Snowpulse Packs - anyone bought one?

[SeriousSkiing]

Just got my Snowpulse Lifebag Frame + 30L cover from UK today. It was the very last one one could find in size Large in Europe. I ordered it and spare cylinder (one for US/Canada/Europe) from http://www.Snowsafe.co.uk

I've also ordered showels and probes from Snowsafe. Fast delivery and extremely good service indeed.

I wanted to have also the 45L cover - and only place I could find one was http://www.avalanchesafety.ca

I got both packages on the very same day (today actually). Now I've been playing with it. It sure does look and feel 100x better than ABS one.

[Puffin]

I wish that was the case around here - within 50 miles of me 3,000psi was the rare max. 2,700 to 2,800 seemed the norm.

I was told the difference is that local paintball shops fill a bunch of scuba tanks to 3,000psi at the scuba shop and then cascade them together. So they quickly drop below 3,000. Better shops with more volume run their own compressor. I found one shop that ran their own compressor, but only when they need to. After driving an hour, I was told to come back in a few days when they'd fire up the compressor and be back to 3,000psi. No paintball shop I called claimed to have 4,500psi capability.

I also tried the local gas shop - oxygen, welding gasses, etc. They tried to send me over 100 miles away to the nearest "plant" where they get their gasses.

Getting the air filled turned out to be much more of a headache than I expected. I'm neither a paintballer nor a diver, so I wasn't really familiar with any of this when I ordered the Snowpulse. It took several days of phone calls and lots of driving around before I finally found the solution. Now that I have my own scuba/paintball adapter ($20) I don't foresee this being an issue in the future.

Damn those shops you called must really suck.

I played nppl for a bit, and all my air was 4.5k. I had my own practice field and decided to get my own fill setup. after you have the 3k bulk tanks and everything else, you just use a BOOSTER to jack the pressure up to 4.5k.

Boosters are cheap. Its essentially a air driven compressor whereby one bulk tank used to fill the tank, and another is used to drive the cylinder in the booster to increase the pressure in the tank you are filling. boosters can cost as low as $1000 bucks. not that expensive....all the shops that i have pretty much ever gone to that service tournament paintball have 4.5k fill availability.

Another reason why your tank usually only is filled to 2700 is because the tank warms when you fill it. Substantially enough to increase the pressure by 5-10%. After you fill to 3k, let it cool and top it off...

[SnowBigDeal]

I'm not sure how many people are located in Utah, but if you are ever in the area you can stop in our shop in Mt. Pleasant and we will refill your SnowPulse or BCA canister for free.

[Shorty_J]

How do those of you with these units find the crutch strap..... is it intrusive, uncomfortable when skiiing??

Maybe this is old news, but the crotch strap is designed to keep you from getting choked by the chest strap if the bag is inflated and pulling you up towards the top of some slide debris you're caught in.

[Ripzalot]

fyi (if anyone didn't alreay know this) the US and Euro versions can use either cannister, so if you have a US pack, you can fly to Europe without the cannister and rent a Euro one for the week and vice versa. Saves the need to blow your cannister and open it up before flying, refill at destination, then blow it again for the flight back.

[grace12]

sweet, look forward to hearing what you think.

[ludwigk]

What are the thoughts on the ProRider packs? I don't tour so I don't really need lots of space. I prefer to have something light and less restrictive.