What this document settles
It fixes requirements and test methods for avalanche airbag systems used in mountaineering and ski touring: the inflation of the airbag, the operation of the trigger, the strength of the harness and leg loop that hold the pack to the wearer, and behaviour at low temperature.
The harness is the part people overlook and the document does not. A bag that inflates while the pack leaves the wearer has done nothing, which is why a leg loop or a crotch strap is part of the system rather than an accessory.
Two inflation systems share the shelf and the standard. Compressed-gas cartridges are lighter and need refilling or exchange after each use. Electric fan systems recharge and can be deployed more than once, at a weight penalty and with a charge to manage.
What it does not promise
It does not promise burial will not happen. The mechanism the airbag relies on is a physical sorting effect in moving debris, and its effect is statistical rather than individual.
It does not cover the pack as a pack. Volume in litres, ski carry, helmet holder, back protector compatibility and the rest are ordinary rucksack features, and the litres quoted for the sack are a different number from the litres quoted for the inflated airbag.
It does not cover travel. Whether a cartridge can be flown is an airline and regulatory matter, and each maker publishes its own guidance. This site reports the maker’s statement and points at the airline.
It does not replace a transceiver, a probe and a shovel, and no maker on this shelf claims it does.
And it does not train anybody, which is the same sentence this site writes on every page of this group.
What it is read alongside
The transceiver frequency standard covers the other electronic item in the same pack. Probes and shovels have no standard of their own. Back protectors, which some packs are built to carry, belong to a different piece of equipment and to a different site in this family.
Where it turns up on this site
Airbag packs, and the transceiver shelf beside them.
This site handles it in one way, consistently. A pack page prints the inflation system, the stated airbag volume in litres, the pack volume as a separate figure, the total weight with and without the cartridge where the maker gives both, and the maker’s own service and travel guidance as the maker’s. It does not describe any pack as making anything safe.
The questions asked most often
Cartridge or fan?
A cartridge system is lighter and needs refilling or exchanging after every deployment, and the cartridge travels badly by air. A fan system recharges from a battery and can be deployed repeatedly, weighs more and needs charge. Both are covered by the same document, and the choice is about how you travel and how often you practise.
Does the volume figure mean protection?
It is the inflated volume of the airbag in litres, stated by the maker. It is not a protection rating, and the standard does not turn it into one.
Should I practise deploying it?
Makers publish their own guidance on test deployments and on service intervals, and this site reports what they say. A pack nobody has ever pulled is a pack whose handle has never been found in a hurry.
Last reviewed 28 September 2026