Avalung Backpacks Recalled by Black Diamond Equipment Due to Suffocation Hazard

News provided by

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Jan 05, 2011, 02:00 ET

WASHINGTON, Jan. 5, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20030904/USCSCLOGO)

Name of product: Avalung backpacks

Units: About 3,500 units

Importer/Manufacturer: Black Diamond Equipment, Ltd. of Salt Lake City, Utah

Hazard: The air intake tubing can crack under cold temperatures, causing the unit not to function as intended, posing a suffocation hazard.

Incidents/Injuries: The company has received one report of an air intake tubing cracking. No injuries have been reported.

Description: This recall involves the following Black Diamond 2010 Avalung backpacks (see chart below). These backpacks have an air intake system that the company states extracts air from the snow, allowing the victim of an avalanche to breathe while buried under the snow. The model name and color are printed on the side of the backpack. The PO number is printed on a white label inside the backpack.


Backpack Model	Color	Size	PO Number
Anarchist	Black	M/L	101153, 101254
Anarchist	Black	S/M	101104
Bandit	Black	One Size	101052, 100981
	Green Olive	One Size	100957
	Seth Plaid Red	One Size	101030
	Seth Plaid Orange	One Size	101254
Outlaw	Black	M/L	101104, 101271, 101254
Outlaw	Green Olive	S/M	100981, 101052
Agent	Black	M/L	101104, 101153
Agent	Ocean Print	S/M	101104
Covert	Black	M/L	101104, 101254, 101330, 101287
Covert	Black	S/M	101030
Revelation	Black	M/L	101254, 101104, 101287
	Chili	M/L	101213, 101254, 101030, 101052
	Chili	S/M	101104
Bandit Avalung Package	Black	One Size	101322, 101330, 101052

Sold at: Specialty outdoor and ski shops nationwide from January 2010 through December 2010 for between $180 and $280.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using these recalled backpacks and contact Black Diamond Equipment to receive a free replacement product or a full refund.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Black Diamond collect at

(801) 278-5533 anytime or visit the company's website at www.BlackDiamondEquipment.com/AvaLungRecall.

Photos are available at: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml11/11084.html.

Note: Health Canada's press release is available at http://cpsr-rspc.hc-sc.gc.ca/PR-RP/recall-retrait-eng.jsp?re_id=1228.

CPSC is still interested in receiving incident or injury reports that are either directly related to this product recall or involve a different hazard with the same product. Please tell us about it by visiting https://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/incident.aspx.

U.S. Consumer Product

Health Canada

Safety Commission

www.hc-sc.gc.ca

www.cpsc.gov

Firm's Recall Hotline: (801) 278-5533 collect
CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908
HC Media Contact: (613) 957-2983