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Thread: Has the Avalung become a joke?
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01-30-2012, 09:55 AM #26Jacket Cobbler
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www.freeridesystems.com
ski & ride jackets made in colorado
maggot discount code TGR20
ok we'll come up with a solution by then makers....
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01-30-2012, 11:52 AM #27
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01-30-2012, 12:06 PM #28
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01-30-2012, 12:08 PM #29Registered User
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01-30-2012, 12:20 PM #30
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01-30-2012, 12:34 PM #31Registered User
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If your back wasn't broke maybe you could swim to the top if the slide.
We all understand that most people who die in avy's die of suffocation. We already know that. But if you're knocked out or injured of course you are going to get buried. My point is, most people get trauma during avalanches that could prohibit them from saving their own life.
And if you look at my first post in this thread I said I would wish I had both options available to me in the event of a slide. But if you're unconscious from hitting a rock a fat lot of good either option is going to be for you.
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01-30-2012, 12:46 PM #32
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01-30-2012, 12:48 PM #33
systemoverblow'd = icelanticskier ?
off your knees Louie
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01-30-2012, 01:06 PM #34
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01-30-2012, 03:32 PM #35
This guy did it:
http://www.skiingthebackcountry.com/...alung_Backpack
(old story, probably been up here before)Cold water stoke
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01-30-2012, 04:08 PM #36
On the subject of the cause of death in avalanches:
There are more than one set of statistics to go off of but I've never heard a figure higher than the mid 30s for percentage. A quarter is the stat I usually quote.
The argument of "what if disabling injuries contributed to asphyxiation " is somewhat specious in THIS context. I would say that it contributes, but no more so than making the argument that reducing chances of asphyxiation might increase the trauma deaths because some people die of asphyxiation before they have a chance to die of their traumatic injuries! I think the latter situation is much more likely!
That said, we can make arguments that both safety devices help in both departments.
A person with an Avalung in will have a protected airway and thus has a better chance of escaping the avalanche or at least avoiding some trauma or deeper burials. People tend to panic when they cannot breath through mouthfulls of snow. Obviously, the Avalung protects most against suffocation.
Similarly, airbags aim to reduce asphyxiation by preventing burials. However, they may also reduce trauma by providing a bumper from certain impacts and keep a person on the surface of the slide where they are less likely to be ground against rocks/logs on the bed surface. On the other hand, and I'm not aware of any evidence for or against this conjecture: certain people argue that an airbag can lead to higher victim speeds and longer carry distances resulting in a higher chance with higher consequences of encountering trees and boulders.
Nothing special, just common sense. Trim the straps if you aren't going to sling it again. Don't wrap where it interferes with fit and adjustment.Last edited by Summit; 01-30-2012 at 04:22 PM.
Originally Posted by blurred
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01-30-2012, 05:21 PM #37Registered User
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01-30-2012, 05:31 PM #38
He meant a EAN so a common mix might be 36% O2... not a lot of gain.
Originally Posted by blurred
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01-31-2012, 12:59 AM #39
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01-31-2012, 07:42 AM #40
Cut off all the straps and leave ~4" of material above the mouth piece.
Locate ideal position for avalung on top of pack strap. Put yer pack on and hold it in place so you get the mouth piece in the right spot.
I like to use a speedy stitcher to sew the top piece of material (by mouth piece) to the pack strap.
I don't like zip ties but use tape to secure avalung to pack strap in 1-2 additional places.
There is a bit of webbing on the tail of the avalung that you can thread some p-cord through and attach loosely to the straps that secure your waist belt. Keeps tail of avalung from flopping around.
Center punch big lines while chanting avalung and airbag will keep me safe while i crush it.
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01-31-2012, 09:20 AM #41
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01-31-2012, 09:56 AM #42
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02-01-2012, 11:50 AM #43
EXACTLY !! I've always been sitting on the fence when it comes to Avalung use, but the massive back to back snow dumps of this year has decided it for me. I'm getting one on order post haste. There are many other snow immersions which it might by a little more time besides avalanches. Treewells, like someone here mentioned. I've been in tree-wells but never been inverted in one where there was a suffocation danger.....but who's to say that next time, I WON'T be inverted and stuck down there like some sort of cheap party trick. I want one. Icefields....I travel them occasionaly....always with trepidation and wariness, but always butt-puckered about going through and ending up in a crevasse. More snow means the signs of potential crevasses are more hidden. I want a avalung for that reason too. ANYTHING that can give you just a bit more time. (usually, though with a crevasse, the danger is not so much suffocation, but that you're fucking jammed in down there in BLUE ice, it's going to get very cold and you are going to DIE....I think a 44 would be more useful in that case....crevasses have ALWAYS been my absoulute worst, most vile nightmare!!!...and is why I no longer do solo icefield traverses...only with at least a party of 3 now!).
That they're not seen to be statistically effective might reflect more upon testing procedures and sample populations than anything concrete.
They're fairly small, and don't add incredible weight, so I'll take a gamble on them.
In theory, they should work fairly well...I guess I'll have to wait until it ships to find out the practicality aspect.
Anybody here ever have NEEDED to use one, had one on hand and then USED it?? Tell your story.
--"The reason death sticks so closely to life isn't biological necessity - it's envy. Life is so beautiful that death has fallen in love with it; a jealous, possesive love that grabs at what it can." by Yann Martel from Life of Pi
Posted by DJSapp:
"Squirrels are rats with good PR."
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02-01-2012, 11:51 AM #44Registered User
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02-01-2012, 11:56 AM #45
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02-01-2012, 12:12 PM #46
Didn't I just get done saying that the suffocation aspect of a crevasse is not that great??? I coulda sworn I did....that thing in parentheses () ??? Please READ fully before commenting. But there are other immersion and suffocation aspects in icefields and snowfields besides falling into deep crevasses. There are various undulations and holes that one can get pitched into..and end up inverted like a cork, especially when wearing a heavy pack. You ever slip off a stomp-trail when wearing a large pack and pitch head first into a lower pack of deep and light snow from a dump?? I have...NOT fun. Can't move. Luckily people right behind me....but what if they were on the next ridge? That avalung might bide some extra minutes until someone either notices you're missing or sees your legs sticking out.
Do you perhaps write political ads, PNWBrit? The people that do are REALLY good at taking a sentence or even just a word in this case, and then taking it so fundementally OUT OF CONTEXT that the original intent was fully obfuscated by the spinner's own rendition. You'd be really good at that....there is still time left before November.
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EDIT: Doesn't matter. Right NOW what I'm trying to figure out is WHY, with these simple sneakers I'd just bought, do they give you fricking laces as long as tree-climber's boots????? Answer me that.Last edited by Alaskan Rover; 02-01-2012 at 12:24 PM.
"The reason death sticks so closely to life isn't biological necessity - it's envy. Life is so beautiful that death has fallen in love with it; a jealous, possesive love that grabs at what it can." by Yann Martel from Life of Pi
Posted by DJSapp:
"Squirrels are rats with good PR."
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02-01-2012, 12:24 PM #47More snow means the signs of potential crevasses are more hidden. I want a avalung for that reason too
Edit: or fill it with helium and just float out. We'll probably need Rog to give a second opinion though..
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02-01-2012, 12:36 PM #48
I was thinking it would be better to fill the airbag with nitrous oxide, so that at least one could spend their last few moments wedged in against the cold blue ice wals in some state of euphoria. make that last whippit a great one!!
What about those damn shoelaces, though? What's up with that?
--"The reason death sticks so closely to life isn't biological necessity - it's envy. Life is so beautiful that death has fallen in love with it; a jealous, possesive love that grabs at what it can." by Yann Martel from Life of Pi
Posted by DJSapp:
"Squirrels are rats with good PR."
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02-01-2012, 01:10 PM #49
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02-01-2012, 02:42 PM #50
I'm curious about this as well. For me, I'll usually leave the mouthpiece positioned near my mouth, but I haven't once skied a run with the mouthpiece in. And never having been in a slide, I'm not sure how difficult it would be to actually chomp down on the mouthpiece while going for a ride.
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