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To buy ABS pack or not?***Poll***

To Buy ABS pack or not


  • Total voters
    358

Scott

Scott Stiegler
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It's just unusual for a moderator to light up a regular reader unless they deserve it. LOL

Gotcha.
I guess that means I did it twice in this thread. Lol
Moderator or not, I guess i still have my own personal opinions about things. :)
 
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A

ACMtnCat

Well-known member
Nov 26, 2007
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Utah
I've been in two slides in two years and have not pulled the handle both times. Purposely!

Just having one on your back doesn't mean you're bullet proof. Using your head is going to give you better odds than having that bag on your back.

Both my slides were a result of my choices to ride avy prone slopes, and I firmly believe if I would have pulled my handle I would have been hurt much worse in both instances.
 
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polaris dude

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To the guys that wear them....Have you taken an avy course? Does wearing one give you a "Sense" of security? Have been on the fence, not due to cost, but to the fact that "I have one, I'm fine climbing this hill" even if the conditions aren't right....


Ace

So do you have a beacon? I don't because then it would give me a "Sense" of security.
 
A

ACMtnCat

Well-known member
Nov 26, 2007
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Utah
So do you have a beacon? I don't because then it would give me a "Sense" of security.


Haha! Security??? H e l l.... I fear for my life now! Lol.

You still have to use your head. Some say I don't but I say I way the risks with some avy training and some knowledge of the slope and hope for good luck on top of that!

We ride in the steep and deep often, it's just a matter of time before one of those slopes just don't hold. Having a bag is going to save my life one of these times! I hope! I payed too much for it not to work.:face-icon-small-dis

To the guys that wear them....Have you taken an avy course? Does wearing one give you a "Sense" of security? Have been on the fence, not due to cost, but to the fact that "I have one, I'm fine climbing this hill" even if the conditions aren't right....


Ace
 
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polaris dude

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Haha! Security??? H e l l.... I fear for my life now! Lol.

You still have to use your head. Some say I don't but I say I way the risks with some avy training and some knowledge of the slope and hope for good luck on top of that!

We ride in the steep and deep often, it's just a matter of time before one of those slopes just don't hold. Having a bag is going to save my life one of these times! I hope! I payed too much for it not to work.:face-icon-small-dis

It is definitely important to use your head and to use common sense. But you should also use every tool your given! Its like refusing to use chalk when climbing(on a rock wall) because it can give you a false sense of security and it could make you think your grip is perfect.
 

Scott

Scott Stiegler
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You can chalk up? I never chalked. I thought those dudes on the walls that chalked were just trying to look awesome.

LOL

My buddies would drag me to the wall to climb with them. Wanted me to get into it. It wasn't a challenge. They called me an f'n spider monkey. LOL
 

polaris dude

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You can chalk up? I never chalked. I thought those dudes on the walls that chalked were just trying to look awesome.

LOL

My buddies would drag me to the wall to climb with them. Wanted me to get into it. It wasn't a challenge. They called me an f'n spider monkey. LOL

I just enjoyed clapping my hands and making dust go everywhere. The helping climb part was a 2ndary benefit :face-icon-small-coo
 

backcountryislife

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Dumont/Breckenridge, CO
If a human is involved in an avalanche then a mistake was made, no matter what he spent on his equipment. ;)

So... if the guy who made the mistake lives because he had a pack... is it the same mistake as the guy who dies without one?

I ride KNOWING that at some point in the future I'll likely make a mistake, for me it happened sooner than later, and I got caught, but because I made a good choice before that, I got lucky & made it out.

Obviously it's better to NOT make a mistake... but they do happen. Mine, I went past a hill I wasn't intending to go by, in a whiteout & it came down on me, so had I not had my bag... would I have made a bigger mistake?:face-icon-small-win
 

Scott

Scott Stiegler
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Nov 1, 1998
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W Mont
So... if the guy who made the mistake lives because he had a pack... is it the same mistake as the guy who dies without one?

I ride KNOWING that at some point in the future I'll likely make a mistake, for me it happened sooner than later, and I got caught, but because I made a good choice before that, I got lucky & made it out.

Obviously it's better to NOT make a mistake... but they do happen. Mine, I went past a hill I wasn't intending to go by, in a whiteout & it came down on me, so had I not had my bag... would I have made a bigger mistake?:face-icon-small-win

The guy who died made more costly mistakes.
 

Dogmeat

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An ABS pack offers you a prayer if you get caught in a slide you actually have enough time, however long or short of period that may be, to recognize you are totally screwed and pull the prayer rip chord and swim like a great white shark is trying to give you a blowjob. If you get hit from above there is a strong possibility it seems you would sooner be knocked unconscious than be able to pull the chord and swim out of it. I remember someone posting statistics on here that said something like %80 (?) of all avalanche fatalities are from blunt force trauma, not necessarily asphyxiation by burial.

A prayer is better than no prayer at all.

ABS packs are sort of like having a .50 cal sniper rifle at your disposal ... The chance that if you have one and ever need to use it to save your *** are so slim, its probably not an economically reasonable expenditure ... but like ... still better to have one and not need it than need it and not have it :)
 
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