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Ski Retriever -- anyone use these?

TallGuy

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I saw these on the REI website today. Seems like a good idea if it actually works very well. Anyone use this who can give a report on it?
1620880951018.png
 

pchewn

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I have flashy neon pink tape that attaches to the binding and you jam it up your pant leg. But I don't usually get to ski deep enough powder to warrant purchasing anything else.

Exactly!! Sometimes the low-tech solution is the best.
 

cantunamunch

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I have flashy neon pink tape that attaches to the binding and you jam it up your pant leg. But I don't usually get to ski deep enough powder to warrant purchasing anything else.

That's actually a *better* solution for when there's not enough powder for the ski to sink but there's great unholy amounts of scrub, brush or low branches for the ski to get lost in.

Unfortunately it's also a great windcatcher.

There was a kid at Taos who forgot? to wrap the tape around both skis before he left them outside Whistlestop Cafe - 3 minutes later one of his skis was in the creekbed below the cafe with tape winding all through the brush...
 
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dbostedo

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There was a kid at Taos who forgot? to wrap the tape around both skis before he left them outside Whistlestop Cafe - 3 minutes later one of his skis was in the creekbed below the cafe with tape winding all through the brush...
I believe those were tele skis with no brakes too, right? So once the ski blew off the rack, it took off down the hill.
 

cantunamunch

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I believe those were tele skis with no brakes too, right? So once the ski blew off the rack, it took off down the hill.

No brakes, just boot clips, that's right. Good thing the tape was there or I would *never* have found it.
 
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Nobody

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I have flashy neon pink tape that attaches to the binding and you jam it up your pant leg. But I don't usually get to ski deep enough powder to warrant purchasing anything else.
Same here, except the stripes (tapes) are orange.
 

David Chaus

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You know, I bought 2 set of Pow Tails a few years back as the owner/inventor was closing the (side) business and clearing out his inventory. I've never used them.
 

dovski

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I am just waiting for Tesla to come up with ski that has a summon feature. Press a button and they come to you, press another engage or disengage the bindings, press another to engage autopilot. ;)

I am clearly joking but the scary thing is some of this is likely not that far off in the future. Look at the new wireless shifting for bikes. I could easily see tech like that being integrated into boots and bindings at some point in the near future.
 

Scruffy

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Looks like a competitor for this: http://www.resqski.com/ , which has been out for a few years now. I have a set for my powder skis. They work, at least during a practice session. Never had the ski come off so hadn't needed to use it to find a buried ski.

1620942512369.png
 

cantunamunch

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bbbradley

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Ski the east coast, you don't have this problem, just the occasional runaway missile on "hardpack" to keep your head on a swivel. :)
 

Ogg

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Maybe just tighten your bindings
Yes but think belt and suspenders. I generally don't want my skis to come off but if they do I want to be able to find them.
I do prefer the low tech approach of some neon surveyors tape instead of relying on technology in winter conditions.
 

Scruffy

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Yeah, I prefer low tech too for things that don't need a reinvention of the wheel. The thing that is nice about a "beacon" for your skis is: trams/gondola, cat skiing, heli skiing; there's not the clipping and unclipping of the powder cord for each run. For many years, I use to ski exclusively on tele skis with no brakes, so I know the drill with respect to the extra step involved with the safety strap; might as well clip a powder strap there too, but hey if you're going to simply step into an alpine binding, might as well do away with the extra step powder strap too, for those skis and those days when a powder strap is needed--and that's really the crux of the matter: how many big powder days do you get to warrant the purchase of this tech?

I do prefer the low tech approach of some neon surveyors tape instead of relying on technology in winter conditions.

Avi beacons seem to more or less work in winter conditions; it's pretty much the same tech. I wouldn't worry about that.
 

TheArchitect

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You know, I bought 2 set of Pow Tails a few years back as the owner/inventor was closing the (side) business and clearing out his inventory. I've never used them.

I have the Pow Tails on my boots but only had to use them once. Unfortunately I skied the tips into a deep snow-filled dip and made like superman with extreme energy. The Pow Tails velcro strip didn't detach from the boots and both of the stock caribiners snapped at the closure. I replaced both with much stronger caribiners but have yet to get a deep powder day or fall with them.

Anyway, I may switch to the 'stuff-em in the pant cuff' version if the Pow Tails fails with the new caribiner.
 

4ster

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What’s the cost of these retrievers?
i wonder if the signal interferes with an avalanche transceiver? The resQski says no but I wonder.
:huh:
 

Scruffy

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What’s the cost of these retrievers?
i wonder if the signal interferes with an avalanche transceiver? The resQski says no but I wonder.
:huh:

The full set for resQski is £ 81 pounds, so that's $114.00 currently. I think I paid a little over $100 for the set three years ago. You can also buy just the ski homing tags for an additional pair of skis to work with the handheld transceiver for £ 45 pounds.

The Ski Retriever seems to have died an early death. REI, EVO, and Starthaus are all out of stock, but seem to have offered it at about $100 at one time. Someone is selling a kit on ebay for $17, but I'd stay away from Ski Retriever for now. It seems to have been a kick starter that didn't kick off.

Edit: Fixed the conversion from pounds to dollars; my dyslexia got me again.
 
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