Best Backpack for Snowbiking?
- Thread starter DieselTwitch
- Start date
R
Rush44
Well-known member
I just picked up a new Wary AviVest after trying it on at my local dealer. I love the fit, it's not a big pack on your back and feels really snug, shovel/probe storage on your back plus some additional storage.
Plus, it's on sale right now for $650 (normally nearly $900). Awesome deal.
http://www.thewary.com/vest/index.php
Plus, it's on sale right now for $650 (normally nearly $900). Awesome deal.
http://www.thewary.com/vest/index.php
Has no one ever wiped out badly, and the shovel attached to the back pack eats your sides and neck? Pobes on the pack, shovels on the track
I like it. Have you been riding with it yet? Wondering if that small of storage works. It is a good deal and I've been wanting an airbag pack. Hmm.
They need to come out with some of those bags for the bike too. After dumping about 15k on the ride I'd be pretty bummed if I lost it.
J
jeffc
New member
Does yours have the external shovel stow? How about capacity for a camel bladder and a little more room for extra gloves etc?
R
Rush44
Well-known member
The pack does have some extra storage but not a ton like a traditional backpack. That is why I picked this pack since I carry almost everything on the bike itself except for my shovel probe beacon and communications gear. The shovel storage is external and I also think there should be enough room for a medium sized camel bladder. There is also plenty of room for extra gloves and other small items.
ABS 22L Throttle pack. plenty of room for shovel, probe, food, etc.
Tools and stuff keep on the tunnel, nothing but back pain for you down the road otherwise.
Tools and stuff keep on the tunnel, nothing but back pain for you down the road otherwise.
My ski and bike packs have the shovel and probe in one dedicated pocket inside the pack. It is safe in a crash, and if you need to rescue someone just doff the pack and one zipper frees the gear.
V
vector boy
Well-known member
90% of backpacks have shovel and probe storage inside for this reason.
I've never had a problem with a shovel and probe hurting my back, probably because it only weighs about 2 pounds together.
I'd recommend a Float 22 or the AviVest like stated above.
I myself picked up a Float 22 this year, and plan to really only pack shovel, probe, gloves, water, and a sandwich in it. Don't need much more and you never know what will happen on the mountain. If we did we wouldn't have to carry all this crap on us.
Snowpulse Highmark 22.
Snowpulse is the only Avy pack with true trauma protection for your head. 25% of avy deaths are trauma related. If you've ever had the pleasure of working on a trauma victim (read sarcasm here) you'll know not very many survive, it's a large bummer and it can be a lot of work exhausting yourself and your riding partners which then causes other issues.
Another thing to remember is we may be the most careful riders in the world but we are all at the mercy of idiots from other groups doing stupid stuff like climbing above another rider when they are stuck on a hill, slide comes there goes that guys gear if it's on the bike/sled. As you may have guessed I'm a proponent of all your gear on your body. I carry 2 shovels, 1 strapped to the bike for digging out and the other for rescue. I NEVER use my rescue gear to dig out, period.
It kinda pi$$es me off when guys who want to ride with us don't have the best beacons available because it's quite possibly me who will suffer or die because they were too cheap to buy the best available safety gear but they will by a new set of shocks no problem . The new 3 antenna beacons are mandatory IMO.
Sorry for the rant but that's JMO
M5
Snowpulse is the only Avy pack with true trauma protection for your head. 25% of avy deaths are trauma related. If you've ever had the pleasure of working on a trauma victim (read sarcasm here) you'll know not very many survive, it's a large bummer and it can be a lot of work exhausting yourself and your riding partners which then causes other issues.
Another thing to remember is we may be the most careful riders in the world but we are all at the mercy of idiots from other groups doing stupid stuff like climbing above another rider when they are stuck on a hill, slide comes there goes that guys gear if it's on the bike/sled. As you may have guessed I'm a proponent of all your gear on your body. I carry 2 shovels, 1 strapped to the bike for digging out and the other for rescue. I NEVER use my rescue gear to dig out, period.
It kinda pi$$es me off when guys who want to ride with us don't have the best beacons available because it's quite possibly me who will suffer or die because they were too cheap to buy the best available safety gear but they will by a new set of shocks no problem . The new 3 antenna beacons are mandatory IMO.
Sorry for the rant but that's JMO
M5
I think that everyone needs 2 shovels... one in the pack and one on the machine. I see it all the time, a guy with a airbag gets stuck on a hill- off comes the airbag to get the shovel out. They don't want to put the bag back on while they're digging out because it's hotter and will just have to be taken off to put the shovel away. I don't see how this could be any safer than keeping your shovel in the sled.
So here's my take on the shovel on the machine accident.
1. Witness the avalanche and try to maintain eye contact for the last seen point
2.Turn away, get your shovel and probe off your machine, then try to find the last seen point again
3. Scramble up to 1/2 a mile carrying your shovel and probe through boulder size chunks of snow
4. Operate your beacon for a search with one hand while carrying your shovel and probe with the other and hand and continue to scramble through the boulder size chunks oh yah you are moving uphill too.
You get the point
M5
1. Witness the avalanche and try to maintain eye contact for the last seen point
2.Turn away, get your shovel and probe off your machine, then try to find the last seen point again
3. Scramble up to 1/2 a mile carrying your shovel and probe through boulder size chunks of snow
4. Operate your beacon for a search with one hand while carrying your shovel and probe with the other and hand and continue to scramble through the boulder size chunks oh yah you are moving uphill too.
You get the point
M5
how to mount
I have my shovel on the front forks of the sno bike.
Bikes sleds or sno bikes.............no pack, except when I archery hunt and diddle along.
Sat through quite a few avalance training sessions and 10 years ago the rage started to be you had to have the pack look, way cool........and something has to be there. So now its shovel and probe pack and stuff.
Mostly I'm tired of going to avalanche funerals because studs would not leave big sno days alone........regardless of the location of their gear.
Only way to be avalanche safe is working the muscle between your ears, and I don't ride with those that are flabby there.
I have my shovel on the front forks of the sno bike.
Bikes sleds or sno bikes.............no pack, except when I archery hunt and diddle along.
Sat through quite a few avalance training sessions and 10 years ago the rage started to be you had to have the pack look, way cool........and something has to be there. So now its shovel and probe pack and stuff.
Mostly I'm tired of going to avalanche funerals because studs would not leave big sno days alone........regardless of the location of their gear.
Only way to be avalanche safe is working the muscle between your ears, and I don't ride with those that are flabby there.
J
JimBridger
Well-known member
I had a friend that was one of the 25% trauma victims. Small slide, took a tree to the chest.
I had another friend that went out with his buddies after a 40" dump on christmas eve a few years ago. My buddy Brock, was the first to cut across the top of a ridge, his two friends and the one friends little brother followed. A massive slab broke loose behind him, and he turned down, wot and outran it. The last kid to go (Brocks friends little brother) saw it fracture, and he sat on the ridge watching the middle two getting swept down the hill. He had a good idea where they ended up. They all had top of the line beacons. Brock and "little brother", had the first kid out of 6' of snow in less than 20 minutes. The second kid was over 20' deep, and with the help of other snowmobilers in the area, had him dug out in an amazing 45 minutes. They were both dead. The search and rescue told brock he had done everything by the book, and they couldn't have done it any better.
That long story being said.... A beacon is a great way for your body to be found before spring so your family can have some closure. That's all I feel a beacon is good for. I do feel an avy pack will increase your chances of survival one because of the flotation, and two, reducing trauma. Yes, staying off the snow in high avy risk is the best thing you can do for safety, but there is always still that chance to find that slope that is just going to slide, even if the snowpack seems stable. I'll keep myself safe by using my head first, then bringing along a probe, shovel, beacon, and avy bag. Just my $.02
I just ordered a BCA Float 22 bag.
I had another friend that went out with his buddies after a 40" dump on christmas eve a few years ago. My buddy Brock, was the first to cut across the top of a ridge, his two friends and the one friends little brother followed. A massive slab broke loose behind him, and he turned down, wot and outran it. The last kid to go (Brocks friends little brother) saw it fracture, and he sat on the ridge watching the middle two getting swept down the hill. He had a good idea where they ended up. They all had top of the line beacons. Brock and "little brother", had the first kid out of 6' of snow in less than 20 minutes. The second kid was over 20' deep, and with the help of other snowmobilers in the area, had him dug out in an amazing 45 minutes. They were both dead. The search and rescue told brock he had done everything by the book, and they couldn't have done it any better.
That long story being said.... A beacon is a great way for your body to be found before spring so your family can have some closure. That's all I feel a beacon is good for. I do feel an avy pack will increase your chances of survival one because of the flotation, and two, reducing trauma. Yes, staying off the snow in high avy risk is the best thing you can do for safety, but there is always still that chance to find that slope that is just going to slide, even if the snowpack seems stable. I'll keep myself safe by using my head first, then bringing along a probe, shovel, beacon, and avy bag. Just my $.02
I just ordered a BCA Float 22 bag.
Every time I read something like posted above my heart sinks to the bottom of my stomach. I wear a snow pulse avy bag. Just what I like and is comfortable. No matter what I think a quality avy pak is necessary. Also being familiar with the operation of said bag is just as important. Remember these bikes will sidehill on the steepest slopes out there. And on top of that you can stop on those slopes like no big deal. I personall have found myself in bad spots and was like wtf am I doing? And I didnt even realize it at first cuz of how effortless it was to get to those dumb spots. Dont be cheap cuz a good avy pak is spendy or dont have the it wont happen to me im smarter than that attitude cuz that may bite you too. To everyone out there that has seen it first hand I cant imagine what it woukd be like. To everyone else, I hope you never have to.
