>>264978They work okay if the radar unit's available.
Thing is, in an avalanche... if you're buried, your buddies have about 15 minutes to get to you before the rescue turns into a recovery. Sometimes more if you're lucky, sometimes less if you're not. So if you've got to go get one of the Recco units (they're not really conveniently-sized... pretty big device), that's going to greatly reduce the chance of a successful rescue.
If you're in backcountry avalanche terrain, get a beacon and get educated.
If you're in-bounds where avalanches are unlikely and help is near, you're probably fine with the protection the Recco reflectors offer.
The big advantage to them is it's a fully passive system, there's nothing to turn on or batteries to replace. And if it's in the gear you have anyways, it's one less thing to forget.
I've seen the technology demo'd, but haven't had a chance to try it out on the snow. In one of the next races I'm going to have the local Recco rep come out and bring one of the radar units, do some demos and training with that. Probably in the next 4-6 weeks.
>Pic extremely related. 