ludee00

Hello all, I am getting my husband a Avalanche beacon because he is going backcountry in Argentina soon. I have read many reviews, but would love some personal suggestions.

Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks

budderbear

old reliable : Backcountry Access Tracker DTS Beacon from Backcountry.com

I assume he is going with other people ? Otherwise a beacon isn't of much use, besides recovery.

Edp25

I agree with old reliable. The BCA is simple and durable

snowklinger

I took a very introductory Avy course last winter, and while it may seem obvious, the following cannot be stressed enough, especially since you clearly care about your mans:

1. Beacons use a very, very simple mechanism to work, all of them work together (regardless of brand) and are built to withstand an avalanche. As such brand and model mean VERY LITTLE. Here's what does matter:

2. Beacons dont work with dead batteries, or if they are turned off, or in the wrong function mode... This leads to 3...

3. Intimate knowledge of the simple functions of your beacon gained from 4 and 5.

4. Proper Avy training, Avy I at a very minimum.

5. Practice. Know how to swich from transmit to receive, conduct snow stability tests, use a probe to find a buried beacon, and finally dig about 1 ton of snow in 10 minutes. (oversimplified checklist, get a real one from class)

6. Partners.

If an avy beacon is going off and theres no one there to hear it....

There are many people on this site with more BC experience than myself, just saying, picking up a used beacon off craigslist is no big deal, finding one on sale or whatever. Alot of people with money stick their toes into a sport and buy a bunch of this shit only to find out for whatever reason (myriads) they won't use it. This is even more common with higher end mountaineering gear like this (compared to finding a deal on a NeverSummer snowboard for example).

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is it late october yet?

ludee00

Thanks for the advice. Yes, he is going with a group and a guide. I looked into the one you suggested, which says dual antenna. But some of the other models have 3 antenna now?? Does that matter? I won't be there and I'm nervous. Hopefully he won't ever need it, but if he did, I would hate to have gotten a lesser model.
Sorry, I'm a novice with this. I like to sit and read, he likes to do all this crazy stuff. I'm just looking out

ludee00

I see they have a BCA2. Any opinion on that?

ludee00

So you think the BCA2 is a good choice?

hktrdr

Number of antennas only matters when the unit is in search mode (.i.e., when looking for somebody else). For keeping him safe it makes no difference (unless you are buying beacons for the whole group).

Edit: Oops, just noticed that Snowolf beat me to it already. Anyway, you got the answer to your question.

ETM

There should be no selfish thoughts like this when it comes to beacons. If you cheap out and a mate dies you always have that hundred dollars or so on your conscience. Likewise you would hope your mate buys a 3 antenae beacon so he can help find you quickly in a burial.

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hktrdr

No selfish thoughts in my post. I agree that one should get the best beacon that one can afford, in order to be able to assist one's riding buddies.
But that was not the OPs question - she was asking whether getting a higher end unit would increase her husband's safety. The answer to that is generally no.