Need Bright LED Light for Iditarod Sled Dog Race

I was showing a friend of mine in Alaska some of my LED lights (gave him a LGI which surprised him with the brightness – I think that he has only seen 5mm LEDs and not any Luxeons) and asked him what type of light he uses for the Iditarod race. Not surprisingly, he does not use a LED system since he thinks they do not produce enough throw during whiteout blizzard conditions. He (like most mushers) uses a Petzl halogen head lamp (don't know what model) with extra lithium batteries. The problem with the Petzl is that it eats batteries and the bulbs blow quite frequently. Plus it is not bright enough to blast through blizzards although during most non-blizzard times, it is adequately bright. At rest stops and layover chores such as feeding the dogs, his lumen needs are substantially reduced. Mushers go on a four-hour running schedule between breaks so it is imperative that a reliable light is carried.

I suggested using a NiteRider HID light with a headstrap but I think that there is still the durability problem and the output is not flexible when he doesn't need the lumens. I thought you CPFers could come up with a good LED based alternative. My friend indicated that there would literally be thousands of mushers who would gladly pay top dollar for the ideal LED light.

Here are his requirements:
Headlamp design
Run time of 8 hours
Extremely bright for whiteouts but possibly dimmable
Prefer spot beam with some side spill
Lithium battery pack carried in jacket
Extremely dependable and rugged
Waterproof although it probably should read weatherproof
Must operate at below zero temps for many nights
Musher must be able to handle light with heavy mittens (thus any changes must be done by feel)
There are probably other requirements that I have forgotten.

Please help with suggestions. If anyone is serious in actually making such a light, I can put you in contact with my friend.

Thanks in advance.
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Look down this forum a bit to the posting about new lights form Prinston Tech

Just logging to ask same kinds of questions. I sell headlights and d cell ltihiums to dog mushers in the Iditraod and Yukon Quest- 1000 mile dog sled races. Last year i was selling lights that had a Low Voltage Regulator in them that reduced bulb blow out at start up and gave 4 brightness settings.
I am very intgrigued by the Luxeons but still they do not seem to have enough throw. I am competing in the Yukon Quest myself this winter and not having to worry about bulbs would be great at 40 below. I just received a Nova from Speleo Technics- expensive and very bright but not enough throw. Mind you there is not much of a reflector. Any one have an idea if any Luxeon 5 watter would have enough through to have a good tight spot 200 feet up or more? We soemtimes have to find trail markers on the rivers of lakes in dark and stromy conditions. A common set up is Halogen 5.2 volt bul- .85 amp in a head that utuilizes a Carley reflector. Very tight beam- almost too tight.

I also have a surefire KL-1 head- great lightweight lite for backup.

I am working on producing the ulitmate mushing light as we do ahve some specific concerns not addressed in other lights on the market.

Roy: I think that the new Princeton Tech lights will not have enough throw since they are 1 watters without a good reflector. I think that one has to go the 5 watt (or multiples) route to get enough output.

Yukon 72: Looks like you are in the same situation as my Iditarod friend. Please add any requirements that I missed.

check this out..
http://flashlightreviews1.home.att.net/reviews/elektrolumens_blaster2.htm

it doesn't take lithiums.. but someone on these forums or yourself maybe be able to modify it to take them..

Cool project.

For sure if a 4.5 Watt bulb rules the roost today, it's ripe country for 5 Watt LEDs with the proper optics. Heatsinking is finally not an issue.....

And such a purpose built light not to have variable levels is a sin.

Interchangable battery packs seems easy, once the connector is sorted out.

Fun.

Doug Owen

Re: Need Bright LED Light for Iditarod Sled Dog Ra

Would an Amber Luxeon help with the whiteout conditions?

Re: Need Bright LED Light for Iditarod Sled Dog Ra

We need a good white light. An AMBER light would skew colors and may be hard to see dogs clearly. We need to see our lead dogs clearly 100 ft in front of us as we need to watch for suttlies in change of gait caused by soreness, injury, ice balls in feet and such. If you catch early you can prevent more serious injury.

We travel at 8-14 mph and very constant through some very rough terrain and cold temperatures. -40 and colder is really hard on everything- wires become brittle, metal is very cold to touch ie changing bulbs, batteries are zapped unless you are using the lithium cells.
Shorts can be very dangereous as we were batteries inside our coats which are insulated- meaning you may not feel any heat until there is some major heat happening. And the lithium batteries can be dangerous.

I would be interested to see a long throw tight beam from a 5 watt luxeon. My fingers are crossed but maybe the tecnology is there yet.

Re: Need Bright LED Light for Iditarod Sled Dog Ra

Check out www.turbocatusa.com

I have SEVERAL sets of their lights. They can provide low temp wire, specific watt bulbs, specific focus bulbs, lithium batts for low temps. These are the MOST BOMBPROOF lights you will ever find. Buttons are easy to use with gloves on.

For what it's worth, a higher watt bulb with a thicker filament will be much harder to blow. You might tradoff a slightly heavier battery to pickup reliability and even more light output.

I race mountain bikes, and it doesn't get much rougher than that (vibration/shock/wrecks) and have yet to blow a turbocat light bulb in 4 years.

Re: Need Bright LED Light for Iditarod Sled Dog Ra

i don't know if it can be done but maybe one of the many talented modders of CPF could retrofit a Petzl Duo Belt (LED + halogen version). Maybe they could replace the halogen bulb with a 5W LS with some type of tight focus optics and put some regulation in the casing. there seems to be plenty of room for some electronics in there. since you'd be in extreme cold there wouldn't be a heat issue. if you need more battery power for the 5W maybe a custom battery pack could be made. again, don't know if its possible but it never hurts to ask.

Re: Need Bright LED Light for Iditarod Sled Dog Ra

custom battery packs no problem. I make 2 and 3 cell packs with appropriate connectorsa nd shrink wrap them. A musher may use 10-15 packs in the race.
I have never been impressed with any of the Petzl products- too cheap and they can not take any kind of heat. The reflect distorts with a hot halogen bulb. We need aluminum and tougher the better. Getting some ideas out there which helps. I have been palying around with the ultimate mushing head light for about 8 years now. Tried MR-11 bulbs- to broad of beam, HID- too many batteries, tried lots. we need to carry the batteries on our bodies for may hours at a time on top of heavy winter clothes. we mush thorughout the night.

Re: Need Bright LED Light for Iditarod Sled Dog Ra

lupine makes best quality headlamps.

they have lithium rechargables. the variety goes from led over halogen to hid. with the led system ( my review) you'll have 8h of full brighthness.

a special halogen reflector for dog sled is provided here.

here is a comparisson of the brightness of the different systems.

Guys, I LOVE LED's.

HOWEVER, I do not think that most commercial LED Headlamps will have enough punch. I might be wrong on that, but I am thinking that if I had my Mr. Bulk LGI (my brightest 1 watt light, 3 AA batteries direct drive) I think it might work in 50 feet or so distance in a blizard, but the NX-o5 optics might be the problem.

I was able to test in a "pass-around" a 1 watt LED in a Pelican M6 made by dat2zip (Wayne) that had a LOT of punch to it, and still had a useable amount of side spill light, perfect for long uses (2, 123a lithium batteries give a constant light output for 4 hours).

Also, for extreme conditions, a "MOD" light may not be the best solution.

Buy something that is designed and guaranteed to work in your situation (scuba diving, sledding, etc).

LED's will DEFINATELY get there, but work is going to have to be done on the reflector. That Pelican M6, 1 watt LED mod by Wayne is just awesome, but I know of NO commercial equivalent to that.

Oh, check this post out:

IDITAROD lasers

i will admit, the conditions described are pretty tough.

however, i am now a firm believer in LED's. just got a TL-2 and it is about equal to my tec-40 in terms of beam and throw. it works incredibly well with the reflector.
and it will never blow a bulb. (i am honestly floored by the incredible performance of this light)

i was also testing the TL-3 at cabelas and was mighty impressed with brightness. a well driven and designed 5w might serve a person well for the conditions described.

Bob

HDS might be able to produce something suitable? Their lights are meant for caving, which is also a very harsh enviroment, so they already have a tough light. The current circuitry provides regulated lighting at a few levels. The only thing is that cavers seem to prefer an even spread while you need a tight beam for the race.

Perhaps it might be possible to convince the guys at HDS to build a series using either the 1W or 5W LS and maybe even use the 30mm optics. I know that the current circuitry could support 2 1W LS run in parallel (though it may be a little underpowered) since that is approximately equivalent to the power requirement of the 24 LED array. The aluminium body can deal with the required heat transfer, so even the 5W could be used. The current difficulties may be that the body can't fit the 30mm optics or that the circuit may have to be seriously redesigned to meet the power requirements of overdriving the 1W LS or running the 5W LS.

Thanks for the advice folks but it appears that no production 1 watt or 5watt lights out there will fit the bill. I think that a well focused 5 watter may do the trick with a good reflector. Any modders out there who would want to take up the charge?

I truely think that the demand for such a light would be in the thousands right away.

How about a Princeton Tec or Petzl headlamp equipped with an EverLED?

Good thought grnamin but again, I don't think that the everLED would have the required throw (although I have never seen the everLED).

i'm telling you..
it'd definitely be worth a shot to gather some of the ppl who are skilled at making modified flashlights and see if they can't build you something that can throw the distance you need..
the only carryable light i can think of that might light up that distance is the Tektite 6000.. they have an LED version of the light too.. but again, you'd have to rig it to take lithiums..