- Joined
- Aug 5, 2017
- Posts
- 1,625
Earlier this season I was sitting in a safety seminar and a speaker told a story about how a recreational backcountry skier failed to locate a buried partner because the latter was some small, single digit number -- let's say 5cm -- below the length of the probe. I conveyed this to someone in the vein of "don't save money by buying a short probe," but that said, would the general rule then be to carry the longest collapsable probe available?
In other areas of avalanche rescue, I can see a strong argument for a recreationalist, particularly someone my size, carrying slightly smaller gear or gear that doesn't meet standards that equipment for guides and rescue professionals needs to meet if it means that the person can be more effective. In a perfect world, we all want 190lb 6'2" Adonises to be using the largest sized shovel blade with the 75" handle to dig us out (wait, is that just me?), but in the real world, you're stuck with me, and if I and a team of others can get to your airway quickly using a smaller shovel blade because we can actually move that snow, then so be it.
But probe length -- what's the rule of thumb there? What's the length of your probe? Other than weight, which is minimal, what are the cons to a longer probe?
Since we're sharing, mine's 300cm. But tbh, it's a hand-me-down from someone who was upgrading their own equipment nearly a decade ago, so I can probably go longer and lighter now.
In other areas of avalanche rescue, I can see a strong argument for a recreationalist, particularly someone my size, carrying slightly smaller gear or gear that doesn't meet standards that equipment for guides and rescue professionals needs to meet if it means that the person can be more effective. In a perfect world, we all want 190lb 6'2" Adonises to be using the largest sized shovel blade with the 75" handle to dig us out (wait, is that just me?), but in the real world, you're stuck with me, and if I and a team of others can get to your airway quickly using a smaller shovel blade because we can actually move that snow, then so be it.
But probe length -- what's the rule of thumb there? What's the length of your probe? Other than weight, which is minimal, what are the cons to a longer probe?
Since we're sharing, mine's 300cm. But tbh, it's a hand-me-down from someone who was upgrading their own equipment nearly a decade ago, so I can probably go longer and lighter now.