Anyone got an opinion on requirements- whats good and whats not?

Moastly for that Canada and that US – sholud have bought some years ago, its only a matter of time before were more dead than we currntly are

Thank you kindly

Plum

I have an Ortovox one but never used it in anger. I believe they all operate on the same frequency so should be fine anywhere in the world.

Requirement – knowing how to use it. Get a well known and reliable brand.

You should try to do a course if possible or at the very least practice with them.

As a “recreational” user, definitely go digital (as opposed to analogue) for more intuitive use (pros tend prefer working on analogue for higher accuracy, but unless you have the practice of proper grid search logic, analogue is useless to you).

I have a Mammut Barryvox which has “served me well” (thankfully haven’t had to use it in an emergency situation) for 10 years and counting.

I have an Ortovox 3+.

As above, make a mountain snow safe course a priority and training in how to use them. I got caught out and think of myself as being a very safe person on the mountain.

Thank you all

and yes you are right to point out I should take a course too

Plum

More advanced ones add more features so if you are keen to rescue your mates and not just get pulled out yourself, go advanced.

Facewest have some pretty good info on them and the BCA is always highly recommended. The BCA 2 cuts down search times even more due to the 3 antennas

http://www.facewest.co.uk/BCA-Tracker-2.html

I’ve been looking into them and am very seriously considering on, but I’m on the fence. Worried it might give a false sense of security and unless you travel in a well prepared and trained group, not sure how effective it would be.

Ortovox do make good units, and as someone who doesn’t use it all the time, a digital one would make more sense for ease of use. Have a chat in a good ski shop in the UK and see what they recommend, but as noted above, they’re set for worldwide usage so you don’t have to select something north American. Don’t forget though that you will also need a shovel and avalanche probe at the same time – the transceiver is pretty useless on its own.

Doing a course is absolutely essential to start to get a feel for it, and how best to approach any avalanche victims. then keep using it – schedule some time each trip to go and practise. A number of the large European stations now have testing sites so you can run around like a headless chicken for a while.

Finally, if you get one, never go skiing without it again. You may not be planning on going off piste, but if you see something happen in the mountains at least you can get in there and help, rather than stand and watch helplessly.

It is best to find somewhere you can try them out… lot of literature available on the web. I think beacon reviews (use google) will provide lots of info. 3 Antennas makes things easier. I’m personally not a fan of ones with lots of advanced features as I prefer it to be idiot proof. I tried (I’m living in Canada so plenty of opportunities to test in Beacon basins) Ortovox, Barryvox, BCA and Pieps – decided for me the Pieps DSP was the one I found most intuative so that’s what I got.

I have a BCA tracker and its dead easy to use. Though its not that great with multiple burials.

But for finding a single target its simple to use and very quick..

Excellent, thank you for all this great information

Plum

+1 for Facewest – excellent shop.

As above not much good with shovel and probes to dig someone out with but they could potentially save your life if you wear one. If with a group and I know I’m going off piste all day I’ll take all the gear. If its snowed a bit but im not planning on going off piste (much) and not with a group then I just wear my transceiver alone.

I imagine most/all piste security guides will use a transceiver to find people as a first resort, if your buried without one try to get knocked unconsciousness and wee yourself!

Not sure if this still applies but several years ago a piste security guy got buried and died. He had a transceiver and so did the people looking for him but they didn’t find him in time – turns out he had his phone on and it confused the signal.

http://pistehors.com/news/forums/ Good website although french based.

Regarding phones, I think it’s the searchers phones that confuse the signal so you need to put it in flight mode straight away, before activating search (right after calling piste patrol – program the number in with a # in front so they are first in the phonebook).

Also, don’t use rechargeable batteries as they don’t have a slow/predictable discharge – they cut out dead.

Make sure it’s compatible with the one that your companions are using and that you all know how to use it!

My 2 cents would be – get a good quality one but don’t get too fixated by the bells and whistles. Avalanche situation will be very high stress so you want something simple to use, not something which is geared towards professional ski patrol and has lights flashing all over the place. For a solid group of skiers with a lot of back country experience have a search within the forum at

http://www.telemarktips.com/

You’ll get some good advice there.

Try to go on a course, if your not used to being off piste.

Also keep an eye on the weather forecast for the place where you are going a couple of weeks before and when your there. Understanding how the snow layers have built up/thawed wind etc really does help. Speak to locals they have a dam good idea what areas are avalanche prone under what conditions.

Over time you also can get a 6th sense for slopes that are safe and not safe feeling the conditions under foot (to some extent) these days though I dont ski enough to even even go majorly off piste without a guide… even then I dont trust them!

And slightly off topic but this book is also worth every penny. Has a lot of information on snow pack build up, weather conditions, avalanche rescue etc. Written by a UIAGM ski guide and is very readable rather than being too dry and boring.

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Be prepared to carry a probe and fold up shovel as well , if your serious .(Ortovox m2 owner here ) .
Having seen and been next to a couple of slides the speed and amount of snow that moves is incredible and digging with your hands might take a while.
Alot of shops and SCGB hire them out as well . If you are only going for a week might be worth looking into

+1 for carrying all 3 items (in the backcountry), and knowing how to use them. (If I’m staying ‘in-bounds’ and it’s dumped heavily, I’ll often just wear the transceiver).
Not sure it matters what [fairly up to date] transceiver you use as long as you are comfortable using it i.e. it becomes 2nd nature and you don’t have to think about it.(they all operate at 457 KHz)

There’s plus and minus points regarding analogue or digital in terms of coarse & fine searching – number of antennas etc, but apparently despite analogue devices such as the Ortovox F1 (pretty much a ‘work horse’; easy to use & long battery life), the ‘industry’ recommendation is to move towards digital.

Digital transceivers often have advanced ‘multi-search’ features etc which prevents some of the confusion that could occur when an older analogue devices picked up multiple signals – it could be tricky to isolate and pin-point each one.

I’ve now retired my Ortovox F1 in favour of an Ortovox 3+ (also purchased from Facewest – highly recommended).

Look out for ‘practice areas’ at many resorts – these allow you to practice and refresh your search techniques.

Some places offer a discount bundle when you buy transceiver, shovel and probe. Whatever you get, practice, practice, practice and make sure the people you head out into the Backcountry with are also comfortable with their kit – they are going to be the one’s digging you out if you are unlucky enough to get caught in a slide!

DTS Tracker 2
The best example of the KISS principle

Echo the thoughts on courses, I’m an experienced bc skier and even I benifited from the day
sais and sport Scotland run regular events

Worth every penny , but practice practice practice

I run a mammut dual analog / digital unit and mates are on tracker 1/2 ‘s
All work broadly as well but the mammut has a bit longer range in the analog search mode but if I needed somebody to find me I’d wantbthem to be on a tracker

Says it all really

+1 to doing a course. I did one several years ago and was surprised how hard it was to find a buried one. That was with older tech but if it’s to be of any use you should be able to do a search in the heat of the moment.