What if you actually wanted to carry your avalanche airbag into the mountains? That’s the question that Katie Becker, the Chief Creative Officer for Arc’teryx Equipment, poses in her letter announcing the release of the Arc’teryx Micon LiTRIC Avalanche Airbag. It’s a tacit acknowledgment of the issues that have plagued airbags since their inception. They’re heavy, they don’t always carry well, and often they’ve been pretty ugly. The Micon LiTRIC is Arc’teryx’s answer to that: an avalanche airbag that is sleek, light, carries well and brings backcountry risk management to the next level.
Arc’teryx Micon LiTRIC Avalanche Airbag Features:
- 150L two-layer airbag doesn’t require complicated folding to restore
- Novel pairing of super capacitors with a 25g lightweight lithium-ion battery is cold resistant
- 4 second filling time, with top-up activations at 1 and 2 minutes after activation
- Simple LED display is visible through the side of the pack to indicate charging and readiness.
- New locking system to prevent accidental opening of the airbag pocket
- Ergonomic, height-adjustable activation handle with Bowden cable and safety lockout
- Hip belt and leg loop reimagined for comfort and speed of attachment
- USB-Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery
- LED Display
- Leg-Loop Clip
- Avalanche Tool Pocket
- Helmet Carry System
- 3-Layer Laminated Back Panel
- MSRP: $1600
The lightest avalanche airbag:
The Micon LiTRIC is roughly a decade in the making, and it’s the result of a design collaboration between Arc’teryx and ORTOVOX. The purpose of LiTRIC is to have an airbag that is as small and light as possible. One of the first things you should know about this is that, for the time being, the Micon is only available through Arc’teryx’s professional group sales program. This will change quickly as Arc’teryx ramps up their production and distribution capacity.
I toured for multiple years before using an airbag. Like many people, I was put off by the price of the product, which can often cost as much as the rest of a touring setup. Two things changed my mind. One was attending a wilderness medicine conference aimed at medical professionals, and learning about the extent of hard data behind avalanche airbags and mortality reduction.
In this Wilderness Medical Society guideline for managing avalanche victims, they summarize data demonstrating that avalanche airbags reduced mortality from 22% to 11% when deployed properly. About 20% of the time, though, they aren’t deployed properly which obviously reduces the effectiveness. The other event that tipped me over was the death of a college friend in an avalanche: it made the risk so much more real to me. I am now in the camp that views airbags as mandatory equipment along with beacon, shovel and probe.
Now let’s dig in to what makes the Micon system special.
The system is 1080g, making it one of the lightest on the market. Compare this with the Alpride E2, a comparable capacitor-based design which clocks in at 1140g. Canister options consistently weigh twice as much as these systems.
The foundation of this pack is the Arc’teryx Micon, which is the new name for the Rush SK 16 that I’ve previously reviewed. The Rush SK (now Micon) is my daily driver for short tours, so I feel well familiar with the build and carry of this line. This article is a first look, and we’ll publish a full review after thorough use. From the touring that I’ve had, it carries really well and does NOT feel like a cumbersome avy bag. The pack straps are flawlessly designed, with a perfect medium-density foam that’s supportive yet comfortable and doesn’t mash down.
The hip belt’s emphasis is on minimalist non-intrusiveness, but still is supportive and comfortable on the hips. There’s a slim stuff pouch for a bar or sunscreen, but the emphasis here is really on clean lines rather than extra pockets. Arc’teryx’s leg loop is thoughtfully designed and positioned on the right hip belt half. Theoretically you can place and remove it with one hand, but I had a hard time doing so. It definitely requires taking your glove off. Some of the trouble is how tough the spring is, which should improve over time.
The rest of the Micon LiTRIC, similar to the Micon, is pretty clean. There’s a generous external ‘map’ pocket, which I kept things like snacks, binding tools and glop stopper in. The main compartment is generous, and only minimally impacted by the LiTRIC system hanging out on top. There’s no bladder pocket or hose routing, which is a bummer for me.
You access the rescue pocket through a second zipper in the main pocket, which I think is a weakness. Sure, fast access to the rescue system is only needed 0.1% of the time, but I really want single-zipper access for philosophical reasons. Another quibble is that the compression straps have to pop off to get full access to the main compartment. I find this fiddly with gloves on.
The materials are excellent: a 210d corder nylon makes up the body fabric, and should last decades (aka, longer than the LiTRIC technology will stay desirable!). The back panel is smooth and sheds snow, and a frame sheet provides adequate support for the mid-sized loads thiFirst Look: New Arc’teryx Micon LiTRIC Avalanche Airbags 32L pack is capable of. You can carry your helmet with the Corac Helmet Carry System.
Focus on the LiTRIC system:
A significant safety component of any electronic airbag system is its potential interference with a beacon. This article, which is in German but is easily translated by most browsers, discusses real-world testing of the different systems. In their testing, LiTRIC came out ahead in part because its system is positioned the furthest away from where beacons are usually positioned in use.
Travelers will appreciate the relative ease of traveling with the LiTRIC system. It uses a relatively small lithium ion battery to charge a super capacitor. While the International Air Transport Association recognizes this as ‘dangerous goods,’ you can still carry it without any declaration or documentation. Read more about the technicalities on Ortovox’s website here.
After the initial activation, the LiTRIC system immediately begins to recharge the capacitors for another activation. The full charge takes about 25 minutes. So, if you’re doing a practice activation and touring the same day, make sure that you don’t enter avalanche terrain within 25 minutes of starting to travel. The system provides a minimum of 60 hours of use, and is capable of two deployments on a full charge.
A massive perk of the LiTRIC system and other capacitor-based designs is that you can practice with them penalty-free (with some caveats). By comparison, canister-based options require specialized equipment to refill; even though it’s do-able, I think it’s a small psychological barrier that will keep some users from deploying their system on at least a yearly basis to stay fresh. Like the BCA motto, ‘simplicity is fast, practice is faster.’ Practice is an essential component of avalanche preparedness, particularly when you consider that 20% of airbag wearers failed to deploy their systems properly in real-world avalanches.
A full review will be coming after extensive use (hopefully not actual avalanches), so stay tuned in the coming months.
