Safeback SBX Works (Probably)

The novel Safeback SBX technology shows significant promise in a new trial published in the Journal of the American Medical association, hot off the presses on October 8th. The study, titled Respiratory Gas Shifts to Delay Asphyxiation in Critical Avalanche Burial by Eisendle et. al., shows that Safeback may be able to prevent suffocation during avalanche burial for as long as 35 minutes.

We’ve discussed the avalanche safety technology Safeback SBX previously on The High Route. You can find that coverage here.

Safeback Background

Asphyxia, or lack of oxygen, is the cause of death in approximately 75% of fatal avalanche accidents. While survival after a burial time of 10 minutes is around 90%, survival drops quickly to around 30% at 35 minutes. Prior research has shown that a significant portion of buried victims have open airways that are not blocked by snow, and simulation studies have shown benefit to providing buried subjects with supplemental air. Safeback SBX is a fan system that integrates into a compatible backpack and when activated pulls air from around the pack and blows it from ports on the shoulder straps near the user’s face, aiming to improve survival when the user is critically buried. Though the device has been commercially available for a few years, until this month its efficacy has been untested.

SBX Study Design

The independent Eurac research group completed a trial of Safeback use in healthy volunteers in 2023. A total of 24 participants were buried face down in the snow with at least 50 cm of snow covering their head and neck. Participants were wearing either the SBX device or a sham device that made an identical sound but was otherwise nonfunctional. Both the research team and the participants themselves were blinded to which device the participant was wearing. Only the lead researcher responsible for activating the devices was aware of their function.

Each participant was buried for a planned duration of 35 minutes, and researchers monitored their vital signs as well gas concentrations in the snow around their face. The experiment was stopped if the participant’s oxygen level dropped to 80%, or if the participant requested to stop. In the group with the real Safeback device, if the participant made it to 35 minutes, their Safeback was deactivated and they were transitioned to a sham device for another 25 minutes or until participant or oxygen levels necessitated a stop.

Safeback Trial Results

Safeback SBX significantly prolonged the time that participants could safely tolerate simulated avalanche burial. In the group with sham devices, four requested to stop early, three from shortness of breath and one for a panic attack. Of the remaining eight, only one made it to 35 minutes without the trial being stopped for low oxygen levels. The mean time to trial cessation for low oxygen levels was 6.4 minutes. In the Safeback group, 11 of the 12 participants completed the full 35 minutes. One requested to stop early due to tingling in an extremity. None had the experiment stopped for low oxygen levels.

Vital signs and gas measurements around the participants’ faces supported the efficacy of Safeback. In the Safeback group, researchers observed lower CO2 levels and more oxygen around the participants’ faces. In the sham group, participants showed higher heart rates, respiratory rates, lower blood oxygen levels, and higher CO2 levels in their expired air. When the Safeback group was transitioned to the sham device at 35 minutes, all 11 terminated after a mean time of 7.2 minutes.

The study is limited by the inclusion of only healthy volunteers and by only testing one burial condition. It’s possible that individuals with preexisting health conditions could suffer asphyxia despite the use of Safeback, and that different burial positions could either limit a subject’s ability to breathe or limit the efficacy of Safeback itself.

What’s Next?

This is high quality research that strongly suggests that Safeback SBX could significantly improve survival after avalanche burial. Whether this becomes a dominant avalanche safety technology remains to be seen. Avalanche airbag backpacks have already been shown to reduce rates of critical avalanche burial and to improve survival, while Safeback SBX is not known to have been used in a real avalanche burial to date. Some may prefer the system for its lower weight compared to airbag systems, and while costs are currently comparable to compressed-gas airbag packs, it’s likely to come down and become cheaper than airbags in the long run.

Safeback has some interesting potential use cases, such as in slowing death after tree well burial, or for professionals who work in avalanche runouts where airbags are likely to be ineffective. In large part, however, the choice between Safeback and an airbag may be one of personal preference. Do you prefer a technology with moderate effectiveness to avoid avalanche burial, or do you prefer one that likely has a strong effect in preventing asphyxia after burial? If you travel in the backcountry solo, then an airbag remains the clear choice, as Safeback has little use if there no partner to dig you out. Fuzzy napkin math from this study might point to the Safeback saving more lives in the long run, so if you’re a machine making decisions on odds alone, Safeback may be the best bet if it proves effective in the real world.

Safeback SBX packs are currently available from Raide Research and Bergans of Norway. More manufacturers are coming on board, including Heli Hansen for winter ’26-’27. Safeback says that integration with an airbag pack is their most requested feature currently, and William Sherman, Safeback CMO, says that this is something that they are working to bring to market. This study gives us good reason think that Safeback is a technology that will save lives. As we learn more about Safeback’s real-world performance and future product partnerships and integrations, you’ll hear about it here on The High Route.