I’m scared to death of suffocating.  Fortunately, I don’t do any crazy helicopter downhill skiing where an avalanche is eminent due to the fresh powder factor.  If you do, though, you might want to look into the AvaLung from Black Diamond.  It works by taking the fresh air around you and from the snow, converts it to breathable air and expels the CO2 emissions at your lower back.  According to Black Diamond, the average amount of available air, when buried in an avalanche is about 15 minutes.  Being rescued by beacon on average takes 20 minutes.  Black Diamond says their Avalung can provide up to 58 minutes of air and based on customer testament has provided up to 2 hours of oxygen.  I can’t tell if the video is ‘manufactured’, but it looks pretty darn compelling.

[Amazon, via Thanks, Dan]