The older, more experienced rider I've become, the smaller the tunnel bag has become.

[Chadx]

... some guys would look at me like im nuts for having a shovel on the sled and in my pack....

We all carry two shovels in the groups I ride with; Good avy shovel in the backpack that never comes out except for training or for avy recovery. Then a cheapo/old avy shovel on the tunnel of our sleds/snowbikes. That tunnel shovel is the one we use for everything as it's quick access and the blade gets all beat up. And, dinged up shovel blades can tear up your backpack, too.

Well worth the extra 24oz to have a second shovel. Who wants to pull off your backpack every time you want to pull out your shovel? Not to mention risk of taking your avy pack off, to get out a shovel, when you are stuck on the steeps. And, I'm not going to wait around for someone else to show up to pull the backpack shovel out for me (and usually they are not coming up to where your stuck anyway).

Having dedicated avy shovel in pack and recovery shovel on tunnel makes good sense to me (and everyone in our group apparently).

 

[Chewy22]

We all carry two shovels in the groups I ride with; Good avy shovel in the backpack that never comes out except for training or for avy recovery. Then a cheapo/old avy shovel on the tunnel of our sleds/snowbikes. That tunnel shovel is the one we use for everything as it's quick access and the blade gets all beat up. And, dinged up shovel blades can tear up your backpack, too.

Well worth the extra 24oz to have a second shovel. Who wants to pull off your backpack every time you want to pull out your shovel? Not to mention risk of taking your avy pack off, to get out a shovel, when you are stuck on the steeps. And, I'm not going to wait around for someone else to show up to pull the backpack shovel out for me (and usually they are not coming up to where your stuck anyway).

Having dedicated avy shovel in pack and recovery shovel on tunnel makes good sense to me (and everyone in our group apparently).

If i'm not getting stuck, then I'm not pushing myself and not really having fun. We would waste so much time digging shovels out of our packs. But more importantly, like you stated, the pack shovel stays in good working condition with the hope it never has to be used outside of training.