Black Diamond  Recon BT Avalanche Beacon

I've now owned both this beacon and previously a pieps beacon that have failed due to cheap plastic/cheap hardware. The pieps plastic cracked inside the battery housing and the batteries would no longer sit flush with the electrodes touching. This led to the beacon switching on and off while skinning or if it was shaken the wrong way. I replaced that with this model and the screw head that holds the housing shut snapped off. I will now be experiencing the joys of drilling out a tiny screw. Otherwise works great, however, this isn't a piece of gear I expect to fail or have to replace every other year. Next beacon I'll be looking elsewhere

Upgrading from a BCA Tracker 1 (I know, I know). Does the job and is very intuitive, played around a little searching for my Tracker and very satisfied. To touch on the 2-star review in this thread, if you're changing your batteries in the middle of a backcountry excursion you haven't prepared properly. Preparation is the main tool everyone needs to use when preparing to head into the bc. Making sure your gear checks out 100% BEFORE you go beyond the gates is your first responsibility. Beacon's don't kill people, but ignorance of conditions and gear most definitely does. It's very possible I'm missing something but I don't understand why swapping to lithium-ion is such a priority. As I was told in my AIARE L1 course, alkaline batteries power down gradually to 0% whereas LI's drop off the map - think about your cell phone going from 9% one minute to dead the next. Now, things may have changed over the recent years but alkaline batteries are still more friendly to the environment (POW anyone?), cheaper, and unless you're wearing your beacon outside your gear like a Jerry the difference in lifespan is negligible. Dissertation over, this is a great product. Beacon's are expensive but necessary and this one is great.

This product lock button failed after owning it for 2 seasons. There is potential fault in the Pieps on/off switch. While there is a lock mechanism intended to keep the switch in position to "send" while skiing, the switch is faulty. After a hard crash I discovered that that the lock/unlock easily switched itself into off mode. Apparently I'm not the only person who has experienced this. Please do a quick internet search on Pieps products before purchasing this and you'll see what I'm talking about. It's not worth risking your life for a faulty product.

Love this transceiver, it's easy to use/operate, even with gloves on. I also pair it with the TX-600 dog unit and it works great and is easy to toggle between human and dog signals. Very happy with purchase.

Let me start by saying BD is making beacons cool again, Pieps has been dipping it's design hand into the nintendo 64 controller style for far too long. It perfectly matches my all-black millennial outerwear but the hit of blue is just enough to find it in my pile of gopro's and vape rigs. This puppy even sends harder than I do, it picked up the practice dummy at 55m when the other searchers had to walk in another 10m, a.k.a. that's fluxing good. I can see how some people don't like the SlideLock button because it FlickLocks itself off track or into a different position if you're not careful but lets be real, care is exactly what you should be taking when sneaking into the backcountry and if you're not being careful with your beacon then consider a resort. *Daps all around*

Have used this numerous times, handed off to students, and would trust this just like all my Pieps before it. I appreciate the simplicity of this model. The only thing I've noticed is the slide lock, although an improvement, it looks like it could use some more engineering. Pros: -Trailhead check mode is the best on the market. Checks within 1meter but doesn't get messed up if you're too close, and it goes directly into SEND mode after you let go. I find that most people don't know about this feature but love it once they do. - Like the slide lock better than the old push lock to switch modes, better for larger gloves. However, it appears to need some tweaking. The slide seems to get a little off track and I doubt it will last 5 years. So far so good after a dozen days. - Bluetooth not intrusive and was easy to connect (with instructions). Have not changed settings yet. - Essentially just like my old Pieps.

Glad I upgraded to this beacon. Range has greatly increased compared to my last beacon. Use with mittens on wasn't that difficult. Searching is similar, no surprises. Pinpointing seemed better than compared side by side with a friend's beacon. Settings and use are pretty intuitive. I would give it 5/5 if I didn't need the BT App to change the battery type.

warranty issue still unresolved almost 2 years later. nobody willing to help, nobody who cares, nobody who will listen. just simply repeats the same BS over and over. incredible given how reputable this company is supposed to be. how do they still have a name with this kind of service???? absolutely pathetic

This might be premature but I unboxed the Beacon and with out even reading the instructions was able to quickly find a beacon in my back field. it is much easier to use than the Tracker I had been using for years. I am excited to try this in the actual snow this winter! (Hopefully for practice only!)

Have used marmot and pieps, big fan of this beacon specifically! Seems like it best adjusts for a multi burial, has a wide signal range and I enjoy the sound/vibration feature so I can keep my eyes on the slope or avy path instead of the beacon before my find search. My personal preference.