Avalanche Airbags
- Thread starter B the Hiker
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Tom Rankin
Well-known member
Ok, but if they all synch up, won't this trigger all the bags in a group, perhaps mostly unnecessarily?
TCD
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There's something vaguely perverted about the group "...touching all their handles together..." and then blowing up each others balloons... the following paragraph, with the "master / slaves" reference doesn't do much to salvage it....
Seriously, looks like a good system.
TCD
Seriously, looks like a good system.
TCD
Craig
New member
Junk
Your better off strapping a 2X4 to yur ars...
Your better off strapping a 2X4 to yur ars...
Imagine if you will: two friends skiing on a clear and cold day down a pristine slope. They have done the "avalanche airbag" fist bump and are otherwise well prepared for their backcountry ski day. The snow is smooth. They two whoop and holler on their joyous ride down.....little do they know they will soon swoosh into the mini-twighlight zone.
Cut to: skier A stopping at the bottom of the slope to watch B carving some sweet turns down the steep trail. Suddenly he sees a cornice break off and start a slide down the trail directly toward his unsuspecting partner. A yells, but B is in heaven and can only hear the wind and breathing. A realizes that the slide will completely miss the location he's at, but that B is toast unless he's lucky. Will he make it? A is unsure, but (sound of trumpets here) remebers that the Avalanche Airbag has them joined electronically. A pulls the inflate handle......
Meanwhile: B is having a great time and catches sight of an avalanche heading in his direction. He sees that A is safe to the side and starts a straight tuck to head for the clear. He yells to A that he's going to make it ahead of the slide.....
Wham! B puffs up like a popcorn kernel and begins to flail like Chris Farley trying to loosen a necktie. Unfortunately he now loses control and wipes out with an inflated innner tube stuck around his neck. After a bit of flopping and shedding of gear in a random fashion he comes to rest directly in the path of the slide. The slide wipes him off the slope and over a rock edge where he is uncermoniously bounced down a field of rocks. The airbag, as advertised, floats him above the snow where he rides downslope finally stopping as he straddles a medium sized pine tree.
Scene fades out with a lapse into a Leslie Neilsen like rescue scene....
I love thinking about the potential pitfalls of things. The more likely scenario is that during the hike up skier A waits until skier B is between two rocks (or trees or any narrow space) and then hits the inflate handle to essentially clothesline skier B.
Disclaimer: The events depicted in this scenario are fictional and any semblance of real life is coincidental. The skiers could be snowboarders, hikers or anyone else crazy enough to be under an avalanche. Gender and species of the skiers can be changed to match the political correctness of the day. I never saw a tighlight zone like this. The words "Chris Farley" are used without permission. No animals were harmed in the writing of this story. Filmed in Imagination-vision. Key Grip - yes I need to get one. Take 2 pills every four hours, do not exceed recommended dosage.
Cut to: skier A stopping at the bottom of the slope to watch B carving some sweet turns down the steep trail. Suddenly he sees a cornice break off and start a slide down the trail directly toward his unsuspecting partner. A yells, but B is in heaven and can only hear the wind and breathing. A realizes that the slide will completely miss the location he's at, but that B is toast unless he's lucky. Will he make it? A is unsure, but (sound of trumpets here) remebers that the Avalanche Airbag has them joined electronically. A pulls the inflate handle......
Meanwhile: B is having a great time and catches sight of an avalanche heading in his direction. He sees that A is safe to the side and starts a straight tuck to head for the clear. He yells to A that he's going to make it ahead of the slide.....
Wham! B puffs up like a popcorn kernel and begins to flail like Chris Farley trying to loosen a necktie. Unfortunately he now loses control and wipes out with an inflated innner tube stuck around his neck. After a bit of flopping and shedding of gear in a random fashion he comes to rest directly in the path of the slide. The slide wipes him off the slope and over a rock edge where he is uncermoniously bounced down a field of rocks. The airbag, as advertised, floats him above the snow where he rides downslope finally stopping as he straddles a medium sized pine tree.
Scene fades out with a lapse into a Leslie Neilsen like rescue scene....
I love thinking about the potential pitfalls of things. The more likely scenario is that during the hike up skier A waits until skier B is between two rocks (or trees or any narrow space) and then hits the inflate handle to essentially clothesline skier B.
Disclaimer: The events depicted in this scenario are fictional and any semblance of real life is coincidental. The skiers could be snowboarders, hikers or anyone else crazy enough to be under an avalanche. Gender and species of the skiers can be changed to match the political correctness of the day. I never saw a tighlight zone like this. The words "Chris Farley" are used without permission. No animals were harmed in the writing of this story. Filmed in Imagination-vision. Key Grip - yes I need to get one. Take 2 pills every four hours, do not exceed recommended dosage.
Drumhaggart
New member
DougPaul
Well-known member
From what I have seen in backcountry skiing magazines, this is a serious device which can save lives.
Obviously a remote trigger carries the risk that the airbag will inflate when a skier does not expect it. And pulling the trigger on a group will inflate everyone's airbag whether they are in the avalanche/avalanche path or not. A trade-off of risk of unexpected inflation vs risk of not being able to inflate it when needed. Perhaps a group has to agree on a protocol--don't (remote) trigger until the potential victim is actually in the avalanche and out of control. (Problem: What happens when he is still in control but hidden by clouds of snow so that the others cannot tell he is still in control?)
Ideally, a potential victim can inflate the airbag when he needs it. I don't know how big the risk of being unable/failing to inflate when needed might be.
Doug
Obviously a remote trigger carries the risk that the airbag will inflate when a skier does not expect it. And pulling the trigger on a group will inflate everyone's airbag whether they are in the avalanche/avalanche path or not. A trade-off of risk of unexpected inflation vs risk of not being able to inflate it when needed. Perhaps a group has to agree on a protocol--don't (remote) trigger until the potential victim is actually in the avalanche and out of control. (Problem: What happens when he is still in control but hidden by clouds of snow so that the others cannot tell he is still in control?)
Ideally, a potential victim can inflate the airbag when he needs it. I don't know how big the risk of being unable/failing to inflate when needed might be.
Doug
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