A word of caution about AVY Packs

[Polar Express]

I'm very excited to see all the interest in the inflatable packs! And I agree that with the new, lower price-point BCA is offering, more folks will be wearing them. I like the idea enough that my wife and I will each have one as soon as they arrive.

I would like to humbly offer a word of caution:

Don't go anywhere you wouldn't go if you didn't have it!

I'm a firm believer education and avoidance is the best way to come home alive. Our beacons, probes, packs and shovels are supposed to be the items we have IN-CASE everything else went cow-poop on us.

The reason I started this thread is I hope folks out there don't think " I gotta pack so I don't need a class" or "I got the rescue stuff, so I'll be fine if the area we're riding slides". We wear it, but we shouldn't ever use it.

Ok, I'll put the soap box away for now. Sorry for being the party-pooper.

PE

 

[STAFFORDIRT]

Great advise!

Not a party pooper- couldnt have said it better!

 

[dragonblue]

Definitely not a party pooper! We aren't invincible, and the packs, great as they may be, aren't immune to malfunction.

 

[snowww1]

An avalanche airbag pack is like the airbag in your car, you hope you never have to use it, but if you do it's a great thing to have. If you're using the airbag on a regular basis, you have some bigger problems.
Education is essential, you have to know when to deploy it. An avalanche airbag pack is not a replacement for avalanche education.

 

[enis750]

GREAT Topic

as well, here is a great link to a very detailed and informative FREE online avy course:

http://ocw.usu.edu/Forest__Range__a...now-dynamics/AvClass/Schedule/Start Here.html

this is no substitute for an in field class, but it's a start

 

[BCACanada]

We agree...nothing replaces education. For the early season riders, we suggest that the snowpack is very volatile with the new heavy dumps of snow....be very careful out there, pick your routes carefully and check the avi bulletins.

 

[PowderProject]

I'm very excited to see all the interest in the inflatable packs! And I agree that with the new, lower price-point BCA is offering, more folks will be wearing them. I like the idea enough that my wife and I will each have one as soon as they arrive.

I would like to humbly offer a word of caution:

Don't go anywhere you wouldn't go if you didn't have it!

I'm a firm believer education and avoidance is the best way to come home alive. Our beacons, probes, packs and shovels are supposed to be the items we have IN-CASE everything else went cow-poop on us.

The reason I started this thread is I hope folks out there don't think " I gotta pack so I don't need a class" or "I got the rescue stuff, so I'll be fine if the area we're riding slides". We wear it, but we shouldn't ever use it.

Ok, I'll put the soap box away for now. Sorry for being the party-pooper.

PE

Well said brother.

 

[jtoo]

Thanks for your 2 cents worth, because it needed to be said! Us experienced folks, (older) hopefully have determined that we are not bullet proof. Ye, less experienced folks keep on testing murphy's law, and having an avalanche air bag doesn't mean you don't have to take some training, and doesn't mean you don't have to practice with your beacon and your probe either. Please, practice with your safety equipement, and that includes your air bag! For your buddies sake, and hopefully your buddies will practice for your sake.

As: The great English Philosopher, Herbert Spencer said, "The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools."

And as Thomas Jefferson wrote: "I'm a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it."

 

[backcountryislife]

Crap.


Well, that just screws up my plans for this season!!!


Well said, it's easy to get to thinking you'll be fine because you have a new toy on your back.

I don't think I was any stupididerr last season with my ABS than I was the year before, but It's nice to have a tiny bit of piece of mind that comes from being as well prepared as possible.

 

[SnowBigDeal]

Great post. I agree, it is something that you should have and never hope to use and don't put yourself into a situation just because the airbag may save you.

 

[RaggedEdgePerformance]

Great post! I just purchased a bag for my husband, but we talked about it and went back and forth for awhile of whether or not to purchase. These avy bags should not be confused for "angel wings" that are gonna keep you out of trouble. You have the brain, not the avy bag! it's still the persons responsibility to pick and choose the hills he or she wishes to play on. The avy bag is a "tool" to carry and hopefully one that will not have to be used. Avalanche education is still the key!

 

[jtoo]

And still the most important piece of safety equipment is your brain, use it or lose it.

 

[Polar Express]

bump to the front page.

 

[Qreiff]

Polar......I think you hit a grand slam with this topic. Great job on keeping this topic on the "frontal lobe"!!

 

[Polar Express]

bump

 

[550iq]

It pleases me to read this kind of dialog. Yes indeed. The true meaning of avalanche awareness is coming out.

 

[Polar Express]

another bump...
Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, and has a great New Year! (come home alive!)

 

[EagleRiverDee]

Excellent post!

The fact is that it is all too common for people to get "the gear" and then take chances that they would not have taken without "the gear". I've read that this is becoming a problem with people that carry PLB's and SPOT's- they get themselves in bad situations knowing they can be rescued...and then they have to call for help...where if they hadn't had the PLB or SPOT they probably would have used better judgment.

I think it's good to bring this type of thing up now and then just so it's in the back of all our heads...have the gear, but ride with the judgment you'd use if you didn't have the gear.

 

[Ore-sno]

Great Post! I may be in the minority here but it seems the more safety equipment I get the more cautious I get. Maybe because its on my mind more, or I'm just getting old

 

[Polar Express]

Ore-Sno,

I agree. Knowledge is interesting. This may be one of those situations where the more you learn, the more you realize just how much you don't know.

Sometimes, we think we can 'out-think' mother nature, or some sort of 'it won't happen to me' kind of attitude. Unfortunately, that opens the door for problems.

All we can do, is do our due diligence, and try as hard as we can to go to classes to learn, check the avy reports, evaluate the area, etc., but in the end errors happen. Weather in the mountains is a funny thing. Sometimes situations grow that are not expected. Yes, we currently have fantastic technology, but on occasion, that can fail, or there can be an error. It could be a clerical error, (someone hits the wrong key) or a human judgment or measurement error, and the 'avy report data', could be wrong. I'm sure the avy centers are all very careful, and this statement was not intended to put them down. But, it would suck for a honest error to cost someone health or life. The avy packs are cool, but they should not be relied upon.

Be safe, and live to ride another day,

PE