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Resources - Probes

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Avalanche Probes - Instructions for Use

Deployment: Hold the probe in your hand and toss the segments away from your body while simultaneously pulling on the BCA Stealth Quick-Lock tension system (plunger) to assemble. Pull on the plunger to tighten the cable until plunger locks with the probe assembled.

Disassembly: Squeeze the dual levers of the BCA Stealth Quick-Lock system to release the cable tension in the probe. Carefully fold the probe segments together

Avalanche Probes - Storage, Mainenance, Transportation, and Disposal

  • Temperature: Never expose the product to temperatures above 80° C (176° F) to not diminish or alter the performance of the product.
  • Chemical Reagents: Immediately withdraw the product if it comes into contact with any chemical reagents, fuels, solvents, or other active or corrosive substances.
  • Cleaning Metallic Parts: Rinse with clean water and then air dry.
  • Cleaning Plastic Parts: Rinse in clean water (maximum temp 30°C or 86°F) and mild soap. Air dry away from heat.
  • Storage. Store unpacked and open to the ambient air in a cool, dry, dark place away from direct heat sources, sunlight, sharp edges, corrosive substances, or any other foreseeable causes of damage.
  • Transportation. Protect the product from all risks outlined above during any transportation event.
  • Service Life. For BCA plastic parts, the maximum lifetime is ten years from the date of manufacture. Metallic parts are indefinite.

Avalanche Probes - Education Resources

Avalanche Probes - UIAA Standard 157

All BCA Stealth avalanche probes are designed to meet UIAA standards.

The UIAA Standard 157 defines the thresholds for the minimum mechanical requirements for a probe to reliably withstand the loads generated in avalanche rescue activities. Standard 157 specifies safety requirements and test methods for avalanche rescue probes used in rescue and snow safety work. Probes are mainly used for the following tasks:

  • Pinpointing of buried subjects following a search with electronic search devices to find an approximate point of shortest distance on the snow surface;
  • Surface probing techniques commonly applied in probe lines to find buried subjects who are not searchable by any other means;
  • In case of avalanche rescue, once a probe hit has been achieved, the probe stays in the debris and acts as an important visual guide for the rescuers during the excavation effort; and
  • In snow safety work to measure snow depth and as a tool to facilitate snowpack stability measurements.

The newly released Standard 157 on Avalanche Rescue Probes, together with Standard 156 on Avalanche Rescue Shovels, ensure that users can rely on their gear when every minute counts.