Do you think the black diamond avalung should be as controversial as it is?
The controversial and incredibly compelling Avalung is our piece du jour. For the newbies: Avalung is a simple breathing device to supply fresh air during an avalanche burial. It’s simply a tube with a one-way “non-rebreathing” valve that allows you to exhale into one area of the snowpack, and receive fresh air from another area. The tube is either carried as a stand-along device in a nylon sling, or it’s built into a backpack. When I did my Week of Dynafit back last winter, I could feel the waves of envy washing off some of my other advertisers. Yeah I’ll admit, we do end up with a Dynafit bias here. The reasons are simple. Mainly, we’ve had a licit affair with the Dynafit binding for more than two decades, and when Dynafit became a gear brand and not just a binding, much of their kit continued the tradition of excellence and deserved extensive coverage. Nonetheless, companies such as Black Diamond have also excelled, we love ‘em, so here we go. We’ll get to the Avalung controversy in
The Black Diamond Avalung avalanche safety breathing device is an interesting, if not controversial, piece of equipment. But one thing is clear — it could save your life. What do skiers, powder telemarkers, snowmobilers and backcountry snowboarders all have in common? Simple: they’re all dying in snow avalanches at record rates. While statistics show that many of such deaths are caused by the violence of snow slides (it’s like being caught in a giant washing machine filled with sand), a large number of avalanche deaths result from horrifying suffocation. When the avalanche comes to a stop, the flowing snow forms a glove-like cast around your body. While you can still breath in small panting gasps, the snow packed around your face quickly saturates with poisonous carbon dioxide, and soon after melts and re-freezes into an ice mask that cuts of your air as effectively as a plastic bag. Respiratory arrest quickly ensues, with cardiac arrest and death soon after. With such grim facts in m
The Black Diamond Avalung avalanche safety breathing device is an interesting, if not controversial, piece of equipment. But one thing is clear — it could save your life. While statistics show that many of such deaths are caused by the violence of snow slides (it’s like being caught in a giant washing machine filled with sand), a large number of avalanche deaths result from horrifying suffocation. When the avalanche comes to a stop, the flowing snow forms a glove-like cast around your body. While you can still breath in small panting gasps, the snow packed around your face quickly saturates with poisonous carbon dioxide, and soon after melts and re-freezes into an ice mask that cuts of your air as effectively as a plastic bag. Respiratory arrest quickly ensues, with cardiac arrest and death soon after. Sources: http://www.wildsnow.com/articles/avalung/avalung_review.
