How effective are avalanche airbags?

If we left all the safety gear in the car, we wouldn't leave the parking lot.

My comment about terrain selection stands. I don't go anywhere I wouldn't without an airbag just because I or anyone else has one. This thread reminds me of that idiot on TGR who used to post about the East Vail Chutes and how he felt it was his civic duty to cut and ride them to keep them safe for the newbies who end-up back there underequipped and underinformed about the dangers of the near-resort backcountry. He stated numerous times that he felt safe doing that solo because of his airbag and avalung systems.

You can't cure stupid, but you can refuse to follow it into the BC.

An airbag deployment most likely saved the life of a skier in that tunnel creak avalanche.

i don't use one because of the added pack weight and a bad back.There's also the question of taking greater risks due to having one and perceived avalanche protection (see risk homostasis theory)

i am trying to get a local designer intertested in designing a light weight air tight pack that you would blow up, using lung power or light weight volume pump, before you descend.

the idea is to inflate the pack volume after you empty the pack of your descent kit.

An inflated pack may also help with tree well falls and object  hits, as well as avys.

I don't know if it would  have the volume of an airbag however.

Good you are innovating... and Im not putting your idea down but avy air bags do not work on the theory of flotation( a common and understandable mistake)... they work on the theory of substantially larger mass that causes bigger objects to rise to the top during the flow of the avalanche..not my opinion...science...google it. Your inflated pack would have to somehow increase the pack volume by a factor of at least 3 over a normal pack to be the equivalent of an air bag....something to think about.

www.snowbigdeal.com/avalanche-safety-gea...he-airbags-work.html

Considering I do a lot of solo skiing and feel a need to start switching my skiing up by doing more off piste skiing, I figure my best option is to have an avalanche airbag. How effective are these devices? Could they also help protect the individual from a massive fall over rocks?  From this video, it looks like a worthy investment. I figure with no wife and or kids, I might as well start skiing as such!lol

They have proved to be effective in certain circumstances.
They are heavy and depending on the type you buy, can be a pain in the ass to travel with and get refills.
Not sure the electric versions are fully proven yet and Im waiting for the next cycle of electric ones before I update my current snowpulse bag.
I like that ones that offer head protection via the inflated bag which is why I bought the one I have.
I'm sure you can figure out the heuristic traps they can produce without being lectured to.

If you can afford it...why not?

Check Wildsnow for the definitive review.
www.wildsnow.com/5014/avalanche-airbag-backpack-overview/

My comment about terrain selection stands.

Your propensity for the need to be "right' is in and of it's self a heuristic trap.
You don't know what you don't know.

My inflated ego would add another 15L.  

Don't be so modest.... Much more than that
Im heading to Haines tomorrow to inflate my own ego and will be a heli- fan boy for a few days.
I'll let you know how the guides stack up compared to our beloved NCH guides.
Interestingly enough they provide you with a mandatory avy air bag pack and a mandatory harness.
Hope the weather cooperates.

There was a good presentation on this subject a couple years ago at the NW Avy summit at UW - I've looked online for it but could not find it. One of the difficulties in trying to calculate a statistical advantage (or not) of using air bags is trying to find avy events where there were folks with and without airbags AND the individuals were subject to similar conditions.

If I remember the conclusion correctly it was that air bags did increase your chance of survival by less than 20% - so as usual it depends on how and where you ski.

There were some not very good examples - some skiers that did have bags, for various reasons, did not deploy them. And in two examples skiers undid the crotch strap as it was uncomfortable, got caught in an avy, and deployed their air bag. But they died because the bag pulled off their shoulders w/o the crotch strap. Jesus - if you are going to carry the dang thing use it as directed!