Difference between analog and digital beacons?

you guys getting this upset with a 17 yr old kid, he is better off with the same beacon as his buds, so they can help him out in using the beacon. throw in a new digital beacon, and he is on his own. tried out a new pieps unit, nice flashy, but left it on the counter, the old sos sb beacon still has more range, won,t cost me $500.00, less confusing. but when the sos craters, i'll take another look at the digital beacons.
can't see you guys changing his mind with the internet beat down attitude. give the guy the info he needs to make an informed decision. as long as he has a beacon and knows how to use it he is good to go. you guys need to lighten up.

Dear imdoo'n...

Tone cannot be conveyed in text and I think you may be reading the wrong tone into it. You might picture a guy typing furiously on his keyboard shouting "this guys attitude is garbage"......this is not the case. I can only speak for myself and I can tell you I am not an angry person nore do I type posts in that manner. The tone you can read into this post would be relaxed, and the setting you can picture would be something out of the intro to master piece theater... you know....roaring fire and books in the background, me sipping cognac and writing this with a quill and ink whilst sitting in a grand chair in my plush housecoat. You might read my responses to ole johnny boy with a kind of smart assed tone kinda like " hey johnrodgers...give your head a shake and think about safety in a different way".

You know the thought that would go through your head....you know the one, when Ex President Bush would talk about the war and have that smart assed grin on his face while he was doing it. Didn't you just want to cuff him up side the head and say "hey dip $h!t....when you talk about war, you're supposed to use the frouny face!! Take that tone I guess. Your not giving him a, (quote "internet beat down"), just hoping he reads it and then maybe changes his view about the relationship between monitary value and human life. (johnrodgers not bush.....he's a saint LOL!!)

If he does read this then what would get the point accross to him better, imdoo'n?

Oh pillow feathers, you are sure are incorrect in your post johnrodgers....or

Hey bud! How bout you think about your budds lives in stead of thinking about a couple of bucks and give your head a shake...

I think number two is more effective......it is more effective at putting the point across and at grabing the audience.....like it did you. Would you have joined in if I wrote the first or would you have completely missed the point on what this is really about......attitude towards safety.


(use calm tone here)Oh and the "flashy" Peips which has less range will pin point better than yours and speed up the probing aspect of the search. You seem to be stuck on range so here's another for you imdoo'n. The Barryvox pulse which in your opinion may be "flashy", has more range than yours and will also pin point better above the victim (spikes) and speed up the probing aspect of the search.(use calm tone here)

I think I am done with this thread, talking in circles. People just seem to see anger and don't actualy read the posts for what they are. They also don't throughly read them as we can see by imdoo'n comparing the shortest rage next gen beacon to make his look better. But once again I'm not saying by any means that ANY analog beacon is bad. I am simply saying that there are better options available these days.

It's interesting looking at that comparison graph above, I had thought that the Pieps was the big daddy for range, I'm surprised to see that the pulse beats it (and the sos) with the S1 being close behind.

MNUD... I can't believe you just put down G.W.B. on a sled forum... prepare for the wrath!! (just don't say anything about Reagan & it'll all be OK!!!)

It's just like masterpiece theater in here... plenty of drama!!!:face-icon-small-hap

LOL!! Thanks for the heads up backcountry. I figured that may stir the pot a little but it was the only comparison that popped in my head at the time LOL!!

man you need to relax a little, maybe have a few or something. you could tell him he would get a much better beacon for only a few bucks more, may be easier to use, may also be more operator friendly. may be his buds upon seeing his new beacon would be more likely to upgrade, i don't know there are all kinds of ways.
you don't like my comparison, to dam bad. i still say when the old sos sb dies i'll look into a new digital beacon, until then, i use what i have and understand. i'm sure you will be very happy with your new barryvox.

no matter what you use practice is the answer, as in an avi situation you are a little late.

imdoo'n said:

man you need to relax a little,

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We both did some breathing exercises & some stretching... you feel better now?

I don't care how old he is, the statement he made was just something that makes your stomach drop. I spend money on the best available technology because other people's lives matter to me. (kinda a lot) If they're not that much of a priority to you... that's your choice, but it's not the way I want to go about this sport.

I've had a number of friends die kayaking, having faced this I have no desire to EVER have there be a situation where we could have made a difference but didn't because we didn't put EVERYTHING we had into getting someone out.

One of my kayaking buddies died on a river that I was going to paddle with them, but decided not to. Had I been there he would have lived, as I carry a particular device that allows someone to breathe a few feet under the water... he died with his head about 16" under water. Nobody else had one of these devices. Short story long, what you carry makes a difference. You can carry a 20+ year old technology, I'm not going to, I just think other people's lives are worth more than a couple hundred dollars. (it's not about being "happy" when it's a tool that saves other people's lives)

are you trying to convince me or yourself. i know it's not working on me. the sos i understand and can use. the new digital's have there own problems, check around, a new guy is going to be confused big time, without a bit of practice time. you guys stated you don't do any beacon checks, i think that is irresponsible and very dangerous. how do you know everyone can use there beacons or if they are turned on. you also state you have no avi training, starting to sound a little spooky to me. get off your high horse, take a little breather, before you blow an artery. jimmy baker was a preacher look where it got him.

imdoo'n said:

are you trying to convince me or yourself. i know it's not working on me. the sos i understand and can use. the new digital's have there own problems, check around, a new guy is going to be confused big time, without a bit of practice time. you guys stated you don't do any beacon checks, i think that is irresponsible and very dangerous. how do you know everyone can use there beacons or if they are turned on. you also state you have no avi training, starting to sound a little spooky to me. get off your high horse, take a little breather, before you blow an artery. jimmy baker was a preacher look where it got him.

Click to expand...

What the F*** are you talking about??? If your brain isn't turned on, you should stay away from the keyboard.

#1: Newer beacons are even more simple, claiming that someone would be more confused by a pulse, pieps, or S1 is a asinine statement.

#2: Who said they don't do beacon checks??? Since you seem to be responding to MY post... not sure who's back end you're pulling this from?

#3: Who said they don't have avy training???? Do you really think that someone who is posting in here trying to help people & increase overall awareness would have zero avy training???

Oh and, yeah... I try really hard to convince myself that all that silly time & money I waste on avy equipment is the "cool" thing to do.
As for "checking around", take your own advice... do you think there's a reason maybe that one of the sites that reviews them borderline makes fun of the SOS???


I thought we were having an interesting conversation/ debate... then all the sudden your head disappeared into your anus.

how long of a probe do you guys recommend?

Do you mean to find i'mdoon's head, or for snow???:

I use a 12' probe, I think most avy guys, like snowww1 advocate for a min. of 10' an 8' probe on a slope will leave you bending nearly all the way over to probe down 6', a 12' probe would leave your hands at about waist level.

I hope to never have to be in a probe line, so this will hopefully never be something that's a big difference! (hope!)