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ABS Backpack Information (23-Dec-2008)

ABS packs are specifically designed to help prevent you from being buried in an avalanche. The operation of the system is based on nature. Each avalanche consists of individual snow crystals. If these crystals begin to move, e.g. in a flow avalanche, they begin to separate, with the smaller crystals of snow creeping beneath the larger crystals and forcing them upward. This process is repeated again and again as long as the avalanche is moving. As the avalanche slows down and comes to a standstill, the buoyancy force drops, ultimately approaching zero. It is the avalanche itself that repeatedly forces you upward. But due to your body’s greater density, you will not remain at the surface and will sink back down repeatedly, burying you as the avalanche tapers out.

With the ABS avalanche airbag, you have 170 liters (6.0 cu ft) of additional volume within seconds that can prevent you from dropping back into the flowing masses of snow and/or can reduce the depth of burial. This separation process in which items having a larger volume float to the top is called the “Inverse Particles Principle”. Cold dry powder snow has a very low density but a large volume. A person on the other hand has a high density but less volume. In order to be able to float on the snow's surface and to avoid sinking, a person needs an additional volume of approximately 1.5 times of the persons total weight, which the ABS Avalanche Pack System provides.

98% SURVIVAL RATE
The statistics show that 98% of victims carried down by a moving avalanche (that deployed their ABS Backpack) stayed on top and survived the incident. The ABS has proven its worth in many tests. An increasing number of avalanche victims owe their lives to the use of the ABS Avalanche Pack System.

98% OF THOSE WEARING AN AVALANCHE PACK SURVIVE

ONLY 34% OF THOSE BURIED WITHOUT A PACK SURVIVE


For a comprehensive look at the ABS System, please watch this informational video. The video is just over 30 minutes long and gives an A to Z look at the functionality and use of the ABS System.