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For a sample size of one, I once had a scary fall and landed on my mammut beacon hard enough, in my pocket, to damage the screen and majorly bruise my leg. No battery door issues. Also, if its in the harness, doesn't the harness hold the battery door in place?Quote:
Originally Posted by adrenalated
Agree that harness would help, I think the hypothetical scenario was more like "what if you have the beacon out for a search and a secondary buries you and knocks the batteries out?"Quote:
Originally Posted by snowaddict91
Sent from my Pixel XL using TGR Forums mobile app
Quote:
Originally Posted by fleaches
guess who sold out of beacons on their website this morning?
Not defending Pieps here in the least, they have never been my favorite beacons going all the way back to my 1st one, an orange POS in a faded yellow bag with a dubious ear piece sending and receiving in 2275 kHz. It was company issue but as soon as a Skadi became available I traded.
With that in mind, what in the fuck are some of you doing with your beacons? They are a piece of electronic gear not a blunt object meant for tenderizing frozen meat. I remember how I watched in horror as fellow patrollers world toss one across the locker room to another patroller to examine only to see it hit the floor and the dumb fucks never blinked an eye.
Since you asked about the Barryvox battery door, and I happened to have one and Element (prior model) on my desk, I grabbed the pic below:Quote:
Originally Posted by fleaches
Attachment 343591
While they both open the same way/same orientation:
- Top/green leash: Element's door is completely flat and flush-mounted. You can see the entire perimeter of the door embedded in the back
- Bottom: Barryvox's door runs to the end of the plastic back, is beveled and forms the edge of the hard plastic back. This edge is what flips open (down) to expose the batteries. It's not as smooth a transition from the rubber to plastic as it is on the other edge, you can definitely feel the door.
Just FYI, hadn't seen the review you mention, and trust Mammut/Barryvox for snow safe designs. This was a conscious change on their part.
^^^ this ^^^Quote:
Originally Posted by adrenalated
Also I'm shy about wearing it in a pants pocket. Admittedly, taking a hit in the ribs with it would suck, but that much of a hit means things have gone South, and some bruising would be preferable to a beacon smashed against my femur and unable to transmit.
... Thom
I curious about TGR’s take on this since it affects their athletes.
EDIT
what's Kai Jones carrying?
my own 14 year old son has a Tracker 3 because I want it to be simple for him to use so he can learn how to use a beacon - I don't put him in a position where he is the only rescuer - I think the switch system is good - it beeps - we can find him
and by the way - suck yer guts in fellas - there's a girl in here - a mom, actually, and she has shit to say that we oughta listen to
I’m not like regular moms, I’m a cool momQuote:
Originally Posted by ~mikey b
This has got me considering going back to a harness. I don't treat my beacon like shit, but I broke a rib during a hard fall directly to the beacon on my side in some variable shit a few years ago. Since then I've been a bib pocket only beacon wearer, but that may change if the harness actually keeps the thing working during a super hard fall.
I knowQuote:
Originally Posted by lpkdz
but these turkeys aren’t used to that
Whelp, not loving the thought of dying by asphyxiation because my beacon isn’t stored exactly right in its holster and/or the avalanche didn’t get the memo about “moderate force”. Don’t want to be sensationalist, but yeesh.
I wanted new bindings this year, dammit.
When I received my Barryvox S last season, I kinda chuckled at the slide-to-open battery door; thin plastic and not sealed. Much prefer Ortovox's doors that are sturdy, have an o-ring gasket to keep out water, and are locked closed by a screw. But hopefully it's never an issue.Quote:
Originally Posted by fleaches
It's easier to bitch about how my 12 year old beacon I got 3rd hand is falling apart then to buy a new one. Besides, I need the money for the new iPhone 12, you know how fast I will be able to twattergram my sendy sends with that thing?Quote:
Originally Posted by Bunion 2020
Funny. My mind went to how much more convenient it was without thinking about potential consequences. I might stick a piece of gorilla tape over that.Quote:
Originally Posted by 1000-oaks
yeah and you’ve got me in yer “find my iphone” app so why do I even need a beacon?
Thanks all for the battery door discussion and pics. I don't have it with me right now but seem to remember the DSP having a big flathead screw on the battery door with a gasket, which was a nice design. Not that I have heard of batteries being knocked out of any of the Barryvox but the screw designs are nice for peace of mind.
Sent from my Pixel XL using TGR Forums mobile app
The Orthovox M2 had a recall back in 2005 for a battery door issue (or undersized AA batteries).
https://beaconreviews.com/recall_Ortovox_M2.php
BCA had battery door issues too
2005 as well I think
As mikey b said before
nothing is perfect, including beacons
Sealed and screwed battery doors seem like a good idea, but are you going swimming with your beacon and using it as a baseball?
I can find something to critique on every beacon but it's up to the individual user to decide what is a disqualifying fault when weighed against the positive features of a beacon.
For instance, the Ortovox 3+ has the very cool feature where it will switch to the optimal antenna in transmit mode depending on burial position. Helps others find you, who doesn't want that? I also love the design to switch from Send to Search because it's a completely different mechanism than the Send to Off switch. BUT, the range in search mode is abysmal for a modern beacon. Is that disqualifying? It was for me, might not be for you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by adrenalated
Isn't "optimal" subjective? What if the person is on a hill, or on a flat, or in a terrain trap (gully) or steep creek trap, wouldn't that change the 'optimal' antenna to use?
I suggest, if 3 antenna, there should be a protocol that allows devices to transmit on each antenna in 3 separate transmissions, basically allowing the receiver to pick up on whatever transmissions it receives. They probably do this already for all I know.
Glad I kept my 2 antenna Tracker DSP. That switch can't turn, even with gloves off, and the battery door screws shut.
And it has the easiest interface going.
i have the green ortavox 3+ i dont like the open the beacon to recieve and if it closes you lose your flagsQuote:
Originally Posted by adrenalated
the inclinometer was pretty spot on though
i had a warrunty for sumthing and i never sent it in.
The S1+ also has the "optimal antenna" transmit feature, and has great search range (very sensitive, so you absolutely have to turn off your cell phone when in search mode). It's surprising the 3+ is a step backward. The flip-open design is a like-it or hate-it thing. Some German study years ago using school students found that the S1/S1+ user interface was the most effective for people who were given no instruction in using a beacon. They just turned it on and found targets faster than using other beacons. That doesn't really mean anything for experienced users, but an intuitive interface is a good thing.Quote:
Originally Posted by adrenalated
RE: Range Attachment 343931
IMHO 11 yards/33 feet +- difference is not abysmal. You adapt your search method to your chosen beacon, simple as that.Quote:
Avoid the tunnel-vision trap of believing that transceiver range is the only important criteria—it isn't. Range is certainly important, but the difference might not be significant if you fumble with the controls, if the display is confusing, if the fine search positions you over a spike, or if you can't identify and locate multiple burials. Using an appropriate search strip width is far more important that having a transceiver with a long range. As explained on the discussion on performing a signal search using a transceiver, it is much better to spend a few extra minutes searching a narrower search strip during the signal search than to end up at the bottom of the avalanche and have to repeat the entire search.