Avalanche Shovel Which one do you like?

[alrevedup]

I always carry a shovel when snowmobiling. Really liked the Voile under the hood of the Rev. But there is not really a place for it on the Nytro. Liked the SoS in my backpack. But the handle knocks against my helmet. So I am trying the Black Diamond Deploy 3 in my pack. The handle slides into the shovel blade instead of seperating into two pieces.

 

[modsledr]

In my opinion if you're carrying your shovel on your sled, you are risking your riding partner's live's. What will you do in an avy if your buddy AND your sled are buried, and you are the one who has to help them?

What if you roll your sled and cant get to your shovel?

Ask for opinions of those who have been there.

my 2 c
modsledr

 

[8emup]

one that has a handle that extends much easier to dig with!

 

[IdahoMike]

BCA Shovel

I carry a BCA in my back pack that works pretty good.

 

[Q-BALL]

couple voile,hmk and older life-link shovels,i use a slingblade by life-link to carry my shovels.no need to get in pack for shovel.

 

[RMKcowboy]

I have a Black Diamond shovel in my pack, it's not the Deploy but I forget what they call it. I wish I could store it in my pack with the handle on, but my pack's not set up that way I also carry a Gerber folding shovel in the seat pouch of my sled, it's similar to an Army trench shovel and fits perfectly in the seat pouch of my sled. It's kind of small but it does its job.

 

[apache]

I've had 3 shovels and they all freeze up and fail to open, m3 inluded.
is there a shovel that wont freeze like that?

 

[summitboy]

Voile. Super strong, works well. Been in the skiing industry for years !

 

[ttyR2]

I dig the Voile T-Wood shovel I bought. Works great!

 

[applehauler]

i agree your shovel should be in your pack i carry a black diamond good size and weight and it straps to the outside of my kamelback menace pack only fault is handle has to inside of pack but it is fairly easy to get to. my.02

 

[Supplicate]

BCA Chugach shovel in my pack:

my riding partner has the BCA Traverse, I like the Chugach much better because the handle extends further and has a D handle instead of a T handle. I've found I can dig much faster with the bigun.

 

[R J]

I have the BCA shovel with "D" style handle. It comes apart to store easy and extends a pretty good length so you don't have to bend too much. It fits totally concelead in my Klim pack, I do have to seperate the blade from the handle to do this though. It's aluminum and it considerably lighter then any of the Volie shovels. I was using a Volie shovel a bit this past trip and couldn't believe I could actually tell the difference but I could.

 

[Idaho Slim]

No Plastic Blade!!!

I AM GOING TO SAY THIS ONLY 3 TIMES;

Metal Blade Only!

METAL BLADE ONLY!

METAL
BLADE
ONLY!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Hotchief]

Metal

I carry a little Arctic Cat shovel/saw combo on the sled & a big a$$ Black Diamond shovel on the back of my ABS Escape 15.

There's a way to strap a shovel onto every back pack...

 

[cookecity]

Idaho don't you guys on skidoo's worry about bending something on them skidoos with the weight of a metal shovel??????????????

 

[tomx]

I gotta Mammut with a nice metal blade thats pretty damn sharp. Handle slides in side of pack, base of shovel in pocket in front of my Mammut pack. Super handy and quick access.

Worthy of note though, check your probes people! A lot people are going out with wimpy probes and you ain't finding your buddy in a heavy decomposition zone with a weak probe. My advice, 2 meters+ in height, cable rip cord, with meter markings on the pole. My buddy pulled his out Monday in a drill and it was a little over 6 feet and about as thick as a writing pin. We forced him to pick up a new probe on the way home.

80% of any rescue time is spent in the dig. You wanna probe your bro ASAP, know how deep to dig, and then alternate diggers. Everyone should try mock drills every couple times out to keep yourselves fresh, cause in the panic, you wanna be on autopilot.

 

[happylilcuss]

I really like the yellow voille in my pack!! I agree though if nothing else make SURE ITS A METAL BLADE!!!