Avalanche Beacon

ned thanks for the tip. I have been looking into the Ortovox M2. Sounds like this would be the unit to get.

I'm going to second Ned_Flanders, we have similar thoughts about this. Don't discount the range of a transeiver as this to me is the major drawback with the Tracker (that being said, I have a Tracker). When shopping for transeivers do your homework: read the specs, go to the store and try them all out, pick a few and rent them if possible for extended trial, read the specs again. I'd suggest checking out the Ortovox X1, it's a digital beacon like the tracker with a claimed 65m range (as opposed to the Tracker's 40m range).<br><br>I bought Bruce Tremper's "Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain" yesterday. While I haven't had much time to dive very deep into it yet, it looks well written, well illustrated and very informative.

Just got a Barryvox prior to my last hut trip. This replaced an Ortovox F1, which is now my daughter's, and which, in turn, replaced an Ortovox dual-frequency she had been using. <br><br>Anyways, Day 1 at the Hut the guides put us clients through a drill. Starting outside transceiver range and given a general direction to go the team with two Barryvoxs found two burials in less than 8 minutes. The team without the Barryvoxs took at least twice as long. <br><br>It's a slick unit (hope I never have to use it in earnest). It is programmable, for example, allows specification of Time Before Auto Revert to Send and allows toggling between Digital and Analog search modes.<br><br>For what it's worth, Ruedi Beglinger and Battle Abbey give these units to their clients.

Great info, Brent.<br>I do truly covet my older analog unit with its purported 90M range (SOS-F1).  And I'm pretty fast with it... I think.  That said I've still been considering an upgrade, mainly due to the stories such as yours, of drastically shorter recovery times with the digitals.  It just does not seem smart to ignore such a technological advantage.<br><br>That said, I'd like to add something for the self proclaimed beginning backcountry gliss aficionados posting earlier in this thread:  remember, while most of us more experienced (??) bc travelers wouldn't even think of going into the bc without an avy beacon, the beacon is definitely NOT our safety cushion.  <br>With a 1 in 3 chance of survival statistic associated with complete burials, it is not much to depend on, as your sole survival tool.  If I (perish the thought) am ever forced to use my beacon, for real, to rescue (or recover the body of) a skiing companion I will KNOW that I failed in using my primary bc snow safety tool, the knowledge, judgment and skills to AVOID the avalanche monster.  In light of recent incidents, it is pretty obvious that none of us  can be TOO accomplished at that.  I have a whole list of things I want to do to improve myself in that area.<br>So, YES, buy a beacon.  But ALSO get the training... and continue the training.<br>

Ron thanks for the advice. I am tyring to get into a class in Feb. I am very excited to begin this learning process. So with that said I am open to any tips or advice. Also if anyone would like to take a newbie out and teach him a thing or two.......

Our little gang welcomes newbies with a beacon, shovel and an eagerness-to-learn attitude. Most all of us started that way. Our trips are a bit slow and mellow for some (got some geezers in the group, yours truly included).<br>We go out most every weekend. Feel free to email me when you can get out.