Avalung or Transceiver.

[Diogo]

Which is the most fundamental backcountry safety equipment?

[soylent green]

You gotta be fucking kidding me! Take a class or something. I hope this is just a troll.

[Jarle]

Snus, it will save you from everything

[Skidog]

all you need is an iphone

[Gripen]

Snus, it will save you from everything

Fact.....

[njfreeskier]

Dumbest question ever. You need to learn to think fast and talk/type slowly. Or just go out into the backcountry by yourself without a beacon, and let survival of the fittest play itself out.

How the fuck are they supposed to find you without a beacon. Sure you could breath for 2+ hours under the snow, but without a beacon, it will definitely take them longer than that to find you. Just buy both, avalungs are only 120. well worth it.

[nickwm21]

Knowledge, what you do not possess is the most fundamental.......

[summit]

[vtdownhiller]

I hope you can locate me buried 6 feet under with your avalung, they must have upgraded them

[lynchdogger]

Take a an avy course or two and tell your friends to do the same - before you or them become a statistic.

[rush1975]

People never cease to amaze

[gunit130]

Which is the most fundamental backcountry safety equipment?

1) a fucking brain
2) a fucking clue

[neufox47]

Both are not required. Beacons and avalungs are for pussies. Just send it. Ignore the avi report too. They just don't want you to get to the pow before they do. Think about it, who stands to gain when they issue a high or extreme warning? The snow rangers...

[Sillygoat]

Yes this is one of the stupidest questions I have ever heard. There is no "or".
However, if you worded your question better, and maybe explained you want to get into backcountry riding... it does cost $$$, and for safety's sake you can spend a lot, not all skiers have a lot of cash and it's really not up to us to tell you what you "need".
For example, its nice to have a safe car, but not all of us can afford a car with 10 airbags, and its fine to drive a car without any airbags, just not as safe... in the end its up to you, and as far as how safe you and your friends are in a car, or in the backcountry, sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you do all you can and still, the shit hits the fan.

In my opinion, if your trying to figure out where to spend the $$$ and in what order... this is my opinion:
in order and est. price:
Education!!! take a course first, learn about avalanches and the snowpack in your area: $300 for a 2-3 day course in the field. You have to learn how to dig pits, analyze the snow pack, use transceivers; and spend time talking with someone with experience. These courses have required reading to gain the necessary knowledge, but just buying a book is not a substitute.
Gear comes after a course or maybe at the same time to use in the course, but not before: My course provided a loaner tranceiver, probe, and shovel as well as some snow science tech stuff.
As far as gear, you really want it all, but if you had to put it in order:
1.) Probe:
You need to be able to find the exact location, and a beacon without a probe isn't much good, and you can also dig with your hands in an emergency... and also beacons didn't exist for any of the early mountaineers, and they got it done)
2.) Shovel:
For digging pits, performing snow tests and in the worst case scenario, digging out your friend. You could practice and learn a lot with just the old school shovel and probe, but you'd be an idiot to go out into the backcountry. If your 15 years old and on a budget, these tools are good to become familiar with, and absolutely essential for proper use of a transceiver.
3.) Beacon:
Sure they are pricey but they your best hope of being found alive... but only if your friends know how to find you. The amount of people I see and know who ski dangerous slack-country just just a beacon, and no pack is scary, almost as scary as the amount of people who "have never had to use their beacon".
4.) Avalung:
A very good safety backup device to extend the amount of time that one could survive while buried, but you won't see people in the backcountry who have Avalungs with no beacon, but you will see people with beacons and no Avalung... I hope this answers your question a little bit. I suppose an Avalung would also be recommended for Jamie Pierre style airs, or crazy lines in the trees or pillows where you could fall through the snowpack into treeholes, between pillows in into a crevice.
5.) Spot Satellite Messenger:
There is no denying the usefulness of this GPS beeper, or even a GPS phone incase the shit hits the fan, but I wouldn't call it essential.
9.) Specific Mountaineering/Other gear: I have neglected to mention some common sense items, but these are subject to the area decided upon, the intended length of trip etc:
-First Aid Kit! -Duh... nobody plans on overnighting without a tent or sleeping bag, still, very few people ski with an emergency blanket stuffed in a pocket or first aid kit, and they barley weigh a thing.
-Water and Food! Um yeah I think these count as essential survival items.
You can't rely on a cell phone or reception anywhere in the mountains, yet I admit that a lot of idiots have been saved due to having one on them and being lucky.
-Crampons, Ropes, Harnesses, sometimes necessary for the trip, sometimes lucky to have in an emergency... but before this point you should be getting more education... in both first aid, and backcountry travel.
-I'm sure I've forgot something, and hey opinions may differ... but I figured I'd try to answer your question, as shockingly stupid as it came across, its good to ask questions, and although you may regret asking, at least your not stupid enough to ignore the dangers.

[RonMexico]

Clearly it's bacon.

[toast2266]

Inherently flawed question. Stud finder was not an option.

[Hugh Conway]

I vote for the Black Diamond marketing triumph

[sfotex]

all you need is an iphone

be sure to budget money for the beacon app:
http://www.wildsnow.com/1773/avi-the...on-for-iphone/

[bushman]

Bacon and ' you go first'.

[farmer]

Clearly it's bacon.

I'm disappointed that it took over 2 hours for the correct response to be posted. How else will the dogs find you when you use the iphone to call SAR?

[hopelesslyadolescent]

If you're real quiet, you can hear Diogo giggling.

[concretejungle]

Bacon in your pocket.

[Nasty]

Which is the most fundamental backcountry safety equipment?

A BRAIN!!!

[hiplainsdrifter]

This is fun.

[Fatfish]

Can't be that dumb! This is quite amusing.