Every piece of avy gear on you or in your pack is important however it is the
knowledge and practice of using them that makes the biggest difference when an
incident happens so buy good equipment and practice, practice, practice!Avy Beacon- I have used many different beacons and they all do the job they are supposed to. However they all have weaknesses as well so it is important to do your research and buy the one you are the most comfortable with. I like the BCA Tracker as it is easy, quick to use and I can give it to someone with little experience and they will always locate the person. In fact few people know that finding the person is most often the easiest part!
Remember to turn off all other devises such as ipods and cell phones as they can interfere with avalanche trancievers.
Remember to always change the batteries in your beacon, use the half discharged ones for your TV remote or somewhere else where battery power is not that important. Always have your beacon on your body; it should never be in your pack or in your jacket pocket as these items can be ripped off if you get caught.
Avy Probe-Choose a probe that is longer than 240 cm, is easy to put together and is tough. Lightweight gear is great until you have to use it so choose wisely. It is also nice to have some form of measurement on your probe for digging pits and also to let you know how far down the victim is buried.
Shovel-Again choose a strong shovel with a long telescopic handle. The small handles and shovel scopes are lighter but they suck when you need to dig. Remember you won’t be digging through powder snow. Avalanched snow has warmed almost to water and then frozen solid so you want a shovel that can penetrate ice and hard packed snow. Digging is the hardest thing you will ever do so practice a lot. Always carry your shovel and probe on your person, if you become separated from your sled then your without your gear.
ABS Backpacks-These packs have an inflatable bag that inflates if you are caught in a slide. I have no experience with these but they have some very good testing figures and the idea is great. We will see more of these in the market in the future.
Web Sites
www.genuineguidegear.com Genuine Guide Gear-Canadian Company that makes some of the best gear on the market.
www.backcountryaccess.com Home of the DTS Tracker and other awesome avalanche gear.
www.blackdiamondequipment.com Leading edge Avy Gear
www.gvps.ca Greater Vancouver PowerSports carries all avy gear at great prices!
www.avalanche.ca
www.adventuresmart.ca