School me on avi beacons

[BS Slarver]

In the wake of the tragic Taos accident and our local Avi cannons going this morning, school me on beacons.
Who’s got one ? Which one, why ? Small and compact or still bulky and a hassle so it sits on the shelf or in your bag.
Any recent advances made, perhaps one that’s rechargeable so it just gets plugged in with the rest of the gear at night ?

 

[pais alto]

I have, and have had, a number of beacons over the years. Right now my choice is the Mammut Barryvox because of reliability, range, ease of use, and size. I also have a Pieps DSP Sport that was warranteed for a screen pixel issue but BD let me keep it as a practice beacon, and a Mammut Element which I use when I’m with someone that needs a loaner. Another recent one I had was an Ortovox 3+ which is pretty good, but has less range and is bulkier that the Mammuts. I replaced it because it was over 5 years old and got heavy use. Also, the patrol I work on issues Mammut Pulses, which is a fine beacon.

You can go with the reviews here, this site is generally considered biblical:
https://beaconreviews.com/

But you’ll have to decide on ease of use and features. Like demoing skis, it really helps if you can play with beacons in a shop to see if the interface works for you. I want a beacon that’s easy to use and that I can read easily. For that reason, my personal beacons are the lower-featured top of the line if that makes sense. Beacons like the Barryvox S And Pieps Pro have a lot of awesome features but I favor simplicity in crucial situations. YMMV. Check the features of the higher priced beacons to be sure you need/want them. You don’t necessarily get improved search or transmit performance for more $$.

A lot of people use the BCA beacons, but it seems to me pros tend to go with Mammut Barryvox or Pieps. I could be wrong about that, but check the range figures on BCA.

Software update via your computer (as opposed to sending it in) seems like a good thing. It’s way too rare.

Batteries are cheap, and you need to be conversant enough with you beacon to check regularly for the charge. Many beacon manufacturers tell you not to use rechargables.

I tend to avoid beacons that have just been introduced, same with touring bindings. I’d like to let the bugs get worked out.

All that said, if you’re going to use a beacon, please PRACTICE with it, even if you only want it so that you can be located. Turning it on and off and entering search mode needs to be intuitive in case you’re near a search so that you don’t send out distracting signals. And if you plan to be able to search, that requires training and practice.

 

[Talisman]

Funny you should post this CC, I was planning to do tram laps today and had my beacon which is a BCA Tracker DTS. When the visibility got poor in the high alpine, I decided to keep it on. I have seen slides to bare talus in the Liberty Bowl that wasn't induced by patrol which was sobering. The BS patrol uses a number of beacons and the BCA Trackers are popular.because of proform. BS patrol has a practice area near Iron Horse and also has a "pig" stashed above the warming hut near Powderseeker.

My beacon uses three (3) AAA batteries and one set lasts most of a season.

 

[Analisa]

I use a Tracker 2 because I went to REI the night before my AIARE class, balked at prices, and let the shop guy talk me into at least a 3 antennae beacon. Now, it's what I've practiced with and I'm fast with, so get it right the first time. I've been torn about upgrading to a Tracker 3 and having to do as much practice with a 3 to be as efficient with it. It's a little lower profile, and after a few years of education and practice, I think a few more bells & whistles would be helpful, not confusing.

I'd decide first and foremost whether you're using it to ride inbounds or if you think there's a chance you'll get into touring. If the former, each beacon in transmit mode is as good as the next, so long as it's not ancient/analog (even a 2 antennae option like the Tracker DTS that's getting phased out transmits just as well as a Tracker 2.) Buy based on price or size. For touring, search is where there are major differences from beacon to beacon. I'd definitely go 3-antennae since 2-ant can't resolve spikes and jumps around a bit in terms of the readings of how far you are from the target.

Within 3-antennae, I really agree with the strengths and weaknesses Outdoor Gear Lab details out in their reviews. I don't, however, agree with their rankings. They give "points" to features, but acknowledge that features can also make it more complicated for newer or less practiced users. Thanks to the simplistic design of my T2, I was able to "get it" right out of the box, and I think that's worth something. A lot of users get really fixated on range, since there's a visible number attached to it, and in most avy classes, where they'll do a comparison like "once you get a number on your screen, call out what it is" - but update speed and fine search make a huge difference in being able to get to probing and probe accurately to be able to move on to digging. I highly recommend reading the reviews, but also the "how we tested" and "how to wear it."

https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/topi...e-beacon?specs=y&n=0&sort_field=score#compare

 

[Analisa]

Oh! And to answer a few of your questions - the biggest hassle for me is unrelated to size or the kind of beacon I ride with. It's that I usually don't put mine on unless I'm going through gates or bootpacking up to chutes where there's a station. Cell phones interfere with the beacon if it's too close, and I have classic lady pocket problems where it goes back in the pack while my beacon's on. I don't mind the bulkiness of it under my inbounds jacket, but it's more of an issue when I'm wearing my touring pack with a more substantial hip belt, my layers for touring are trimmer, and in the spring, I'm usually also in a glacier harness so there's a lot of stuff competing for real estate on my torso.

None are rechargeable since it's like your cell phone, where those batteries would weaken over time, and it's important that they go through charge in a consistent, reliable manner, so rechargeable batteries shouldn't be used either. A few beacons can take Lithiums, but you have to change that in the settings so that the battery life registers correctly.

 

[pais alto]

All that said, if you’re going to use a beacon, please PRACTICE with it, even if you only want it so that you can be located. Turning it on and off and entering search mode needs to be intuitive in case you’re near a search so that you don’t send out distracting signals. And if you plan to be able to search, that requires training and practice.

I’m quoting a post from TGR that illustrates why I wrote the passage above. It’s not enough to just turn the thing on and figure you’re protected. You can put others at risk by not knowing how it works, how to operate it, and when you need to switch.

We had a relatively small inbounds slide at a ski area where I was patrolling and the debris was visible from the chair lift. And the debris covered a traverse that returns to the base from a side country run. This ski area has an extremely high percentage of beacon users because they are required to hit the easily accessible side county.
I was first on scene from the top and was trying to do a beacon search and it was next to impossible to do a proper search because so many people kept coming with their beacons on. I am good with a beacon but was reading like ten to fifteen at once, I would get them to turn off but five more would show up.
It was great they all wanted to help and we utilized them in the probe line but way too many beacon on. It added so much time to doing a proper search. Turns out no one was buried but it was a seriously hard situation to control.

https://www.tetongravity.com/forums...de-at-Taos-Kachina-Peak?p=5566582#post5566582

 

[BS Slarver]

^^^^ Thanks everyone for the above insight on all the makes and models.

Cat and heli trips have offered plenty of practice and hopefully those will continue

Completely agree on getting into a shop and feel which one works for me, especially the harness or even if one will possible fit into a current pocket.
If it’s bulky and a hassle to wear then it probably won’t get used as it should

 

[Analisa]

I’d pick a favorite beacon you’ve used from cat/heli trips. If you don’t have a favorite, I disagree with it being plenty of practice.

Also, in terms of ease-of-use, we try to plan our ski day where it’s easy on and off. We wear it all day if it’s high or extreme risk in the area, but otherwise we’ll ski marked runs in the morning, check out the snow for signs they’ve done a lot of work/slide crowns etc, and if it looks good, we’ll hit the bar when it opens and grab a drink & beacon up there. Then we’ll hit the ridge line that’s kind of maintained just to protect the named runs underneath it, where we always beacon up. Once we’ve gotten tired of bootpacking, we’ll go check on pups and unbeacon at the camper. It’s getting strapped in and out when it’s cold and windy that really makes it hard to beacon up!

 

[jmeb]

I have a T3 because that's what I ended up with (coming from a DTS prior.)

Based on your use case, I'd avoid some of the "Pro" beacons with tons of features (mostly related to multi-burial searches.) Stick to simplicity.

I will say the newest iteration of Mammuts beacon is getting pretty good remarks all over for its very impressive search range. It is straightforward and can be found for a reasonable price.

I'm about to take the new AAIRE Companion Rescue course. It's a 1 day course, you don't need a Level 1 for. (Take either pre-level 1 or after, but required before Avy 2). Better spending $200 on that than $200 on a fancier beacon.