Black Diamond Equipment, the official distributor of Pieps products in North America, issued a voluntary recall today of some Pieps DSP Avalanche transceiver models that have a neoprene carrying case. The recall is in partnership with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Health Canada.

Additionally, Pieps has released a new hard case for the DSP transceivers that uses plastic instead of neoprene to hold the transceiver in place with a harness. The design of the case places plastic on either side of the transceiver’s switch to prevent it from turning off or to “search” when properly stored in the case.

A Pieps DSP Pro transceiver in the new hard case. Photo: Courtesy of Pieps/Black Diamond

The models being recalled are the Pieps DSP Sport, Pieps DSP Pro, and Pieps DSP Pro Ice that were sold between January 2013 through November 2020. The model names can be found printed on the outside of the transceivers.

At the beginning of March, Black Diamond announced that it had initiated a Fast Track voluntary recall program for these transceivers with the CPSC. This latest announcement makes that voluntary recall official.

From left: Pieps DSP Ice, Pieps DSP Pro, and Pieps DSP Sport avalanche transceivers. All are a part of the voluntary recall. Photo: Courtesy of Black Diamond

The recall comes after Black Diamond received 63 reports of issues with the transceiver inadvertently switching from “send” to “search.” The most public of these reports came from numerous professional skiers and guides who called for Black Diamond to do something after pro skier Nick McNutt was buried in an avalanche while filming with Teton Gravity Research in 2019. McNutt’s Pieps DSP Pro transceiver was somehow switched into “search” mode during the avalanche, which meant that it was nearly impossible for his partners to find him underneath the snow using their transceivers.

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