"Best" Avalanche Probe

[X-Treme]

So, is there a "best" avie probe out there? Or, tell us what you're using, and any likes or dislikes.

 

[Vance Matheson]

Has to be one better than the one I have from hmk. I found out I must have dropped my pack and bent one of the tubes. I tried putting it together recently and its pooched.

Good to check your gear over every ride I guess.

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk

 

[Bnorth]

Mine is from one of the non-snowmobile companies unfortunately, black diamond. It assembles fast and has a really nice locking mechanism to hold it together. I have heard to avoid carbon probes as they can have too much deflection in the snow.



I also use a black diamond shovel. I like the two stage handle, it is good at full length for digging out a sled and at the shorter length for chopping up hard avalanche snow.

 

[lilduke]

I have a few 3m probes made by SOS. They are over 15years old and still work great. The most important thing to look for in a probe is sturdy construction. You need something that wont deflect when trying to probe through dense, hard Avy debris. There is some probes that have a built in Ruler which is kind of cool.

Ava Tech has a new electronic Probe that is pretty cool, but its mainly for checking snow pack conditions, not for Rescue senarios as it is only 150cm long.

Avalanche Safety Solutions in Golden BC has a good selection of different Probes, that is where I would go have a look at some of the different options available.

Hope this helps

 

[fnDan]

Min 3m or 300cm and get the bigger diameter probe (13mm I think). There are smaller diameter probes on the market that I was told could deflect more.

 

[the_real_wild1]

I use a ortovox probe that is the 300. The only issue I have with it is folding up it is so wide it wouldn't secure properly in my Klim backpack. I had to use zip ties to lengthen the straps. Other then that it works well

 

[Lowlife82]

Ortovox is a great diameter and 320cm long. Girth plus length counts...the main key to look for is how the cable secures to hold probe together...if it has a chitty clamp that doesn't hold on the stab...then junk it is. Deflection on the stab is important as well...This is where the girth counts..