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Thread: Forgot to turn on your beacon??

  1. #1
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    Forgot to turn on your beacon??

    I was recently talking with a friend. He privately admitted that once this winter he had forgot to turn on his avalanche transceiver before going on a tour (he's using a new transceiver that has an on/off switch Vs. a forced on/off harness system). Aparently, his tour partner and he didn't do a trailhead transceiver check.

    I'm just curious, has any one else done this????

    Cheers,
    Halsted
    "True love is much easier to find with a helicopter"

  2. #2
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    Did you heckle him like a 7 year old child?

  3. #3
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    I always put my beacon in my ski boot. That way when I reach to put on my boots, I put on my beacon. I see it and know to turn it on.
    Quote Originally Posted by Roo View Post
    I don't think I've ever seen mental illness so faithfully rendered in html.

  4. #4
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    if its on your body, its on. when it comes off, it goes off.

  5. #5
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    I have caught a couple of different partners a couple of times with their beacons off at the top of the line. Most of them were very experienced partners.

    Sometimes tours end up without parking lot checks because people are coming from different trailheads or if skiing out of a gate people may meet up in bounds. Therefor, I always check before the descent as well as at the trailhead (when possible).

    Mine is on if i am wearing it... safety interlocked... I often put it on as I leave my place so that I don't forget. I'd feel really stupid if I climbed all day only to realize I'd forgotten. I do not understand the people who turn theirs off to save batteries. I do not understand the people who put their beacon in their pack instead of just wearing in on the ascent (even when ascending a nonthreatened route).
    Last edited by Summit; 05-20-2007 at 08:12 PM.
    Quote Originally Posted by blurred
    skiing is hiking all day so that you can ski on shitty gear for 5 minutes.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hacksaw View Post
    I'm just curious, has any one else done this????
    No, but probably 4 times per winter I forget to turn the fucking thing off.
    "It is not the result that counts! It is not the result but the spirit! Not what - but how. Not what has been attained - but at what price.
    - A. Solzhenitsyn

  7. #7
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    Yup! Did this just the other day. I put the bacon in the pan and turned on the wrong burner and walked away. Came back five minutes later and my bacon was just sitting there in a cold pan while the burner next to it was glowing red. I just moved the pan over and ate my bacon a little later than planned. It was good bacon too. Got it from the farm myself!

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rontele View Post
    I always put my beacon in my ski boot. That way when I reach to put on my boots, I put on my beacon. I see it and know to turn it on.
    i do something very similar, except i put it in my helmet right under my gloves.
    That way when I grab my gloves, I see my beacon, and put it on before I put on my helmet or gloves.

    Another thing I do, is wear it everyday no matter where and what Im skiing.
    Its just habit now and I dont even think about it.

    and yea, its on when Im wearing it, and only turn it off when its off my body.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by pechelman View Post
    Another thing I do, is wear it everyday no matter where and what Im skiing.
    Its just habit now and I dont even think about it.
    ditto
    Quote Originally Posted by blurred
    skiing is hiking all day so that you can ski on shitty gear for 5 minutes.

  10. #10
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    Is it radix panax notoginseng? - splat
    This is like hanging yourself but the rope breaks. - DTM
    Dude Listen to mtm. He's a marriage counselor at burning man. - subtle plague

  11. #11
    advres Guest
    Put the beacon on, turn it on. Take it off, turn it off. If you follow this rule everytime, no exceptions and it will become second nature.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by advres View Post
    Put the beacon on, turn it on. Take it off, turn it off. If you follow this rule everytime, no exceptions and it will become second nature.
    everyone is different, so whatever routine works is whats important, and then to always do the same thing to be consistent

    but to expand a little bit

    I keep it in my helmet and not inside the harness.
    Reason being is because to take the beacon off and then turn it off, I have to remove it from the harness.

    Before I put it on, the first thing I then do is turn it on, since its already out of the harness, put it in the harness, and then put it on.

    so rather than put on turn on, take off turn off, Im a turn on put on, take off turn off kinda dork

    this way you minimize or completely remove the chance for there to be a beacon on your body that is not ON.

    Its all just differences in routine, just thought id mention it.

  13. #13
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    I was running my stud finder all over a wall trying to find a stud to hang a heavy picture from. I was like WTF? There are no studs in this wall?

    Then I realized my studfinder was off.

    So now I turn on my studfinder first thing, every day, even if I am not going to use it.

    As far as my avalanche beacon I have it hooked up to a clapper.
    *Clap Clap* it's on. *Clap Clap* it's off.
    Simple really

  14. #14
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    Twice I have forgotten to turn my beacon on. I always double check before I enter the first danger zone of the day, whether it be on the ascent or descent. I ussually check again before I descend anyways. Both time I forgot I was in no danger, it was just while ascending through safe zones, I was never exposed with it not on, but still, dumbass mistake, I know.
    __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ________________
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  15. #15
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    if i paid 300 bucks for the darn thing
    and im gonna wear it
    its gonna be on damn it!

  16. #16
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    What's a beacon?

    Oh you mean those transpiepers? I borrowed one for a hut trip last year and turned it on as soon as I borrowed it. Although a week later when we left for the hut it wasnt even working anymore...pahh technology.

  17. #17
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    My problem is not forgetting to turn it on, but forgetting to turn it off at the end of the day! Sometimes I'll leave it on in my pack until I unpack it when I get home! Of course, then I check the batteries and see what % they are at.... I suppose it's better than forgetting to turn it on.... I always carry extra beacon batteries with me in my pack too.
    -
    14erskiers.com

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  18. #18
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    I put it in my boots on the way to he TH, that way when i put on my boots i have to put on the body finder, always put it on turn it on. It works for me and i have some serious short term memory.
    is this thing on?

  19. #19
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    Doppelganger!

  20. #20
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    We do a check before we head out, just like climbing and making sure the biner is locked before going on belay, we all check each other making sure everyone in on.

    Good Luck,
    Jay
    Five minutes into the drive and you're already driving me crazy...

  21. #21
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    I posted this picture on a similar thread on ttips:


    the LVS checkpoint from Barryvox is pretty cool
    Elvis has left the building

  22. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by joe4186 View Post
    It works for me and i have some serious short term memory.
    ... problems?

  23. #23
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    Doppelganger!

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