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Gear of the Week | Avalanche probe

Key considerations when buying an avalanche probe

by Steffen Kruse • 12/16/2018
An avalanche probe is actually nothing more than a "stick" made of several parts that you ram into the snow to locate the buried victim as quickly as possible. Nevertheless, there are differences that you should be aware of when buying one. I took the opportunity to get to the bottom of the avalanche probe.

First to the "given reason": Exactly, I've just come back from an avalanche search exercise and destroyed my probe. An almost annual occurrence, as the same thing happened to me at the beginning of last season. Reason enough to gather knowledge before the next purchase, sound out the market and summarize important points as Gear oft he Week.

First of all, a few basic things about avalanche probes. Everyone who ventures into open terrain carries an avalanche transceiver, a shovel and a probe as avalanche safety equipment. The probe is used for fine searches. It is used to locate the buried person, after which the shoveling begins.

Tests have shown that it takes about twice as long to find the buried person without a probe. If we assume that we only have around 15 minutes before the chances of survival drop dramatically, the "stick" takes on a completely different meaning.

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And while we're on the subject of time and speed: when was the last time you unpacked and tensioned your probe? Or maybe the original cable tie or packaging is still attached? It may sound ridiculous, but it can cost important seconds and it happens! The tensioning systems also vary greatly depending on the model.

For this reason, you should always familiarize yourself with your own probe from time to time and subject it to a thorough visual inspection. Is the clamping system still working? Are there any cracks or damage in the connector system? Is the pull cord undamaged? Are the individual segments bent and preventing clean probing at a 90 degree angle to the surface? Are the individual segments tightly fixed to each other when the clamping system is locked? Are the numbers still easy to read so that the burial depth can be read quickly and easily (important for shovel tactics)? Everyone should also answer more general questions for themselves by practicing with the probe. Is the probe easy to use with (thick) gloves? Gloves should ideally be worn when probing anyway, as otherwise the probe will heat up, snow/ice will stick and the probe will no longer glide properly.

The probe is already unpacked in the backpack

The probe is already unpacked in the backpack

The probe is already unpacked in the backpack

What to look out for when buying

The "normal" burial depth is between 70-100 cm, so you are well served with a probe from 240 cm, better 280 cm. I have found that it is sometimes difficult to probe precisely with thin (light) probes in compact avalanche snow, as they tend to take the path of least resistance and bend. In addition, the connector system is very fragile and the individual segments break more easily.

If the tip is slightly thicker than the probe itself, the probe glides more easily through the snow. If the tip is more tapered, it pierces through hard/compact snow more easily. The pack size is usually around 40-50 cm, which may be relevant for your safety compartment in your backpack: At 50 cm, for example, my backpack can hardly be closed properly, or more importantly, opened quickly. My probe is supplied in a cover. I open it in my backpack and pull it down a little, exposing the top part of the probe for quick access.

What else can I do with avalanche probes?

Practice, practice and practice again and hopefully never need them for serious use. Probing a landing on hidden rocks on more serious cliff jumps can also be used for practice purposes!

And if it breaks, the probe will still serve you well as a beanstalk in the vegetable patch.

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