Arcteryx Voltair Airbag Pack

[Cruiser]

Would take a historic kind of slide to catch you on the stair master!

[PNWbrit]

"We're only skinning up, it's not like you're going to die, what are you so worried about?"

JFC

I hope these are not folks you're in the BC with frequently... or again.

"I found it curious that one of the guides on the trip said he skis with an airbag when freeskiing, but doesn't use one while guiding because he feels it would give his clients reason to doubt his terrain management/snowpack evaluation."

This is also a bit of a head shaker.

This was a "real" guide?

[zion zig zag]

those folks called me out in the morning one day and chided me for having my airbag turned on and the trigger out to start the day. "We're only skinning up, it's not like you're going to die, what are you so worried about?"

These people sound clueless. FWIW, everyone I ski with that has a canister pack treats it like a beacon. Trigger available in avalanche terrain and put away when loading it back in the truck.

I do think the fan packs are nice for being able to deploy multiple times, but realistically if I'm on a hut trip and I have to deploy my one shot canister bag, I think I'd dial it way back after that.

[Cocximus]

"I found it curious that one of the guides on the trip said he skis with an airbag when freeskiing, but doesn't use one while guiding because he feels it would give his clients reason to doubt his terrain management/snowpack evaluation."

Guides that really know what they are doing carry a miniaturized search only beacon.

[gramboh]

As a counterpoint, I used a JetForce 2.0 (the 30L version) for a week recently, and I'll be buying one in the near future. Canister airbag packs are rapidly becoming obsolete. Multiple inflations on a single charge, larger volume airbag, auto-deflate, self-diagnostic, and the weight difference is negligible is you're already committed to carrying an airbag. It felt a little small for a 30L pack, but was workable for mid-winter touring. Something in the 35-40L stated volume would be perfect, but I ski with a 42L Osprey pack as my usual touring pack, so I'm used to having a lot of space.

Multiple deployments is a big feature, in my $0.02, because it means you are going to spend more of your time out there with the trigger out and the pack armed/turned on. To me, it seems foolish to take the weight penalty of carrying an airbag to only have it in a usable state for about 150 seconds per ski day because you're concerned about inadvertently triggering it. It would really suck to get slid on your ascent while your airbag trigger is zipped away in the shoulder strap. I treat it like a beacon: on at the car, off at the bar.

This is neither canister or fan driven airbag related, but I found it curious that one of the guides on the trip said he skis with an airbag when freeskiing, but doesn't use one while guiding because he feels it would give his clients reason to doubt his terrain management/snowpack evaluation.

ETA: the auto-deflate is also a potentially valuable advantage that fan driven airbags have over canister ones.

Thanks, good feedback. Honestly the main reason I even want an airbag is for hut trips or if I ever actually make it to Japan. Guided hut trips scare me more than the usual touring I do in the Whistler area with my buddy, precisely because of boneheads who would say "you aren't going to die" skinning up, huge groups etc. Not that an airbag changes risk assessment at all, but if you get surprised or someone in the group does something stupid it might help. In my 12 years touring I've set off one SA 2 (completely my fault) that I was lucky to ski out of, if I had been entrained an airbag would've likely helped.

Ended up getting the Voltair from my buddy. $900CAD new with tags.

[glademaster]

"We're only skinning up, it's not like you're going to die, what are you so worried about?"

JFC

I hope these are not folks you're in the BC with frequently... or again.

"I found it curious that one of the guides on the trip said he skis with an airbag when freeskiing, but doesn't use one while guiding because he feels it would give his clients reason to doubt his terrain management/snowpack evaluation."

This is also a bit of a head shaker.

This was a "real" guide?

Not regular BC partners, I snagged a last minute opening on a guided week at a hut, so I went in not knowing anyone else on the trip. There were some folks who could have charitably been called liabilities. Some solid folks too, but a disconcerting number of ski-pole probes and shovels the size of garden trowels in the crew.

Yes, the guide who said that is an ACMG certified ski and rock guide.

I do think the fan packs are nice for being able to deploy multiple times, but realistically if I'm on a hut trip and I have to deploy my one shot canister bag, I think I'd dial it way back after that.

Oh absolutely, I agree with that 100%. However, I can see having another deployment available as potentially impacting my decision to ski at all for the remainder of the trip after an incident that would cause me to trigger it in the first place. That's just my own paranoia and not a position I'm advocating for. Just sharing my $0.02.

[PNWbrit]

Not regular BC partners, I snagged a last minute opening on a guided week at a hut, so I went in not knowing anyone else on the trip. There were some folks who could have charitably been called liabilities. Some solid folks too, but a disconcerting number of ski-pole probes and shovels the size of garden trowels in the crew.

Sounds like the guide should have better prepared them with a real gear list? "ski-pole probes - not acceptable substitute for real probe. Shovels full size, metal only"

Yes, the guide who said that is an ACMG certified ski and rock guide.

And wearing an air bag diminishes his clients confidence in his training. skills AND Qualifications?... yep that's definitely not the industry standard procedure these days.

[LeoK]

Hey Everyone. Bump because Arc'teryx is coming up with a lighter battery driven airbag together with orthodox. Can somebody already let me know if I will be able to upgrade my Voltaire to a lighter battery?

[wilcox510]

The new Arcteryx packs aren't really battery packs, they are primarily supercapacitor packs with a tiny battery as well. So I'd give it about 99.99% odds that you will not be able to upgrade your Voltair

[LeoK]

School me: why will this not work? My very basic understanding is that electricity comes out of the supercapacitor - why is ist not possible not practical to transform this electric current to something my pack would take?
Don't get this the wrong way - I totally believe you but would like to learn and understand.

[wilcox510]

I'm not an electrical engineer and am not smart enough to answer all this. However I am confident that there is no way Arcteryx or Ortovox will ever sell you the supercapicitor parts alone for you to retrofit into your Voltair

[Pinned]

People do replace their Voltair batteries with lighter options, as it seems it uses a relatively simple battery. I haven't done this (and don't own one of these packs) but I stumbled into this Wildsnow write up about it while looking at a used Voltair that came without a battery.

https://www.wildsnow.com/20972/arcte...tery-mod-hack/

[XavierD]

School me: why will this not work? My very basic understanding is that electricity comes out of the supercapacitor - why is ist not possible not practical to transform this electric current to something my pack would take?
Don't get this the wrong way - I totally believe you but would like to learn and understand.

Edit: a quick look at pictures indicate the fan and capacitor are one single unit and directly integrated with the airbag. It appears you'd have to re-work the Voltair outer backpack to support the new fan/power supply/airbag system. Seems like a lot of work to incorporate something you probably cant easily source by itself anyway.

[LeoK]

thanks guys, saw this thing on wildsnow, too. But didn't dare to fumble with it yet. I hoped archery would spin off a lighter battery and sell it to me - back when Voltaire hit the market I got the feeling they implied a bit that they would do so if better tech gets better or regulations change... well it seems the market is to small for them to care and I will have to sear a skilled electrician or get my legs in shape...

[bennymac]

The tech rumors thread has some links to details about the new arc/ortorovox packs