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Are you looking to upgrade your avalanche shovel and cant make your mind up on what Ortovox Shovels suits you best?
Snowsafe breakdown everything you need to know:
Avalanche safety equipment is essential for freeriders and ski tourers who go off-piste in unsecured terrain. An avalanche shovel is just as important in this regard as an avalanche transceiver or avalanche probe. The construction, functions and safety standards are of decisive importance when purchasing a shovel.
Be Quick!
Statistics show that the chances of surviving an avalanche burial fall dramatically after 15 minutes. In an emergency situation, time is therefore of the essence (see picture below). Using a carefully-conceived shovel and the correct shoveling strategy saves important time in an emergency situation.
The average burial depth from which people are rescued alive is 50cm. This requires the excavation of 1500 liters of snow! Saving time digging means increasing the chances of survival.
With Large Blade Volume and 90° Clearing Function:
The graphic shows the shoveling duration for different shovels. While it takes 11 minutes and 20 seconds of shoveling with an average shovel and a small blade volume, a shovel with optimum shovel blade volume reduces shoveling time to an average of 9 minutes and 56 seconds.
By converting to clearing function mode, additional lifesaving time can be saved. Blade volume and clearing function play an important role in the event of an avalanche burial.
If the blade volume is too small, not enough snow can be shoveled in a short space of time.
If it is too big, the snow can no longer be lifted effectively. In order to ensure optimum shoveling, the blade volume must be carefully considered and provide optimum usability. A clearing function used in the second clearing row makes shoveling even more effective.
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Ergonomic Grip The correct grip for every user: The D-grip is the “king of grips” when it comes to efficiency. It’s considered the most ergonomic grip on the market! Found on the Kodiak Shovel. In comparison, the T-Grip Pro is more compact and lighter. It can be altered to suit left and right handers to. and it offers the foundations for effective snow clearing. Found on the Pro Alu III Shovel. The hybird grip gaurantees optimum force transmssion and a wide vareity of grip positions for right and left handers. |
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Telescopic Shaft A telescopic shovel shaft provides greater leverage, thus enabling faster, more effecient shoveling. Shovels with a telescopic shaft also have a smaller pack size and will fit in a touring backpack more easily. The Pro Alu III, Kodiak, Beast and Pro Light are all telescopic. |
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Oval Handle Cross-Section An oval shovel handle is significantly more stable than a round handle. An oval handle cross section makes using the push button for sliding the telescopic shaft in and out easier and more intuitve. |
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Rescue Shed Function The four drill holes can be used for assembling a rescue sled to transport the injured person in an emergency situtation. All Ortovox shovels house this feature other then the Badger. |
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Large Blade Volume The shovel blade must be big enough to move lots of snow in a short time – but the blade volume must not be to large either, as otherwise the shovel strokes become to difficult. |
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High Side Walls An elevated shovel edge means snow stays on the shovel blade during shoveling and cannot slip off the sides. The high sidealls therefore ensure more effective shovelling. |
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Converting to clearing function You should be able to convert an avalanche shovel to use the clearing function with a single maneuver. Coupled with the correct shoveling strategy, this function facilitates better clearing in the second row, saving lifesaving time. This clearing function is found on the Kodiak & Pro Alu III
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Sharp Shovel Cutting Edge Avalanche snow is not like powder snow. A Sharp, sturdy cutting edge penetrates hard, icy snow surfaces in the avalanche deposit zone more easily. This enables quicker and more efficient shoveling. Found on all Ortovox Shovels. |
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Robust Materials Robust, break resistant material is what makes a high-qaulity avalanche shovel. Ortovox use various materials for there snow shovels: The extremely stable 5052 aluminium is the first choice for many of the shovel blades. For high-end products and majority of the shovel shafts, 7075 Aluminum T6 is used for its optimium weight-to-ragidity ratio. Find out more in our Ortovox Shovels Materials Glossary. |
| Pro Alu III | Pro Light | Beast | Badger | Pocket Spike | ||
| Certified | UIAA | UIAA | ||||
| Length (cm) | 88 / 49 | 84 / 44 | 76 / 42 | 83 / 42 | 70 / 45 | |
| Scoop (Litres) | 3100 | 2700 | 2100 | 2300 | 2500 | |
| Weight (g) | 770 | 770 | 440 | 580 | 625 | 90 |
| Blade |
AL 606 T6 (hardened), Anodized |
AL 5052 (strain hardened), Anodized |
AL 606 T6 (hardened), Anodized |
AL 5052 (strain hardened), Anodized | AL 5052 (strain hardened), Powder coated | |
| Handle |
AL 6061 T6 (hardened) |
AL 6061 T6 (hardened) |
AL 7075 T6 (hardened) |
AL 6061 T6 (hardened) | AL 6061 T6 (hardened) | |
| Rubberized Grip Zone | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| D-Grip | ✔ | |||||
| T-Grip | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| T-Grip Pro | ✔ | |||||
| Rapid Locking | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| Oval Cross Section | ✔ | |||||
| Telescopic | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Non-Slip Grooves | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Sharp, Protected Edge | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Pack-freindly | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Clearing Function | ✔ | ✔ | ||||
| Rescue Sled Function | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Pocket Spike Compatible | ✔ |
Ortovox Kodiak Shovel
Ortovox PRO ALU III Shovel
Ortovox Pro Light Shovel
Ortovox Beast 2.3 Shovel
Ortovox Badger Shovel
