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snowpulse charger vest vs bca mtnpro vest

JoBoo

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Nov 26, 2007
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Anyone actually tried the snowpulse charger vest? Its definitely light weight at 2 lbs lighter then the BCA mtnpro, but the descriptions don't say what it has for protection. I'm not sure I like the over the head put it on either. I've seen some good reviews about the BCA mtnpro vest so was leaning that way until I came across the charger vest.

Currently I have a Wary avivest and its ok but they went out of business and its pretty hot to wear so wondering if there is something lighter/better out there yet.

Any input is appreciated.
Tom
 

snowracer21

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I'm running a SnowPulse Charger vest this year. Last year I wore a TekVest & BCA Float 22

The Charger vest is the same weight as my BCA Float 22...and it's a vest... I wouldn't say the protection is equal to that of the TekVest (I was wearing a snocross TekVest), but it's decent, and you can always add more padding to it.

As far as comfort... the weight of the pack and whatever you have in it, is disbursed much more equally than just a pack.

I've never worn the BCA vest, but, w/ canister, the SnowPulse Charger vest is 2lbs lighter. However, I don't think you could go wrong with either option
 

JoBoo

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thanks for the info, do you find the charger a pain to put over your head or maybe the snocross tekvest was the same style?
 
B
Dec 3, 2003
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FWIW, I have the Snowpulse Spire LT Vest. Was leaning towards the Snowpulse Highmark from last year, but local shop sold out of them and ended up getting the Spire. Good thing, as I need to downsize how much I carry in my backpack. Spire's storage is ok, but you can only carry the bare essentials. I tried on the BCA Mtn Pro a few months back and it just seemed to bulky for me and I wasn't comfortable in it. The Spire allows you to place a few pieces of armor in the ribs area, which I did.
 

White Rad

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I have been rocking the charger vest all season. I only have my overnight survival gear and first aid in the vest to keep it light and everything else that I need to access throughout the day goes in my tunnel bag. Normally I don't even need to take the vest on/off during the day. I don't find it difficult to put on at all. Having the straps instead of a zipper to secure the vest is also a good design as my buddies with the BCAs are always dealing with frozen zippers later in the day. The weight distribution of the vest design and light starting weight if you don't pack too much gear in it makes for a very comfortable fit.

The chest protection is not at the level of a tek vest thats for sure. The padding in the chest area is pliable and not that thick. However that being said I have taken a few huge hits to the bars and the chest protection was adequate to prevent injury. I think its a good balance of protection where if you require more burly pads to not get injured you are going to be taking a major impact that would be hard to walk away from unscathed anyways. Overall quality of the product it very good also IMO.

One other consideration of the vests in general is that they make your core body temps run warmer. The front chest vents and back side vents on my Klim suit are partially blocked by the vest reducing there effectiveness. I though that the Klim mono suite combo with thin upper layers and then the vest was killer because the reduced bulk of the suit vs. bibs + snow skirt + jacket was much more comfy.
 

Solby

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Anyone have any more info about vests? I'm thinking about a BCA or Highmark
 

Chadx

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The Snowpulse Charger Vest is now also available with a zip up rather than pull over design. It's called the Charger X.

No experience with that vest but 2 lb lighter sounds like a lot, but it really would depend on where you carry that extra weight. If it's within the vest/armor itself, then you would notice it a lot less than back in the backpack portion. We value the armor in the mtnpro and while a bit hotter, we just layer appropriately and it's never been an issue. Nice having the armor there when one needs it.

My wife and I switched from ABS avy backpacks to the BCA MTNpro vest avypacks a couple seasons ago and both love them. I can't see ever going back to separate tekvest and avy backpack. Ours are have the float 1.0 system. The new version uses the float 2.0 so smaller canister, lighter overall, and more room in the pack because the canister is up in the bag compartment rather than down in the main pack body and attached with hoses. That being said, we are wanting to move to a lithium or supercapacitor type tech, but not seeing anyone using that tech in an armored vest avy pack yet. We are not willing to give up our armored vests so will stick with these BCA until someone does.
 
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