Avalanche beacons
Which beacon is the easiest one to use?
If you like powder and wild mountain spots, you should go freeriding. But before doing so, you need to gear up and buy avalanche safety equipment, just in case...And this starts with a beacon, or transceiver, or Arva. It is the tool that indicate the direction of the victim, or it is the tool that will help others locate you. In other words, it is the tool that can save your life. On Glisshop, we have a large selection of beacons, some in a low-price range and some that are technically advanced and easy to use.
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Recommended price
£322.91
-5%
£305.91
The Mammut Barryvox 2 White is a compact, intuitive avalanche transceiver with a 70-metre range, advanced features like self-tests and Rescue-SEND function, and compatibility with the Mammut app for updates and training.
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£407.91
The Mammut Barryvox S2 Black is a compact, ultra-efficient avalanche transceiver with a 70 m range, advanced features, and a high-contrast MIP display, ensuring maximum safety in complex mountain rescue scenarios.
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£25.41
The Evo Bt Black Red holster, designed by Arva, is perfectly ergonomic for carrying your DVA directly under your ski jacket.
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Recommended price
£297.41
-10%
£267.66
Easy to update and set-up via Bluetooth on Pieps’ smartphone app, the Black Diamond BD Recon LT Beacon transceiver features 3 antennas and a maximum range of 50 m.
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£318.66
Essential for your mountain expeditions, the Arva Neo Bt Pro avalanche beacon allows to quickly be found and find buried victims.
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Recommended price
£322.91
-10%
£288.92
The BCA Tracker 4 avalanche transceiver is characterized by its speed and ease of use, and benefits from multiple features for maximum efficiency when rescuing an avalanche victim.
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Recommended price
£254.91
-10%
£229.41
Remarkable by its ease of use, the BCA Tracker S transceiver is an essential item to be saved in case of an avalanche or to rescue a victim.
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Buyer’s guide for a beacon suited to your needs
The beacon or transceiver is probably the most iconic safety feature for freeriders or ski tourers. Coupled with a shovel and a probe, these 3 elements are mandatory if you want to have a chance to save somebody burried in an avalanche. The beacon also emits a signal in case you are the one who gets burried. You can switch from emission to reception very easily and very quickly.
Do all brands of avalanche beacons work together?
As soon as you switch on your beacon, it begins to emit a signal in all directions at a 457Khz frequency thanks to several antennas. This frequency sticks to a norm meaning all beacons from all brands are using the same frequency and can work together. The signal range varies depending on the models between 40m and 60m.
How does an avalanche victim detector work?
In case of an avalanche, there are 2 possible situations. Either you are in the avalanche, burried under the surface, or you are out of it and your friends are under it. In the first case, unfortunately there is not much you can do except wait to be rescued. In the second situation however, you will need to switch your beacon into its reception mode and start searching.
Start where you last saw your friend and slowly ski down doing parallel lines. There shouldn’t be more than 20m between every line. As soon as you get a signal, your beacon will indicate the direction of the victom and guide you quickly. Then comes the probe. Probing helps you pinpoint the exact location of the victim. And finally the shovel. Shoveling the snow is a lot faster than using your hands. As a reminder, everything is a matter of time. It is considered that after 15 minutes spent under the snow, chances of surviving drop drastically, so make sure you have what it takes to save your friends. Modern beacons have significantly improved and are pretty intuitive to use but they are still battery-powered devices so always make sure the battery is charged before you head out.
What are the differences between different avalanche transceivers?
When you see the difference of price between models it seems legit to ask this question. Here are the answers. In terms of signal emission, differences aren’t huge. Every beacon works well and delivers good performance. Special mention to Ortovox though with their Smart Antenna technology. It allows the beacon to switch to the antenna that has the best position for transmitting depending on its position under the avalanche. But the real differences are visible in search mode. High-end beacons will make searching easier with an arrow pointing to the direction of the victim and the approximate distance to it. There are also multi-victim options. If several skiers get caught in an avalanche, this allows you to locate the first victim, have your friends working on it and continue searching for the second victim. It is rare, but it happens. This type of beacons is more commonly used by guides and core skiers. In any case, even if you have the latest beacon with the Smart Antenna and the Multi Victim detector, the best pretection is caution. If avalanche risks are high, you’d rather postpone your session than using your beacon to save a friend.
Avalanche safety sets and all the backcountry gear you need
Glisshop offers all the avalanche and mountain safety equipment you can need. Browse our site and discover our selection of beacons, as well as airbag backpacks, shovel and probes.