Chest Harness or Pants Pocket – What’s the Best Place to Wear Your Transceiver
The standard protocol for wearing an avalanche transceiver has long been to strap it to your chest in its harness. In the last handful of years, more and more skiers have been storing their beacons in their pants pockets. Using a pant pocket provides convenient access for morning transceiver checks, helps keep transceivers a safe distance from a VHF radio or phone, and offers quick access in an emergency. However, not all pant pockets are created equal. Some pants feature pockets with transceiver clips, but most pockets are not suitable for transceiver storage. Backcountry Access recently published a good article on where to wear your avalanche beacon, featuring a cautionary tale about what can go wrong when using the wrong type of pocket.
The following excerpt is from Backcountry Access:
Chest or Pants – Where to Wear Your Avalanche Transceiver
Last season, a skier on the Bugaboos to Roger Pass traverse took a ride in an avalanche. He pulled his airbag and was fortunately not buried, and he suffered only a minor knee injury. The skier was quite shaken up, though, and early the next morning, he realized that his avalanche transceiver was missing. He had been carrying it in the side pocket of his ski pants–and the avalanche had ripped the pocket, and the transceiver was never located. They called for a helicopter and abandoned the rest of the traverse.
Continue reading the full article by Jordy Shepherd at Backcountry Access
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