2 months of darkness; which light???

A very mad Norwegian (Boerge Ausland) is planning to ski to the North pole this winter. He's starting in january and hoping to finish in time to see the sun come up in March.
He hopes to be the first to reach the North pole in complete darkness....
He's done it before during summer when the sun is up 24 hours a day, but needed another challenge..

And what does he bring on his journey?? A Princeton Tec Apex!!
Well it'll be a nice field test of my favorite headlamp Hope it can take the 40 below temperatures and constant use...

Sverre

If the batteries are Lithium, then I would say he shoudl have no problems. Especially if they used good plastic.

A ski trip to the N.Pole in winter wouldn't be much fun.

hand crank flashlight.

Apex - how appropriate for a trip to the top. -40F, ouch! That's one tough challenge. I wonder what his back ups consist of?

Good luck to the "mad man."

NoFair said:

A very mad Norwegian (Boerge Ausland) is planning to ski to the North pole this winter. He's starting in january and hoping to finish in time to see the sun come up in March.
He hopes to be the first to reach the North pole in complete darkness....
He's done it before during summer when the sun is up 24 hours a day, but needed another challenge..

And what does he bring on his journey?? A Princeton Tec Apex!!
Well it'll be a nice field test of my favorite headlamp Hope it can take the 40 below temperatures and constant use...

Sverre

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I hope he has a nice set of backup lights And some xenon handwarmers too... haha

I would take an Arc AAA for back up with a couple of extra 4 packs of Lithium AAA batteries for sure.

glockboy said:

hand crank flashlight.

Click to expand...

I think he's got more than enough work pulling 2 sleds stuffed with equipment

I think he planned on using the Nichas most of the time. Snow reflects light very well so when your not skiing fast you can get by with very little light.

Sverre

I would think the moon reflecting off the snow would be enough light to see by.

I guess he wouldn't be complaining about LED building up heat/dissipation issues...LOL

He needs to get a SF KL4...doubles as a hand warmer!

Roy said:

He needs to get a SF KL4...doubles as a hand warmer!

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Id say dual purpose light would be better. A USL to light up the north star and start campfires

This is simple but will cause debate:

ETERNALIGHT

The only thing is you need a screwdriver to change the Batts

-PSM

I see a lot of people here obviously doesn't know what skiing is, a headlamp is the only thing that can be used, and I'm 99% sure the Apex is the best choice now.

Sverre, where did you hear that he was going to use the Apex? Is he sponsored by Princeton tec?

Sigbjoern

He was on the TV-program Schroedingers katt showing som of his gear that he had changed from going to the Pole in daylight. They focused most on his headlight and drysuit for crossing open water...

I assume he's sponsored, on one of his earlier trips he cooperated with the armed forces for testing. Ausland is a former marinejeger (Norvegian SEAL) and is probably used to some of the stuff he will experience...

Most expeditions of this kind are sponsored or else they wouldn't afford it, even the "Unarmed to the Pole" and other expeditions that are more hobby based usually get gear for free. A co-worker of mine got sat-phone, digi-camera and other stuff for free for a climbing expedition...

And I agree about your skiing comment. A Surefire, although a great flashlight, is totally unsuitable for this kind of use. As are all other hand-held lights...
The only thing I find strange is that he's not using a seperate battery-pack to wear inside his clothes. At 40 below even lithiums will suffer...
He might get one buildt with a seperate battery-pack, I know I would....

Sverre

A good wind up charge, capacitor based battery pack, that can last for a few hours on a single Nichia cs500 led.

That ought to do it, as capacitors seem to be alright with terribly cold conditions as leds are.

It only needs to store around 100ma to last a while on a single Nichia led.
The led lamp should be pinned to a coat collar with a wire that leads to the battery pack inside a coat pocket.

Take 2 of these just in case one does manage to break.

Good luck Mr. Madman sir. :bow:

Wonder how o-rings behave at -40 degrees. Would they break, trying to change batteries? What about the lube on the o-rings and threads, at -40 degrees?

oldgrandpajack

I can't even CONCIEVE of doing such a thing!!!

Good Luck Madman!!!

It's got to be a lithium battery. If the moon is full you will probably not even need a flashlight.

cyberhobo said:

It's got to be a lithium battery. If the moon is full you will probably not even need a flashlight.

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If you gotta go with a batteried light, keep it in an inner pocket where the battery won't freeze.
That way, it will be there for you when you need it.

And yes, use the moonlight whenever available.
Otherwise, I have a Nuwai Q3 with an MJLED doing super good direct drive off of a lithium primary cell.
Drop me an email if you want a pocket light that can go 10-15 hours solid on just one cr123 lithium primary battery.
I have your light ready at this time.