Sold on it

By Andrew McLean Ranked #1 - Avalanche Safety March 18, 2010

This is my favorite avalanche probe and the only one I consistently carry for day tours. It seems a little weird at first and the idea of an electric probe might be right up there with an electric spoon, but once you see it in action, the usefulness becomes very apparent.

The advantage of the iProbe is that it has a receiver in the tip of it that is always set to fine search, so as you sweep the probe tip over a debris pile, it will light up when it is within a meter or so of the buried target. This is cool as the 225cm length, plus the length of your arms, means you can sweep a six meter circle very quickly and without moving. When you go to plunge it and the sensor gets very close (within inches) of the victim, the buzzer goes off in a way that leaves no doubt that you've found your mark.

The iProbe is simple and easy to use. As a probe, it is sturdy aluminum with a nice, solid interlocking design and a secure tensioning system. All it takes to turn it on is to flip the switch - the rest is intuitive.

The downside of the iProbe is that the on/off switch is also where you loade the battery, and I have mistakenly opened the batter compartment and dropped the battery in the snow many times. No big deal when practicing, but it would be a drag in a real rescue scenario.

View Details: Pieps iProbe

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