Flicklock Snow Saw is another interesting bugger from Black Diamond. Well, it's a snow saw, but it also locks nicely to the lover section of BF flick lock ski pole... which is handy. This added length makes it easy to reach the places you other vice couldn't. The saws teeth are sharp and cut snow with ease. Overall a good product.

Black Diamond Carbon Probe is a good concept, having a probe always with you without extra weight or bulk. And overall they are a good pair of poles. They're light, durable (plastics that are used to adjust the leash perhaps are the weak point), the length can be easily adjusted and once adjusted length stays where it should. Even the tip can take fair amount of rock and other abuse.

However the probe thing isn't really handy. While assembly itself is pretty straight forward, removing the basket (which is needed in order to make it useful) is less so. Furthermore there's plenty of plastic parts left that make the use of probe less efficient (more friction, more difficult to use especially on harder snow). As a result I've ended up carrying separate probe... another down side is the fact that these are pretty long, you can't really pack them nicely.

To summarize: While I'm happy with them, I won't rely on them as a probe and the next pair of poles will probably be something that gets shorter for packing.

Dainese Waistcoat is a flexible well fitting protection, it offers back protection as well as a few protective panels on the front. The zipper mechanism works well and the silicone on waist line keeps it in place. However as with most of the back protectors I really find the breathability a problem... for lift skiing and heliskiing it's okay, but for touring there's too much bulk and weight.