Ortovox 3+

Dan - do you think that might have been any factor in having forgot your beacon the day of your accident?

Not that the forgot beacon was a factor or the most important lesson from your incredibly honest and sobbering accident report.

I'm anal about wearing mine. Often do just out of ingrained habit when there is absolutely no need - skiing in bounds on groomers - on zero risk days.

Only ever not use a harness in the spring or with a hudge overnight pack - for comfort. Never just put it in my pack in case I need it later.

Not judgiing at all. If question offends or upsets I'll remove it.

Good question, non offense taken.
I always carry my beacon in my front zippered pocket, attached to my beltloop. That's where it lives. If I ever washed my pants I guess it would come out, but I don't...
I find it faster to get my beacon out when its in my pocket and I don't have to worry about layering issues. And a lot of harnesses are poorly designed. I initially picked up the habit patrolling, because beacons in harnesses are too close to our radios and interfere with transmissions.
The reason I didn't have a beacon was because I had just gotten a new one and had been playing with it the day before and had not girthhitched it to my pants yet.
So in a way, not using a harness system may have contributed, but only because I had become used to always having me beacon with me without having to think too hard about it.

Why we didn't do a beacon check is another question. "Complacency" is the best answer I can find.

I appreciate the question and I invite more. I hope I didn't make it weird for people to ask questions with my little rant. Just avoid judgments f you don't know the details is all.

Ron if range is a priority, which I understand and agree with to a degree - the speed that a secondary search can be conducted with a digi beacon possibly outweighing that advantage - have you tried a DSP? I'm constantly amazed at how much further out it reaches than most all other beacons.
It really is time to retire those old analogs everyone... almost to the point of being industry standard to do so.. you mentioned yourself good reasons why. It's current CAA advise to junk them. I sincerely hope no one is still teaching any avy courses with one as an instructor.

Brit – Thanks for your comments. I agree with all your points.

I probably wasn’t too clear on this but I'm not interested in hanging onto the analog - I'm committed to the change and clearly understand the reasons why I should be.

What I'm interested in is NOT ending up with a beacon that increases my search times... and especially not ending up with a beacon that has a "quirk" that could cause a mental breakdown in a time of extreme stress and panic (of course, I’m not talking about me in such an instance; I'm WAY too cool and collected under pressure : )

Why we didn't do a beacon check is another question. "Complacency" is the best answer I can find.

Yep completely agree.

Very easy to just trust that a regular, (more) experienced or fellow pro tour partner hasn't had a brain fart and to not do a beacon test.

Ron - if you keep looking for "quirks" you'll probably always find them even to the point of sticking with an old dual frequency audio only pieps. These things have been around for ~10 years

Ron - if you keep looking for "quirks" you'll probably always find them even to the point of sticking with an old dual frequency audio only pieps.

Ahh... It would be nice if I exhibited more competence than that.  Regardless, for some reason your warning doesn't worry me

I have messed with mine a bit inside, and actually like the controls. I will be going out this weekend to test it outside.

pics are up on my website...

www.gearinformant.com

Ahh... It would be nice if I exhibited more competence than that.  Regardless, for some reason your warning doesn't worry me

What a truly bizzare reply.

I wasn't "warning" or intending to "worry" you. Nor was I doubting your "competence" or years of experience.

But I'm sorry if I somehow caused your passive-defensiveness.

Please update your beacon soon and encourage others to do so as well.