New Avalung Packs from Black Diamond

If you are like me and spend most of the winter backcountry skiing, one of the things that I tend to do is forget to put my Avalung on...

So it looks like Black Diamond is going to address this issue with some cool packs coming out later this year. The new packs will feature a collapsible breathing tube that stows away in a zippered compartment built into the left shoulder strap. On the right shoulder strap BD will include a zippered hydration tube pocket. I'll be first in line to buy one.

Check out the review and pictures over on Telemark Tips

If I am traveling across a slope that could slide I loosen up my pack and generally take one strap off.

Has anyone actually been helped by the Avalungs? Seems like one of those things that are good in theory. I have one that I got as a gift and I have never used it, I always think about it later. I think I would rather have one of those funny suits that inflate you into a giant red balloon and keep you afloat as you get slammed down the slope.

I haven't ever used it but I have been buried before so I think I can relate quite easily to it. One of my old clients swears by it after having been buried for almost 30 minutes and the majority of the guides I used to work with (helicopter skiing) see it no differently that having a probe, beacon, shovel, radio, etc.

However, the pack strap thing is valid. I always felt that the biggest liability when crossing a slope was the anchor you are attached to, i.e. the skis. Ski poles, I haven't used straps in 20 years. Skiing with low din settings is something that I still practice today, so that they come off when tumbling around like a washing machine. It worked pretty well in my case. Sometimes it was a pain when a compression took you by surprise though!

At the weekend I was skiing with my friends in the back country and we were talking about this. The three of us are about the same weight give or take 10 pounds. The range of din settings were between 6 and 12.

Wow! Buried! That is insane. I can't imagine the feeling. I think I may take mine out from now on, seeing as I don't have releasable tele bindings!!

Thanks for the info...

The Avalungs definitely work. I have witnessed the test burials, and heard first-person accounts....IF you remember to put them on. Kind of like a motorcycle helmet. Lying under tons of snow is the last place you want to think..."dang, I wonder if those things DO work". If you have one, wear it, and become familiar with its use. It could save your bacon in a huge way.

Does it come with ABS? I wonder about the wisdom of eliminating the pack-ditching option to stay afloat, possibly increasing chances of burial and thus need for the 'lung.

Also, what if you get the tubes mixed up at a critical moment?