For those with ABS Airbag, does it give you a sense of security?

SnowBigDeal · Dec 7, 2007

Curious poll:

For those who ride with an ABS airbag, do you find yourself in avalanche terrain you normally wouldn't be in if you didn't have the airbag?

DARKO · Dec 7, 2007

Nope, i bought for the sole reason "just in case", it will give you a better chance at living, but it doesnt do sh!t if your gettin pounded thru trees etc. It does feel good knowing you have 1 extra piece of equipment to aid your survival, but to rely it would be stupid and senseless.

I still laugh at dudes that take there backpack off to try and himark there buddy by 2 feet. LOL, ya go up the hill, leave your shovel and probe right in the slide path, that will really help you. That extra 7 lbs is really going to help you get some gay braggin rights for gettin 3 inch's higher.

Insaneboltrounder/sjohns · Dec 7, 2007

Gives me a feeling that i have maybe one more chance at life it things go bad. I wish all my buddies have them so it could possibly prevent the heart attack id be having trying to get to them and dig them out. Im not 20 anymore.... Now that i think about id have to really like you to go rippin into a avey site and bust a gut diggin your mouldy azz out

reloader · Dec 7, 2007

I do feel better about my chances but I dont ride anywhere that I wouldnt have before.

up-high · Dec 7, 2007

I'm with Darko. I don't take any more chances than before I had the ABS. I think of it as increasing my odds if things go to sh!T. Don't like avys. Nope, uh uh, not a bit!

bigbird · Dec 7, 2007

DARKO said:
Nope, i bought for the sole reason "just in case", it will give you a better chance at living, but it doesnt do sh!t if your gettin pounded thru trees etc. It does feel good knowing you have 1 extra piece of equipment to aid your survival, but to rely it would be stupid and senseless.

I still laugh at dudes that take there backpack off to try and himark there buddy by 2 feet. LOL, ya go up the hill, leave your shovel and probe right in the slide path, that will really help you. That extra 7 lbs is really going to help you get some gay braggin rights for gettin 3 inch's higher.

100% agree

Doomore · Dec 7, 2007

I view it as a life insurance policy. I have too many friends who have nightmare stories of what it feels like to get tumbled in a SMALL avalanche. I don't take chances on purpose. But some times you get sucered into bad places. Even harmles areas can slide.
Doo

FurryCURT · Dec 7, 2007

Easy Darko... for some guys 3 inches is a HUGE deal. It might actually double the size of the thing they were measuring !!!!

BTW... I figured out how to get mine to be a foot long.....Fold it in half !!!

speedemon · Dec 7, 2007

little better feeling about it, if i knew it would save my sorry a$$ no matter what, ya i'd be riding chris burandt style, but only if i knew i could hang onto the handlebars of my sled and have it pulled to the surface too! lol

Remmy · Dec 8, 2007

Nope, i bought for the sole reason "just in case", it will give you a better chance at living, but it doesnt do sh!t if your gettin pounded thru trees etc. It does feel good knowing you have 1 extra piece of equipment to aid your survival, but to rely it would be stupid and senseless.

Exactly, I'm just as scarred of an avy today as I was before I rode with a bag.

T-REX · Dec 8, 2007

I wear one just in case and hope I never have to use it. It doesn't make you 10ft tall & bulletproof.

Insaneboltrounder/sjohns · Dec 8, 2007

tequila does that for me

reloader · Dec 8, 2007

DARKO; I still laugh at dudes that take there backpack off to try and himark there buddy by 2 feet. LOL said:
Never seen that, but I guess it takes all kinds.

Hey you can still be killed in the avalanche by being smashed into a tree or ice boulder or whatever, but you probably will not be buried, and that is really important to me.. If you die from hitting a tree then that's it, I don't want to be trapped alive buried under the snow, and that is the main reason I bought the bag.

OuraySledder · Dec 8, 2007

SnowBigDeal said:
Curious poll:

For those who ride with an ABS airbag, do you find yourself in avalanche terrain you normally wouldn't be in if you didn't have the airbag?

I think you would be stupid if you did.

I certainly feel like I have a better chance of surviving with the bag, thats why I wear it. I think the newer, better machines goad me into places I shouldn't be in more than the backpack. We can just access more terrain than ever before. Doing so, with better and better machines, and improved riding skills, almost naturally leads to taking more chances.

This will be my third year with an ABS pack, and no, I don't feel like Superman when I wear it, but maybe just a little smarter.

jsellaz · Dec 8, 2007

I really disagree with the idea of people using ABS bags for a sense of security. Sounds to me like a greater chance of dying. When I was caught in an avalanche there was so much force and it happened so quick that it would not have been physically possible to inflate an ABS bag. Im not dissing on ABS bags im sure they can help given the right circumstances. But people that are using them as excuses to ride up chutes and avalanche terrain are asking for it. Its really not worth it to die and leave our loved ones behind. Thats the bottom line. Lets be smart and realize whats important.

OuraySledder · Dec 8, 2007

jsellaz said:
I really disagree with the idea of people using ABS bags for a sense of security. Sounds to me like a greater chance of dying. When I was caught in an avalanche there was so much force and it happened so quick that it would not have been physically possible to inflate an ABS bag. Im not dissing on ABS bags im sure they can help given the right circumstances. But people that are using them as excuses to ride up chutes and avalanche terrain are asking for it. Its really not worth it to die and leave our loved ones behind. Thats the bottom line. Lets be smart and realize whats important.

Did you see somebody say that here? Did I miss it?

Human error is the main cause of avy deaths, you probably just plain should not have been there. Those of us wearing ABS packs, that I hear from, are probably more cautious if anything. You have to be a little more concerned about coming home to shell out the $$$, and that includes picking safe terrain.

I've never been buried, never been on a trip where someone has gotten buried. It sure as heck isn't for a lack of riding the terrain, just the drive up the hill is on the most avy prone road in the lower 48. Then I get preached to by skiers and guys who think I bought the pack to "really get wild out there" guys who have been buried. How much sense does that make? I am as safe as possible, the pack is a safety tool. Anybody making excuses for not having a pack like this are the ones I am worried about. You must be invincible! Man, I'm out there just plain scared all the time, and I think that is a good thing.

jsellaz · Dec 8, 2007

OuraySledder said:
Did you see somebody say that here? Did I miss it?

Human error is the main cause of avy deaths, you probably just plain should not have been there. Those of us wearing ABS packs, that I hear from, are probably more cautious if anything. You have to be a little more concerned about coming home to shell out the $$$, and that includes picking safe terrain.

I've never been buried, never been on a trip where someone has gotten buried. It sure as heck isn't for a lack of riding the terrain, just the drive up the hill is on the most avy prone road in the lower 48. Then I get preached to by skiers and guys who think I bought the pack to "really get wild out there" guys who have been buried. How much sense does that make? I am as safe as possible, the pack is a safety tool. Anybody making excuses for not having a pack like this are the ones I am worried about. You must be invincible! Man, I'm out there just plain scared all the time, and I think that is a good thing.

Well im glad to hear that you have not been in an avalanche.I hadnt been in one or even seen someone buried in one until 3 days ago. Look the only point im trying to make is please dont use an ABS bag as an excuse to ride around in avalanche territory knowing not to be there. Thats it. Now i dont know if there are any people out there that are like that and if there are then I am speaking to them. For all the others such as yourself please disreguard this message. Im glad you have common sense and use it in the hills, i wish more people used it. Im sorry if you misunderstood my message it was not my intent to offend anyone.

05900 · Dec 8, 2007

Ya..What he said!! Could go on and on but you either get it or you ski.

900dragon · Dec 9, 2007

T-REX said:
I wear one just in case and hope I never have to use it. It doesn't make you 10ft tall & bulletproof.

^^^What he said. I'm more of a boondocker anyways,but it does feel a little better knowing you've got some what of a backup.

OuraySledder · Dec 9, 2007

jsellaz said:
I really disagree with the idea of people using ABS bags for a sense of security. Sounds to me like a greater chance of dying. When I was caught in an avalanche there was so much force and it happened so quick that it would not have been physically possible to inflate an ABS bag. Im not dissing on ABS bags im sure they can help given the right circumstances. But people that are using them as excuses to ride up chutes and avalanche terrain are asking for it. Its really not worth it to die and leave our loved ones behind. Thats the bottom line. Lets be smart and realize whats important.

I read your story... and I sympathize with what happened but I'm not going to put a whole lot of stock in the safety ravings of a guy who was highmarking in the dark not wearing a beacon. Maybe you have learned, but talk about "asking for it"....

For those with ABS Airbag, does it give you a sense of security?

Does an airbag give you a sense of security?

Yes, I ride areas I wouldn't if I didn't have airbag

No, I would ride the same terrain regardless of whether I have an airbag

I don't have an airbag, so I don't know.

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