Avi-Vest Avalanche Airbag questions for you

[whitefish]

Yep. All in one. Avi bag protection, tek vest, storage for gear, bladder pocket, shovel and probe holder, beacon pocket. In addition, how about a separate can of compressed air that is activated after the main bags deploy, then it releases a controlled (metered) amount of air out of a exhaust outlet right near the collar to increase air concentration if completely buried.

i said it here first so consider it my claim on the idea.

 

[bdoe22]

if you could include a tekvest style of protection within an avi vest that has storage as well (ogio style) as others have stated, i believe you would have a serious advantage over the competition. lots of great ideas here. glad to see some more companies working on these, competition will drive the design and evolution of these things.

 

[WARY]

Sorry, out of town doing a demonstration for a few days.

Here's a pic of the rip-cord pull ball..........

 

[WARY]

here's another version of the ball. We went with a ball as we felt it was the best thing to grab with a glove on....

 

[WARY]

.........and here is the OGIO vest we used last year. It worked great and seemed to offer the test dummy a lot of protection. A Tek vest version of the Avi-Vest looks like a great option.

 

[xp174]

Idea's on vest

As a survior of an avalanche because I was wearing an avalanche bag just a few observations...1 I didn't pull the ripcord fast enough so I was tumbling-buried and found it very difficult to get my hand to the ripcord which I did eventually not because I was disorientated but because the snow pressure crushing You is unreal. The bag needs a pressure switch to trigger it plus the ripcord. 2 With the bag on Your back instead of in front You stop face down in the snow .This would also be very bad if You fell through some ice and decided to pull the cord to keep from drowning as it would drown You. 3 I'm very surprized none of Us have broke Our necks with the extra wieght of the helmet on our heads. Your head gets severly gyrated in an avalanche. 4 I totaly agree with previous comments on it being constructed out of gore-tex.5 Lastly If I hadn't been wearing a BVS2 helmet that effectivly blocks of the snow from packing up my nostrils in My ears etc I would have been toast. Just some stuff to think about.

 

[WARY]

We think you have brought up a very good point: that when an avalanche happens it is often difficult to have either the presence of mind or the time to pull the rip-cord.

Several years ago we were testing the device and filming the slide from across the valley. The avalanche went big and came for us. We ran down a pre-contructed escape trench into a grove of 100 foot trees and escaped the avalanche but got blasted by the powder cloud. It sounded like a Boeing 747 landing on top of us. The class 3 avalanche ran over a mile and passed only 30 feet to the side of us. It was a half a mile wide at the bottom when it stopped. The thing is; we all had avalanche air bags on and not one of us remembered to deploy them. The lesson being that if you are wearing an avalanche air bag system, you should ready the rip-cord before you make your run, and you should remind yourself at the beginning of your run to pull the rip-cord if an avalanche starts.

We have thought about using a pressure switch to deploy the device, but we are not sure an air pressure switch would work, and we are not sure a G-Force indicator would work either. We put G-Force indicators on our test dummies for each test, sometimes you get 75 Gs, sometimes you get none. Same thing with air pressure, sometimes the slides are monsters with a lot of pressure at the leading edge, and sometimes killer avalanches are slow and gentle without a lot of speed but with tons of heavy moving snow trying to kill you. We also thought about a voice recognition system that would trigger the thing if you said “avalanche” or “oh hell, I’m screwed” or something but as you can imagine that type of technology is wildly expensive and our target price for the public is about $500.

We have put our air bag on the users back, between the shoulder blades, in order to allow the user to continue to snowmobile while in an avalanche. Just because the system is on your back does not mean you would be face down after the slide. We find our test dummies both face up and face down after the avalanche.

 

[Ex-Member]

......target price for the public is about $500......

Awesome.

 

[WARY]

Dug these photos out from testing in Nevada a couple yeras ago. We had a snowmobile attached to an air bag next to a snowmobile without an air bag. The sled with the airbag ended up sitting completely exposed on the surface of the avalanche after the slide. The snowmobile without the air bag was seen cartwheeling and rolling inside the slide............

 

[WARY]

......

Here's the sled after the slide......

 

[WARY]

The prototypes are in and here are some pics.

Any comments??????

 

[WARY]

......................................

 

[BackCountryBob]

Can it be worn over a Tekvest or maybe a sternum pad that could be fastened with velcro? How about a T handle actuator?

BCB

 

[powdersphinx]

I would also like to see a tek vest shell-type vest. the extra protection can only help. also maybe a pic of where the trigger is located. Was also wondering if the system could be outfitted with a nitrogen system as an option for those of us who change altittudes rapidly and frequently so we wouldn't have to worry about checking the pressures regularly. just a few of my thoughts... keep up the good work the proto looks good

 

[WARY]

Nitrogen can be used in the system powdersphinx.

Looks like everyone likes a Tek Vest type of protection option. Right now we are working to keep the costs down on this first run (trying to make it available for around $500), so maybe we'll address the Tek Vest option in round 2.......

 

[Ex-Member]

Doesn't look like a lot of storage in the back.

Front pockets are generally out of the question for the way I ride, whatever goes in there comes out in little pieces.

Is it camelbak-compatible?

 

[puckered]

I'd wear it. When are you going to make it available? Will there be storage for shovel and probe?

 

[snowrodeo]

wondering if theres enuff room to store a shovel in the pocket under the airbag? wouldnt want the neck of the shovel to interfere with the bag opening. also, are there pockets on the sides for shovel handle and probe?

looks like the ogio vest you had was the "flight vest", which was made for a photograher to carry all his equipment at events like a motocross race. they also make a "flak jacket" which is designed specifically for snowmobilers/snowboarders. might want to take a look at that....

great idea, all-in-all. im sure it will be the best product on the market when your thru with the R & D of it. i will be very interested in getting one.

 

[WARY]

Here's some pics of the mesh on the sides for venting.

There will be room for a shovel and probe, and they will be available this summer......

 

[sledhauler07]

Great idea. I'm interested in one for sure. All the other folks have mentioned the TVest type protection and pockets for prob/handle...

I had one of the vests from Ogio for sledding and ended up taking it back. It held sooooo much snow against my body and trapped in the open pockets that eventually I was pretty wet... even with gore tex jacket on. I think this could have been less of a problem with better net material and making sure the pockets aren't open. The other thing that might be nice is an attachment system (like the military MOLE system) that would allow add-ons like a radio pouch, gps or spot pouch ...

If you had a way to put a pocket on the inside where a guy could slide in a protective plate... like we do with body armor in the Army or football pants kinda thing. could be an add on/upgrade option.

I'm sure you have considered the avi-lung type of device for a sledder to breath if burried... guessing you expect a person to float up to the top or too hard to incorp all in one design. would be really great tho, just think:

avi-float, avi-lung, Tvest, gear carry and cool looks all in one!

all things considered, I'll be a customer if you are in the resonable $ range.