you have a beacon.

this is one of the things i hate about ns, the unprovoked insults thrown out at people without reason.
first of all theres more than one of them and before you say "wat if they all get buried" they know enough about bc safety to avoid that.
and i posted the thread to find out peoples experiences of ABS so if u dont have any, dont post especilly if your just gonna insult me, its not required.
so instead of replyin to this and insulting me further-think and help keep ns a better place by taking it out on your mother

Obviously you don't know enough. If you did then you would still have your beacon, shovel, and probe with you. This is a great item for bringing into the BC, but it will not save your life alone. I know that they say on "THEIR OWN" website that it is 95%, but where do they get these numbers? A beacon, probe, shovel is proven tools out there...and if you buy anything buy an avalung, this is another proven tool. I think you don't belong out there at all if this is what your spitting out.

^im taking in your advice and everything and at the moment im poised towards the beacon etc. just wanted to know bout weight, comfortability etc. and if nyone else out there rided one without a beacon thats all.

You need a beacon, probe and shovel.

then you can get an avalung.

then if you still have some cash, you can get your nifty little pack

No one knows enough about avalanches to avoid them. Take someone like Alex Lowe, one of the most respected, experienced mountaineers of our time. Spent his entire life in the mountains, he got killed by an avalanche. To say your friends know enough about avalanches to avoid them is completely ignorant.

no saying my friends know enough about avalances to not get buried is ignorent, of course if you venture out into bc then theres always a chance of burial no matter how many precautions you take, but you can avoid getting buried which if you read my thread properly is what i say. so i really am not ignorant, im just a novice wanting to go bc and asking for advice from fellow skiers before hand, dont hate on me for it

Ok....usually the name calling bullshit on here is unwarranted, but in this case:

YOU ARE AN IDIOT.  This is not the normal unprovoked attack because you are actually an idiot.  If you had gone thru serious avy training and were using common sense, you wouldn't have even started the thread.  You are talking about short-cutting things that are meant to save the lives of your partners as well as yourself.

Let me quote..." thinking of getting one of these as opposed to beacon,probe etc"

ok.  please. please. PLEASE do not do this. 

The biggest thing about this that bothers me is what happens when someone else in your party gets caught in an avalanche and you have no beacon.  While having the backpack on may save your life...your friends are going to die when you cannot find them.  You wouldn't even have a probe to attempt a probe search.....

Seriously.....avie gear should go like such:
Before you ever go out:
-Beacon
-Probe
-Shovel
-KNOWLEDGE - having these items means nothing if you can't use them.  Also, if you are ok in this aspect than you should hopefully never have to use them.

THEN
Avalung or avalung pack
or
ABS Pack

I cannot believe that your friends would even consider going into avalanche terrain with someone who is essentially pointless in a rescue until you have to start digging.

Mistake happen.  Multiple people get buried.  Just because you think you know doesn't mean it cant happen.  People much much smarter and more experienced that you have made them. 

What happens if you are in a group of 4...and 2 get buried.  You then have just one beacon to search for two bodies.  Party on.

Seriously.....this is almost as stupid as the guy on TGR who wanted to make his own homemade beacon that could only transmit, not recieve.  You are only concerned with your saftey, even though you may say otherwise, because if you were seriously concerned with the saftey of your ski partners you would know that the lives following an avalanche should be as important as yours.

Get the beacon.  Ski smart.  If you can afford it in the future, look into the pack.

I was gonna recommend going to TGR and looking the response there, but Iggyskier pretty much summed up what would happen for you. Its not at all pointless name calling in this case; its entirely warranted.

Everything Iggy said was money. And yes, you are retarded for being so self centered. So you ski down the slope fine, the kid behind you triggers something, has a beacon, but what good would that beacon do? Its a body locator now, not a rescue beacon.

Like i said, Iggy was on the money 100%. just change one thing.
-KNOWLEDGE
-Beacon
-Probe
-Shovel

thats the way id put it. first off, if you had the right knowledge, you wouldnt get caught in an avalanche. given, thats just silly in most cases. accidents do happen, people arnt going to be experts on avalanches from the get go. then get a beacon, a probe, a shovel. buy soem books on that shit. it helps. take classes. just like what iggy said, your shortcutting your way around the issue.

and if you trigger a big slide. like...biig slide. that thing wont keep you above it. im a fan of them, dont get me wrong, but its NO excuse for not using a beacon.

They keep your body on TOP of the snow, dosnt promise which direction your face is going to be laying. imagine, your back is above the snow, your face...buried in only inches. people die getting buried in only a foot of snow.

just be smart and go spend the money of a quality beacon, or even shitty for that matter, at least youd have one.

And if you have mad bank to pay for a beacon, get the Mammut Barryvox Pulse. brand new concept, and its ridiculous. on the screen, it has crosshairs and pinpoints your friends positions, also has their pulse, so you can know how close they are to losing it. costs some bank, but for saving lifes, and your own, its no question.

you're a fucking idiot. sorry. you can't find your buried friends with a back pack.

you all seem to have missed the fact that there will be more than one guy skiing with a beacon therefore someone else who is not buried can locate him i would not ski with just 1 guy who only had a beacon. plus you all act as if ive said im definately getting abs and i dont care if my friends get buried or not so fucking read the posts beforehand.

AK Skier
And if you have mad bank to pay for a beacon, get the Mammut Barryvox Pulse. brand new concept, and its ridiculous. on the screen, it has crosshairs and pinpoints your friends positions, also has their pulse, so you can know how close they are to losing it. costs some bank, but for saving lifes, and your own, its no question.

The mammut barryvox pulse doesnt give you the vitims pulse, it gives you tracks of movement, small movements, in the future maybe they will read the pulse.

By the way, I like the progression of beacons, but I dont like the fact of people playing god, deciding whos to live and die. The pulse is not enough developed, what if someone moves a little a 200 feet away, 10 feet under the snow, while someone else lies 3 feet under 20 feet away - but doesnt move?

I know that you always have to choose who youre going for, bur now our days you go with the one who has the best chanses of living.

And what if they develop different id's (like ip adresses), shall you then rescue your girlfriend or your buddy?

What I'm trying to say is that you already have so much to thonk about, it would only distract you in your search...

Sorry for OT...


By the way, aviegear and knowledge is prime, and I like the ABS better then the Avalung, and ive tried them both...

We did....and you schould still have a becon. You think because your friends have one, and you don't that they will find you. Thats retarded. Do us all a favor and stay out of the backcountry. Your stupidity and and ignorance will get people killed.

You don't get it do you. Nobody wants to ski with a partner that can't search for them, you're just a liability. You seem to be missing the point that both of your partners could get barrried, then you'd be left with a balloon on your back and two dead friends. What if only one is barried and the other's beacon malfunctions? It's rare but it happens. What if your your backpack fails to deploy? or you it deploys but you've ripped out a 5 foot crown and end up barried 10 feet down? What if another party is involved in a slide, "Sorry can't help. But thanks for testing the stability." Please get education before you venture into the backcountry.

You need at a minimum,

Probe
Shovel
Transceiver
Knowledge

There is a reason no one on here has reviewed the ABS for you, we all spent our money on the essential equipment. A few of us have added an avalung because we know mistakes happen.

ah dude chill it. wat have i been sayin all this time. ive kept an open mind on both devices, thats the reason i started the thread in the first place so i could find out the pros and cons of the abs.

just get the beacon.  Being a BC skier partner is a two way relationship.  Even with others there, you present a risk with just an ABS pack.

as I said above...what happens if 2/4 get buried...and then you have just one beacon for 2 bodies.  You will be fucked.

and can you say for sure that you will be skiing with more than one person everytime?

and can you say for sure the ABS pack will save you?

Get the beacon, learn how to use it.  Learn how to travel and ski safely.  You should then never need the ABS pack. 

If you still want it as extra insurance....save up and get it when you can afford it