Ortovox Orange Avalanche Shovel

This is awesome for the price. I bought a couple just to check it out and I wish I got more. It's perfect for when your just hanging around drinking, building jumps and/or obstacles. Plastic is perfect for digging out my car.

I do carry an aluminum shovel for the backcountry.

Don't purchase. Breaks immediately. My buddy had this on our level 2 avalanche course and got laughed at by the size, strength, and its ability to do anything. Couldn't function or keep up. Shoveling takes the most time out of any avalanche scenario and why have a shovel that is the most likely to break. Get a metal shovel

Don't skimp on a shovel. Plastic sux. Whether your digging up your buddy or digging out your car, or simply making a kicker, it'll be no fun when this guy breaks

I used this shovel for a Avy safety course, luckily I did not purchase this shovel. The plastic will not dig through a debris field. it just won't work. If you are cheap enough to still want to buy this, go to home depot and get a $15 general purpose shovel.

Spend the extra money and get a metal shovel. Breaking a shovel while frantically digging to find your buddy would be a bad place to be. After a slide avalanche snow can be extremely compressed, so spend the extra ten or twenty to get a blade that won't break

this shovel doesn't break... it just bounces off hard pack snow. Would be great if the your digging through blower pow, but not for an avalanche.

the bright orange is the best thing about it. It's only a one section shovel, unlike my LifeLine, but you get what you pay for....

This shovel’s blade is small. If you're using a pack with an external shovel blade carrying system, make sure the dimensions of your shovel's blade are compatible. In my case, I bought a Dakine Heli pack and an Ortovox Orange shovel but the shovel blade slops around in the external pocket even when it's strapped as tight as possible. It seems possible that the blade would come free in a violent fall or if it got hooked to something. Dakine, and other brands I am assuming, make their packs to fit Dakine brand shovels, or other shovels with similar dimensions.

If looking for a shovel to throw in the car or just use here in there this isn't a bad choice. I wouldn't use it for my avie shovel though. The blade is a little small and it is pretty light weight. I Have a Black Diamond deploy and love it.

haven't broken it yet, does its job, and is small enough for my pack

I disagree with all these guys. I like this ortovox shovel. It's super light weight yet has decent extension. Metal blades are nice if you're shoveling out your car but they're heavy in your pack... and this fits perfectly in my 1200 cu in dakine pack (handle goes on the side, blade in the front pocket, badabing).