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  • November 1, 2011 at 6:31 pm #575509
    philip.ak
    Participant

    I just picked up a Black Diamond Outlaw for my wife. Nice pack, but even though the outer avy tool pocket is as tall as the whole bag her Voile shovel really does not fit inside. It eats up so much space that closing the zipper on top is a pain and there is no way you will also get skins in pleasantly. The shovel handle is removed from the blade but even the short handle by itself is too tall for the pocket. In fact, her probe is also too tall. I don’t know what avy tools BD had in mind when they designed the pack length, but nothing we have at home goes in nicely. I take that back. I have an Ortovox Beast shovel and the blade fits in nicely, but again the handle is too long for the pocket (and I already mentioned the BCA probe). We could keep the handle and probe in the main compartment, but if everything could actually go in the nice little slots BD sewed into the avy tool pocket we’d be chuffed.

    Anyone out there have a particularly petite shovel (handle and blade length)? The BCA B-1 looks like it could be made small:

    November 1, 2011 at 6:57 pm #645839
    PedroDelfuego
    Participant

    I have a BD Transfer 3 Shovel. Its small and very compact in a pack.

    I no longer use it in the BC. Its too small to move major snow. I use a full size Voile shovel now. I love my BC partners and want to be able to dig them out if necessary.

    The Transfer 3 stays in my backup/loaner pack for friends or the occasional Snowcat/Silverton type outing.

    http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en-us/shop/ski/snow-saftey/transfer-shovel/

    November 1, 2011 at 7:59 pm #645840
    philip.ak
    Participant

    Kewl, thanks. Could you slap a tape measure against the collapsed shaft (without the blade attached) and report back?

    The blades that have a recessed shaft receiver like the BCA B-1 and the Ortovox beast make the overall blade length shorter without reducing the actual shovel blade surface area. Here’s the beast:

    November 1, 2011 at 9:33 pm #645837
    philip.ak
    Participant

    I swung by my house at lunch and also popped into my local BC shop (Orion’s Sports in Kodiak AK- a great shop btw). Here’s what I measured:

    Make/Model * blade length * blade width * shaft length (collapsed, w/o blade attached)
    Voile/XLM * 13.5 * 9.5 * 14
    BD/Transfter7 * 15.5 * 10 * 16.5
    BD/Deploy3 * 14 * 8.5 * 17
    Ortovox/Beast * 11 * 8.5 * 17
    Lifelink/Enduro * 12 * 9 * 20
    BCA/B1 EXT * 10 * 9 * 16

    Looks like the BCA B1, Voile XL or the Ortovox Beast are my choices. The BCA B1 looks like the best fit.

    November 1, 2011 at 9:58 pm #645838
    PedroDelfuego
    Participant

    I apologize…

    My shovel is the “Deploy 3” not the Transfer. Great little shovel, but little.

    Cheers!

    November 1, 2011 at 11:37 pm #645836
    fitit
    Participant

    @PedroDelfuego wrote:

    My shovel is the “Deploy 3” not the Transfer. Great little shovel, but little.

    I have that one too! You can almost throw it out of your bag, and it is like quick-draw and locks at full length. I can move a lot of snow with this shovel because of its swinging motion, and I can keep it tight to my chest while moving the snow.

    http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en-us/shop/ski/snow-saftey/deploy-shovel

    If I were to get another shovel, I would get one with a saw inside, but that is must me. Then I could attach it to the outside of my bag. I think if I remove the verts, I could have more room for layers and food instead of a bigger bag.

    November 2, 2011 at 6:05 am #645834
    philip.ak
    Participant

    It’s amazing what happens when you move to a pack proportioned for a 5′ 5″ woman’s torso. If all components were scaled to match the rider, there would be no issues, but stuff made to slip into a “normal” guys pack just falls a bit short (or long, in this case) when it comes to getting the zippers shut on a 17″ pack. I put the Orto beast shovel handle and her probe in the main compartment of her bag and that leaves the avy compartment for the blade and skins plus other damp/utility items. It will work out fine, I think.

    November 2, 2011 at 5:31 pm #645835
    Jefe009
    Participant

    For what it’s worth, I have the Outlaw pack too, and my BD Deploy 7 fits perfectly inside. They make different versions of the Deploy shovel, and the 7 is the largest.

    www.splitlife.net

    November 2, 2011 at 5:48 pm #645833
    philip.ak
    Participant

    I am guessing you have the larger size outlaw? They come in a S/M and M/L. The larger size is considerably taller. I looked at one in the shop and I agree pretty much any shovel would fit in it. My wife has the smaller size.

    November 3, 2011 at 6:45 pm #645841
    Jefe009
    Participant

    @philip.ak wrote:

    I am guessing you have the larger size outlaw? They come in a S/M and M/L. The larger size is considerably taller. I looked at one in the shop and I agree pretty much any shovel would fit in it. My wife has the smaller size.

    Correct, I have the M/L size. Good point.

    www.splitlife.net

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