Heated gloves/clothing interfere with avalanche transceivers?
We have just learned that there may be an issue with the new heated technology used in gloves, jackets and the like. It seems that these products interfere with avalanche transceivers when trying to search for signals. Has anyone out there had a similar experience to the one below?
It has been documented that cell phones and GPS devices interfere with digital transceivers in search mode. We previously have not heard of any reports of interference caused by battery powered heated clothing or boots. This problem is worthy of further investigation. Until more is known, be aware of this problem and it's implications.
During the beacon search practice one of the participants who was wearing Black Diamond electric (Cayenne?) gloves was searching for a buried beacon using a BCA Tracker 2. We found that her gloves when powered STRONGLY INTERFERED with the functioning of the transceiver in search mode!! This cannot emphasize this enough.
Yesterday, during the Spokane Mountaineers' Introduction to Avalanche Safety Class field day, we made a very important discovery that is worth sharing with winter recreationists who might use avalanche transcievers.