Splitboard.com Forums

Poles and shovels. I lose them all the time. People should follow me and collect the gear I lose. You could outfit yourself.

Anyway Im in the nmarket for a new shovel. Im looking at the Deploy from Black Diamond

http://mammothgear.com/shop/shopexd.asp?id=22053&bc=no

Question is ..the deploy 3 or the deploy 7.

Is the deploy 3 too small? The deploy 7 too big?
Most of my BC partners are here so I will let you guys decide.

I've been wanting one of those shovels too. I think I'd go with the 7. Its got a larger scoop but due to the cool design it wont take up too much room in your pack.

the deploys are trowels built for midgets, although it is better than nothing. I like the Black Diamond Bobcat, they are discontinued but available.

I've never heard of anyone standing straight up while digging in the snow....typically you are hunched over or in a tight spot without a lot of room. At some point the shaft length will become too long. I think BD has designed a decent happy medium (but I'm short to begin with ).


ps. BD hates snowboarders.

Just buy Voile dude. Don't even think about other companies for that stuff.

I agree full on with this^^.

Voile stuff is nice, you know they stand behind it, and it's usually a bit cheaper. Tex, you should PM Karma Surf. I just got the Mini Tele Pro and am quite impressed with it. I had a short shovel similar in length to the big BD one and am very happy to have the extendable handle Voile.

Plus, BD hates us knuckle draggers. Support those that support us.

My $0.02 on it.

UB

TEX~

if your hard up for the BD product check out the transfers. I have one that I am pretty happy with aside from my current shovel blade to pack fitment issue. Large blade and longer handle. Of both the deploy and Transfer's I dig the shaft shape, and its pretty bomber. Admittedly, The only reason I ended up with one was b/c a buddy lost the blade to my old voile shovel.

Best

BD may hate us,but they do make a pretty good product. I use the deploy 3,and i dig it . Mainly b/c its small and a perfect fit in my pack. I also love that design. But i would prolly go with the deploy 7. The scoop is kinda small on the 3,but luckily i've never had to use it. Go with a 7,if you choose BD.

so why does everyone hate BD? did i miss something?

Their backpacks don't accommodate snowboards very well, and the whippet pole doesn't come in a 3 part version.

get a rope

I think were just kidding?

maybe they won't pay for a banner ad.

I'm gonna defend BD because I recently had a really nice email exchange with someone high up at BD who was very nice and has no problem with splitboarders at all. He was bummed that there was no good snowboard avalung pack right now and there is supposed to be a snowboard specific pack coming out next season. (Yay.) They are having trouble licensing the technology because it's really expensive to meet the testing requirements that each pack design has to go through for safety certification. I more get the feeling that they don't really 'get' bc snowboarding because they come from a mountaineering tradition vs. a more skating/surfing tradition.

That being said, I love my new Voile Mini Tele Pro, which I won at the raffle at an avalanche event. I'm definitely convinced that the long handle makes shoveling easier and I'm planning on shoveling a lot this season, which my various partners should take as a warning. Anyway, it's a great little design. Also, it might be easier to pack than the BD shovel because with a detachable handle you have more freedom about how you store the shovel, ie you can store the blade and handle in different places. With the handle running through the middle of the blade on the BD design it might make it harder to fit stuff compactly around the blade. I don't have experience with it though - those are just my thoughts.

Tex, I have two Dakine shovels, and I like them both. I have never had to dig anyone out, I have buried transcievers pretty deep with my older one. The old one has a bit longer scoop but a single piece handle with a D grip. The new one is virgin, a bit shorter in the scoop (but the same width). This new one has a T handle and the handle is two telescopic pieces so it packs well and can be used in TROLL MODE (just bagging on some of the shorter guys because I'm throwing back a few beeahs) or extended into the longer shaft.

Nothingmuch, why on earth are you carrying your board on your pack and not skinning or riding it? I thought that was the point.

Anyway, both my packs are Dakine also, an old poacher which I have used for a decade and a heli pack that is very compact. The poacher can carry the essentials plus ample gear, even for an overnight or multiday. The heli pack can carry the essentials for a day trip, not much more. I have other packs that I use for mountaineering not riding, and if I'm to do a multiday trip with my splitboard I might have to figure out how to mount all my crap on the outside (poles, ice axe, probe, shovel). I'm eager to see how riding with a full pack for an overnight will be with a split over snowshoes, I'm hoping easy.