Comments on: ARVA Axis- Avalanche Beacon Review

By: Jonathan Shefftz

Jonathan Shefftz — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 19:43:30 +0000

Just a couple clarifications and follow-ups:
- The neoprene pouch (which I felt was undersized for the beacon housing) is anticipated to be larger for the 2012-13 season.
- The problem I experienced with the black triangular base not locking into place properly was with my Link sample, not Axis sample. However, given that they share the same housing (differentiated only by the color), I mentioned this in the Axis review too. But either way, the mold is anticipated to be modified to prevent this from ever being a problem.

By: Jonathan Shefftz

Jonathan Shefftz — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 19:18:03 +0000

Fred, very interesting — I hadn’t heard of that. And I have to admit, although I do occasionally conduct some multiple-burial practice with searching beacons that lack any marking/masking/flagging features, I don’t test beacons with such features without engaging those features. I suspect that the performance would come down to how capably the user can focus away from the lock that the beacon has on the closest target.

By: Fred

Fred — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 21:07:52 +0000

In Canada there is a movement to ignore all marking features on a beacon when searching in multiple burials of high complexity. Do your tests take into account the performance of varying beacon models doing the micro search strip technique, and if so, what kind of results are you seeing with the various models that you are examining?