Review: Black Diamond JetForce Pro

A while ago I wrote an extensive story about the Black Diamond JetForce Tour, but we also brought the Black Diamond JetForce Pro to Canada. Morris was riding with it all week. This new JetForce Pro is lighter, smaller and works with Pieps technology. For those who don't know: Pieps is owned by Black Diamond.

Fan

The Black Diamond JetForce Pro also works with a fan. This is powered by a lithium battery. With a full charge you can pull the airbag about four times. A full battery lasts for days and you can easily charge it. It is just like a telephone, just use the charger and you have enough juice again. A major advantage of this type of airbags compared to airbags with a cylinder is that you can continue to pull the trigger virtually unlimited. This way you can get used to your airbag at home, so you can easily pull the trigger it when the shit hits the fan.

The trigger

The trigger has all kinds of lights with which you can clearly see if the airbag is activated and how much battery is left. In this way you will never be faced with surprises in the terrain. The trigger can of course be placed over the left shoulder of the bag as well as the right shoulder. Depending on whether you are right-handed or left-handed.

At the airport

The fact that it has a fan and not a cilinder does not automatically mean that the pack can easily be taken into the aircraft. With airport security, they notice the large lithium battery that is incorporated in the bag. It took Morris half an hour to explain, but in the end the bag was allowed to get on the plane. Yet a difference with the Black Diamond JetForce Tour, with which I walked through security just like that.

Automatically deflate

After the JetForce Pro is triggered, it will deflate after a few minutes. The purpose of this is that, should you end up under the avalanche, there is a chance that an air pocket will be created in this way. Of course there are never any guarantees, but if it works then it might save your life.

Connectivity

Of course you will also find all the handy compartments in the pack and there is a dedicated compartment for your shovel and probe and it is also easy to pin down an ice ax. Even if you go hiking and your skis are strapped on, they will not prevent the release of the balloon in the event of an emergency. Thanks to the collaboration with Pieps, it is very easy to update your bag with new firmware by connecting it with Bluetooth to the Pieps app.

Multiple volumes

Since we were on heli trip in Canada, the pack with the smallest capacity was sufficient. That is the 10L version. If you want to do day trips or multi-day trips, there are 25 and 35 liter versions and a 25 liter version specially for a split board. You can simply zip these versions onto the basic system.

The Black Diamond JetForce Pro costs € 1140,00.