New avalanche safety device

[PaSucks]

I sort of remember reading about a system that has a baloon type of thing that inflates and is attatched to a rope system tied to your body. In an avalanch the baloon is supposed to float to the surface, which would act as a beacon to rescuers. Or maybe I just dreamed it up and have an invention on my hands?

[Mountain Junkie]

I sort of remember reading about a system that has a baloon type of thing that inflates and is attatched to a rope system tied to your body. In an avalanch the baloon is supposed to float to the surface, which would act as a beacon to rescuers. Or maybe I just dreamed it up and have an invention on my hands?

Or you could have read about it in this very thread with a couple posts mentioning the device...

[LaramieSkiBum]

Or you could have read about it in this very thread with a couple posts mentioning the device...

not really, his is slightly different. Sounds kinda like a buoy. Something to think about i guess.

What happens when the line connected from ballon to body has a horizontal component? It would get you in the general area quickly but then you would still have to have a beacon to dig in the right spot. Good idea for a quicker search tho...hurmmm...

EDIT: I stand corrected, it was mentioned in the thread already...my bad

[ScottG]

what he described is an avalanche ball. Ball ends up on surface - follow the cord to victim.

But, an avalanche BALLOON could be a new invention. Hit the trigger, helium tank expands into the baloon - you are lifted up and out of the avalanche and can watch it slide underneath you from the air.
Catch a few thermals while you're up there, ride the thermals back to the top and ski back down.
Sweet.

[ScottG]

What I am waiting for is a device that one can load a chip into for all their purposes.
That is to say, I take the following with me:
a mobile phone
a camera
a av beacon
an altimeter
a compass

And others bring other things, like:
GPS
music
(add your own here)

Wouldn't it be nice to have them all in one.
But, instead of chasing the market around, trying to fit them together,
just make them all available and let the user (us) load a number of them into the same device.

Even better than a chip would be an internet download.

Just a thought.

Actually, there are phones that are cameras and MP3 players. Some can use a GPS unit (on a card plugged into it , or connected via bluetooth), which gives you compass and altimiter.
All you need is the avvy beacon.

[LaramieSkiBum]

what he described is an avalanche ball. Ball ends up on surface - follow the cord to victim.

But, an avalanche BALLOON could be a new invention. Hit the trigger, helium tank expands into the baloon - you are lifted up and out of the avalanche and can watch it slide underneath you from the air.
Catch a few thermals while you're up there, ride the thermals back to the top and ski back down.
Sweet.

hurm. Airbags use a NaN3 reaction, very fast lots of volume: aprox 150gm of NaN3 = approx 67Liters of gas at atmospheric pressure, but the density of N2 at atm. pressure is only slightly less than air (28g/mol vs 29g/mol). You would need compressed hydrogen (explosive), or compressed helium at extremely high pressures to wear comfortably.

Actually to create boyancy, wouldnt it require a mass of gas > mass of your body? A mass of gas greater than the mass of your body, but at a density much less than air, so you would need a large ballon. Goo...not gonna work I don't think because you would have to carry a pack around greater than your weight - maybe if you tied yourself to the pack, which was being carried by a sherpa

[ScottG]

Just a joke, dude.
The only way to carry enough gas to lift me would be to tap into my ass after a midnight mexican burrito bender.