New vest, now beacon placement problem

[Chern_889]

Just picked up a new snowpulse vest to replace my gen1 BCA float and now I'm not sure where to wear my BCA tracker 1 beacon. The way the tracker harness sits is on the left side of the ribs, usually under your coat. but now with the vest you can't wear it there comfortably, not to mention it would be nearly impossible to get too without taking off the pack completely.

Just curious if anyone else has run into this issue and what your solution was. I'm thinking I might wear it in the front "radio" pocket of the vest without the harness, and teather it to the nearby buckle with the bungee type strap that is attached to the beacon. My only concerns with that is if you need to take your pack off to get your shovel/probe it leaves you without a beacon until you put your pack back on, should you get caught in a multiple slide situation.

 

[Snowbird11]

most vests require you to shift the beacon to just below the ribs on the outside of the abdomen to be worn comfortably. it may take some playig with the harness to accomplish this.

if you choose to wear the beacon in clothing, the pants pocket is an option as long as you can tether it off. that said, i've seen slides rip pants off victims before as well. no matter how you choose to wear it, you'd be best to keep it away from other electronic devices by at least 8" when transmitting.

 

[wfieldin]

I picked up a Wary Vest and am considering placing my beacon in one of the front pockets, seems like it will be secure enough.

 

[CBlock13]

I also have the wary vest and was thinking about putting it in my front pocket also but not sure if thats a good idea or not. Anyone have some input?

 

[dcreasy]

I'm in the same boat, Just purchased a snowpulse vest but am not sure where to put my beacon. I was planning on putting it in the front zippered pocket of the vest but I'm not sure if the cold weather will affect the batteries

 

[Always war]

I wear the the avi vest, and wear my beacon like snowbird said below the rib cage, on the abdomen. It does feel uncomfortable at first, but after awhile you don't know its there.

I would suggest wearing the beacon the way it intended to be worn. It doesn't take long to take off the vest. If you wear a pack you still have to practically take it off and unzip your coat, to get to the beacon.

Sure would be sad if you had the vest ripped off your body, and the beacon was in the pocket.

 

[Norona]

This is a great post to remind people to actually practise getting at your beacon. Try it with your group stop them and say get your beacons out ready to search and time them, people are usually surprised how long this can take, obviously wasting sometimes many minutes just to do this, remember it is easy to stand around and say were going to practice a beacon search but another to do a real life demo. I would say a vest pack that fits properly and with a crotch strap is pretty safe, just make sure your beacon is tethered like it would be if it is in its regular holster so if you drop it, yo don't lose it in the powder...

 

[Snowpulse]

Wearing your beacon & a vest.

The Snowpulse Highmark Vest does limit you from wearing your beacon in the standard chest harnesses. The fit is too tight to have a beacon under your jacket, under your vest. You risk cracking ribs in an accident. I personally wear the vest and we have come up with a few options for you

Your two best options are:
- Radio Pocket. There is a zippered pocket on the right shoulder for either a radio or your transceiver. Just make sure to attach the transceiver's safety cord to the zipper pull and tuck the excess material into the pocket with it. I find that I tend to forget to turn the transceiver off at the end of the day in this location, so this tends to cost me a bit more in batteries.
-Pants pocket. With the front cargo pockets on the vest, my pants pockets are generally empty. Again, make sure to attach the transceiver's safety cord to the zipper pull and tuck the excess material into the pocket with it.

 

[Chern_889]

Thanks for the insight! I will be wearing mine in the radio pocket, with the elastic teather (BCA tracker) attached to the near-by chest buckle. Seems like it will work good with easy access and not be in the way at all.

Jason