PRODUCT SUMMARY
By SnowMonkey

THE GOOD
The Black Diamond Avalung is an amazing invention that really delivers what it promises( watch the video). It claims that you can be buried for over an hour and still survive. Without an Avalung you can only last about 15 minutes.

THE BAD
The one downfall with the Avalung is that it only works if you put it on. Many times I have had it in my pack and either was too lazy or just plain forgot to put it on. Thankfully they do make packs with the lung built-in for dumb asses like myself.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
The Avalung does not repel avalanches or replace common sense. It works by moving CO2 (poisonous gas we exhale) away from your mouth and nose to extend the amount of time you can breathe while buried. It is a device that hopefully you will never have to use. But if you ever are caught in a slide you better hope you have one on.

OUR ADVICE


AVG USER ADVICE

skier wrote on 10/24/08 at 10:51:24 am pst:

Well considering there are no other breathing devices out there of course it gets best in test!

But seriously this is such an innovative product. Mine is built in to my pack so i don't have to worry about forgetting to put it on.

Their Advice

Sarah wrote on 10/28/08 at 1:38:04 pm pst:

And you can play music on it!

Their Advice

downhilldeb wrote on 01/08/09 at 10:16:36 pm pst:

The only benefit for this item would be for the professional paroller, guide or anyone else who HAS to put themselves in a position where you have to ski a slope that you think might fail. Having used one while doing avalanche hazard reduction, you HAVE to have the tube in your mouth when starting to ski, and then if you do get slid it HAS to stay in your mouth while you are getting maytagged down the mountain and then hopefully through all of that you are still conscious to ensure it is still in your mouth. The everyday skier/snow machiner would do better to invest their money in a level 2 or level 3 avy course. And if you think that you might get slid, reevaluate your choice to be where you are going, and why.

Their Advice

Mic wrote on 01/09/09 at 08:13:16 am pst:

Downhilldeb,
I would agree with you that the avalung is more for those who willing put themselves in danger. But if all the recent avalanches have taught us anything, especially the inbounds ones, Can you ever be 100% certain?

Their Advice

Jonathan S. Shefftz wrote on 03/10/09 at 2:40:23 pm pst:

"The everyday skier/snow machiner would do better to invest their money in a level 2 or level 3 avy course."
-- And if such a skier has already taken a L2 course yet still has enough money for an Avalung, then what?

"And if you think that you might get slid, reevaluate your choice to be where you are going, and why."
-- Such arguments against an Avalung could also be used to argue against beacon-shovel-probe.

Their Advice

bob wrote on 09/08/09 at 10:48:14 am pst:

don't be a jong

Their Advice