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SteveH
Joined: 25 May 2006
Posts: 790
Location: Boulder, Colorado
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 Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 3:43 pm Post subject: |
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So if it has half the functionality of a real beacon, will it sell for half the price  |
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ghostofcarl
Joined: 22 Jul 2010
Posts: 6585
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| Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 3:57 pm Post subject: |
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| X-Man wrote: | | ghostofcarl wrote: | | If your partners show up wearing one of them perhaps your skills at deducing peoples bc skills and ski skills are quite a bit shittier than you pretend online? |
Ever the purveyor of good will, eh carl?
True story...
I was on a day trip early last year when I found out at lunch that one of the guys in our group, a friend of a friend, had neglected to bring a shovel. The next time he came along I made sure to ask him at the trailhead if he'd brought one this time, and when he said he said no I gave him the 10 lb entrenching tool I carry in the back of my truck. It was the last time he showed up without a proper shovel, and he's proved to be a pretty solid partner since, fast with a beacon and a strong digger in practice.
Point is, there is always hope, even for a knob like you. |
Oh. My take away lesson was you are forced to ski with flakes who don't care about you much. |
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<<(db)>>
Joined: 06 Dec 2004
Posts: 1599
Location: Tell you if we ride together
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| Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 4:25 pm Post subject: |
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| heyyou wrote: | | <<(db)>> wrote: | | Natural Selection |
Unfortunately no. Since it only transmits, the user can still be found and thus make future contributions to the gene pool.
Kind of sucks if you are the "other" person ..... |
Unfortunately yes.
Natural Selection at work on the people who associate with the person carrying the send-only contraption. Just like natural selection is at work on people who get in a car driven by someone not competent to drive. Just like natural selection is at work on military grunts obeying orders. Etc etc etc
To associate with stupid is very stupid. "Very stupid" = candidature for natural selection even more than is stupid.
_________________
If you are doing less than loving whatever you are giving your attention to, you are not who you were really born to be. |
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ColoradoGirl
Joined: 27 Feb 2006
Posts: 58
Location: CO
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| Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 4:25 pm Post subject: |
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| I don't see the point of wearing one, even in a group of skiers where many may not know know how to search. The first thing you do in a group search is make SURE everyone still standing switches to RECEIVE. With this beacon you would have to instruct those not searching to turn their beacon OFF. If you're going to have to flip a switch it may as well be to a receive function. If they hear a beep and can raise their hand, they've already helped out and experienced searchers can take over (pray there is at least one) |
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heyyou
Joined: 06 Dec 2004
Posts: 6404
Location: with flavor crystals
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| Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 5:02 pm Post subject: |
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| <<(db)>> wrote: | | heyyou wrote: | | <<(db)>> wrote: | | Natural Selection |
Unfortunately no. Since it only transmits, the user can still be found and thus make future contributions to the gene pool.
Kind of sucks if you are the "other" person ..... |
Unfortunately yes.
Natural Selection at work on the people who associate with the person carrying the send-only contraption. Just like natural selection is at work on people who get in a car driven by someone not competent to drive. Just like natural selection is at work on military grunts obeying orders. Etc etc etc
To associate with stupid is very stupid. "Very stupid" = candidature for natural selection even more than is stupid. |
Ah yes, natural selection by association. I see.....
The person who has the transmitter actually has a greater chance to reproduce than the partner who has the transceiver. |
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stevesliva
Joined: 11 Dec 2004
Posts: 10136
Location: SEA
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| Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 6:01 pm Post subject: |
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| ColoradoGirl wrote: | | I don't see the point of wearing one, even in a group of skiers where many may not know know how to search. The first thing you do in a group search is make SURE everyone still standing switches to RECEIVE. With this beacon you would have to instruct those not searching to turn their beacon OFF. If you're going to have to flip a switch it may as well be to a receive function. If they hear a beep and can raise their hand, they've already helped out and experienced searchers can take over (pray there is at least one) |
Good point, depending on whether this POS has a button that switches the transmitter off for a certain period. Ideally even this thing would switch back to transmit after a time. |
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thornton
Joined: 09 Dec 2004
Posts: 1566
Location: over the bars
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| Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 6:14 pm Post subject: |
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| X-Man wrote: | | Agree, but I'll tell you what, if one of my bc partners showed up with one it'd be the last time we skied together. Same for the guy or gal who shows up with a standard beacon but no shovel. |
i adjust my plans accordingly... |
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Bernie
Joined: 20 Jan 2005
Posts: 150
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| Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 6:18 pm Post subject: |
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| thornton wrote: | | X-Man wrote: | | Agree, but I'll tell you what, if one of my bc partners showed up with one it'd be the last time we skied together. Same for the guy or gal who shows up with a standard beacon but no shovel. |
i adjust my plans accordingly... |
Me too. I like the idea of giving the barney an entrenching tool to carry. |
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Bernie
Joined: 20 Jan 2005
Posts: 150
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| Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 6:30 pm Post subject: |
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FWIW, the Snow-Be website has been changed and it now says in bold letters "This is not a back-country product, it is ideal for in-resort family skiing in the northern hemisphere conditions.
At about $74 USD, less than half the price of the Pieps Freeride, it seems like a reasonably useful product at a fair price for resort skiers looking to increase their safety margin, and that of their family. And as others have pointed out, it's nothing new, just cheaper than in the past. |
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polemonium
Joined: 23 Dec 2010
Posts: 412
Location: in a subaru down by the dry wash
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| Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 6:35 pm Post subject: |
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I don't get the impression this thing is for or marketed to people with partners. Okay, maybe it is for people who have partners that are equally clueless. But mostly I think it's directed at ignorant people who hope for a get out of avalanche free card for either skiing at the resort, or maybe sidecountry, but who have no knowledge. I don't mean "have not taken Avy 1 class" but "have not read Snow Sense or even know that such books exist."
What is lame about the product is not just the technical shortcomings, but that it is marketed as a substitute for knowledge. |
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ghostofcarl
Joined: 22 Jul 2010
Posts: 6585
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| Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 6:50 pm Post subject: |
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| polemonium wrote: | | But mostly I think it's directed at ignorant people who hope for a get out of avalanche free card for either skiing at the resort, or maybe sidecountry, but who have no knowledge. |
There's a whole heck of alot of them in the Northern Hemisphere outside the US & Canada. Even for inbounds skiers it wouldn't be horrid if only to find a body. |
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stevesliva
Joined: 11 Dec 2004
Posts: 10136
Location: SEA
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| Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 7:07 pm Post subject: |
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| I still see these getting put on dogs and sleds, which is worrisome. |
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GregSimon
Joined: 09 Dec 2004
Posts: 572
Location: Seattle
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| Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 7:34 pm Post subject: |
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| I remember a poster a few years back describing his dog getting buried during a solo (skier plus dog) outing. He was able to find and rescue his dog, and he ended up wishing he had a send-only beacon just like this. Seems like it would be an OK tool for that purpose. |
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X-Man
Joined: 07 Dec 2004
Posts: 1263
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| Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 7:47 pm Post subject: |
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| ghostofcarl wrote: | | polemonium wrote: | | But mostly I think it's directed at ignorant people who hope for a get out of avalanche free card for either skiing at the resort, or maybe sidecountry, but who have no knowledge. |
There's a whole heck of alot of them in the Northern Hemisphere outside the US & Canada. Even for inbounds skiers it wouldn't be horrid if only to find a body. |
Where are these ignorant Northern Hemisphere skiers located then? Mexico? What a knob.
Has anybody other than Bernie even bothered to look at the Snow-Be site? It's being marketed to resort skiing families, not to backcountry skiers.
Right on the opening page it says:
"Affordable, resort-based safety for the snow loving family"
In addition there is this under Products, in large, bold type:
This is not a back-country product, it is ideal for in-resort family skiing in the northern hemisphere conditions.
There is this, again bolded:
Please be aware snow-be has no search function and you cannot find anyone with or using it.
And this:
If you wish to have a search function, you must carry a transceiver or receiver unit.
And a picture of a little girl holding her Snow-Be:
Below which is the following:
"Our aim is to give everyone the chance to survive an avalanche for only the cost of a day’s lift pass."
And on the "Buy" page, also bolded:
NOTE - Snow-be is NOT a receiver and you cannot use it to track other avalanche transmitter signals.
So for the price of a single full featured tranceiver ($300) a family of four can equip themselves with a device that will make it a whole helluva lot easier for ski patrol or transceiver equipped and trained bystanders to find them should they get caught in an inbounds avalanche. Is this really such a bad thing?
http://www.snow-beacon.com/ |
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ghostofcarl
Joined: 22 Jul 2010
Posts: 6585
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| Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 7:55 pm Post subject: |
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| X-Man wrote: | | ghostofcarl wrote: | | There's a whole heck of alot of them in the Northern Hemisphere outside the US & Canada. Even for inbounds skiers it wouldn't be horrid if only to find a body. |
Where are these ignorant Northern Hemisphere skiers located then? Mexico? What a knob.
Has anybody other than Bernie even bothered to look at the Snow-Be site? It's being marketed to resort skiing families, not to backcountry skiers. |
You may be aware that there's this continent called "Europe" which is in the Northern Hemisphere. It has quite a bit of lift-served terrain that isn't avalanche controlled. There are often more than a few people skiing off-piste without gear or a clue; professional rescue services can be on the scene relatively quick |
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