It’s funny, but over the past three weeks we have received several emails about people washing their Princeton Tec headlamps. And yes, I mean putting said headlamp into the washing machine and pressing START.
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Submerged in soapy water and getting banged around amongst grime covered clothes isn’t exactly where we’d like to see our prized gems end up, but we’re happy to hear that they survived the journey. Two Remix headlamps and one Quad headlamp took the accidental soapy plunge, and much to the surprise of our customers, they were ‘as good as new’ when they came out.
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So while we don’t recommend washing headlamps (although taking the strap off and washing it is totally fine and expected), it’s pretty cool to know that they can survive the cycle as easily as they can survive all of the other crazy things we design them to handle.
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I’m going to give my EOS the washer test tonight. I like to head the sounds of robust plastic bouncing and banging around. Remember, PTec headlamps are very, very, very accessible to me. In the mean time, enjoy this email we received:
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“I have had my original quad for 5 years now, I have used it every duck season as well as in the summer. I think I have only gone through 4 sets of batteries the whole time. Three years ago my light fell out of my pocket and was in the water for over 24 hours and when I found it, it shined as bright as the day I bought it. My latest mishap happened this past weekend. I put it through the washing machine on accident, when I found it I put a fresh set of batteries in it and it works good as new. Just thought yall would like to hear about it. Take care!”
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Thanks to our buddy James for the kind words!
As I was reviewing my calendar to wrap my scrambled brain around all of the upcoming events in the next months, including the Philly Bike Expo (that’s another post), I suddenly said to myself “how the H is September here already?”
This summer seems to have gone by faster than any in the past 22 years. In the past, the dreaded return to school (high school) and the extreme desire to get back to school (college) usually resulted in the month of August being stretched out worse than Mel Gibson at the end of Braveheart. But since I’m not returning to school, the months just keep on rolling by. A small effect of being in “the real world”, right?
Wrong. My first day at Princeton Tec, Gerard even told me “when you get to ‘the real world,’ please let me know.” He was right. Working for Princeton Tec has completely changed my outlook on what I want to do for the rest of my life. To be honest, I dreamed of donning the tailored suit, shirt and tie, and all-around ‘Mad Men’ attitude to be some big shot at an advertising agency in some big city.
Plans change, people change, things change. These summer months have flown by so fast because I’ve been busy working at a company I never truly saw myself fitting in with. However, after these past months working side by side with some of the most talented and passionate people across five specialty categories, I have truly been able to gain an astronomical amount of experience in such a short amount of time. I’m beginning to learn that I’m not always right (I’m very rarely right, actually), but there is always someone at PTec who is willing to guide me in the right direction and inspire me to do better. And outside of work, these guys continue to inspire. Biking, camping, scuba diving, you name it. These first months at PTec have brought back my desire to be outside and underwater. My fondest memory of this summer has been hiking the Pinchot Trail up in Lackawanna, PA. It was no big deal at all, I just decided I wanted to get outside and do something, because that’s what PTec people do.
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I’ve decided to hang up the thoughts of wearing a suit and tie, and think of myself in a wetsuit or a pair of ski boots instead - because that’s where I belong.
The route to mountain tops are seldom reached easily, especially when the mountain is Mount Washington. On a few rare days a year, a bicycle is a feasible method of transportation for reaching the summit. The Mt. Washington hill climb bicycle race happened this past weekend, and while I love riding my bicycle, I didn’t exactly have the few hundred bucks to enter the race, let alone the fitness to reach the top in a respectable time. Not wanting to miss the excitement I decided on a pre-dawn start to reach the summit by foot and cheer on a few friends who were racing. The weather was absolutely perfect which gave way to expansive views that only got better as you climbed. In the end, I was able to hike from bottom to top quicker than some racers, and from the looks of it, with less pain as well. But most importantly, I was able to partake in the fun and cheer on cyclists of all ages brave enough to tackle climbing Mt. Washington on two wheels. I even managed a PBR hand up in what was clearly the most dedicated display of fan support that day. Ride On!
For 35 years, we have been creating, developing, manufacturing, and expanding our line of personal lighting systems right here in the beautiful Garden State. We’re proud of our heritage and we’re proud to be from New Jersey. So for our 35th year catalog, we wanted to pay homage to our roots in the dive and our love for outdoors, and stay true to our home state by utilizing the incredible artistic talent of fellow Jersey boy, Joe Iurato.
A former industry pro who greatly influenced the arts of the climbing scene, Joe has chosen to live the dream and turned his creative focus towards street art. Man, he has been absolutely tearing up the scene. We’ve been buddies with Joe for quite some time, and we’re thrilled to have New Jersey’s best street art collaborating with our very unique point of view. It truly is a culmination of Jersey’s finest.
Don’t believe us? See for yourself. Joe recently sprayed a piece for the EMS Nor’easter video series, which provides a peak into the wide variety of athletes and personalities that make up our little world. In this part of the series, they take a look at Joe doing some work at Brooklyn Boulders. Check it:
For the past three and a half decades, we have continually been a driving force in our specialty sectors: scuba, outdoor, bike, tactical, and industrial. We’re not based in a big high rise, we don’t send all of our products to be assembled somewhere oversees. We have made our home here in Bordentown, NJ, and just like Joe, we’re proud of where we’re from.
If you are in the northern part of the state this weekend, you can check out Joe working live at Meeting of Styles. You’ll also be able to see a whole bunch of other great talent doing their craft live.
Wall Street. Times Square. Broadway. Welcome to New York City. “The City that Never Sleeps” is known for big business, bustling streets, and entertainment. However, there is a staple of New York City culture that often, if not always, gets overlooked; paddling sports. Regattas, races, and leisurely circumnavigations of Manhattan have been happening in the harbor waters since the early 1800s. However, over the past five years, the New York City Kayak Championships has been holding the Mayor’s Cup. The Mayor’s Cup is a 28-mile paddling race around Manhattan Island. Contestants from across the globe come to compete in the race and to truly get a taste of Manhattan.
As we are celebrating our 35th anniversary, the Mayor’s Cup is celebrating their 5th, and we are happy to be a continued sponsor for this awesome event. I was able to chat with race coordinator Ray Fusco to get his thoughts on this year’s race and the achievement of holding it for five years consecutively.
“This year was a huge success,” Ray told me, “The weather was great, everyone stayed safe, and we had a great turn out. Anytime you can get 150+ participants together to pull off and awesome race, and then have a big party afterwards, I’d call that a huge success!”
For the second consecutive year, South African Sean Rice took home first place with an incredible time of 3h17.
The race was thrilling, as you can see for yourself:
“Five years is really a benchmark for the Mayor’s Cup. I am just really, really thankful for all the support we get from the paddling community, New York City, and of course, they great manufacturers like Princeton Tec who can make this all possible.” We’re pumped to be a part of this tremendous event for the paddling community – and we will continue to support the Mayor’s Cup to an even brighter future, here’s to another 5 years!
We often receive calls at Princeton Tec from big AR guys….What does that mean you ask? Adventure Racing. Trekking, mountain biking, kayaking, orienteering, and facing other challenges in some of the most remote and beautiful parts of the world. Adventure Racers are some of the most passionate, fit and dedicated individuals you will meet. After all, it takes a lot of will power (and a good headlamp!) to keep you going in the middle of the night – 36 hours into an adventure race. And it is for this reason, and with great pleasure, that the PTec crew gets to meet and work with many of the best Adventure Racers in the world who rely on our products.
Last night (edit: 2 nights ago now) was a rare occasion when one of the big international races was in my back yard, well, 75 miles from it anyway. Dixville Notch, NH was the backdrop for the Untamed New England VIP reception yesterday evening and the start of the race at noon today. It was the perfect opportunity for me to check out this beautiful location and also meet with some of the top teams who rely on PTec lights, including Harper and the Canadian based Running Free team & Kyle Peters and the Technu Extreme squad. All great people, PTec ambassadors, and examples of why we strive to make the best lights in the world. Best of luck to them as they depart the Balsams resort and head into the remote wilderness of the north country!
Last weekend I partook in a wonderful event called Jersey diving. I’ve been of the coast plenty of times, but this was the first time I attempted such a boat dive in my new Sidemount. But let’s back up to more about local Jersey diving.
Every day is hit or miss. Some days the seas are calm and winds are at a minimum, making the Atlantic Ocean a veritable lake, as opposed to the beast the water can be. Other days, waves are so bad that if the dive isn’t canceled, those brave enough to venture the Venture are slammed by 5 foot waves and rocked back and forth (and sometimes off) during the ascent up the ladder. They can turn you off to Jersey diving forever, or they can make you a better diver. Visibility goes the same way; some days you can pull over top the wreck and actually see it at the bottom, 75 feet below the surface. Other days, if you don’t hold onto the line during your descent upon the ship below, you might never find it.
Saturday was more towards the horrendous era, however the rollers weren’t awful and after the first 30 feet of pea soup, you could actually see a lot at the bottom. Princeton Tec had sponsored this boat and invited several divers up from Patriot Scuba down in VA. They made the 5 hour trip up for 3 boat dives starting around 4, and heading into the evening. As all PTec sponsored boats, there were plenty of lights to go around, but, as only any salesman could dream of, each diver was actually already using a PTec light. I offered extras, but they were locked and loaded. As I mentioned, the pea soup at the top of the water blocked out significant amounts of light, let alone the overcast sky wasn’t helping. Long story short? Had you not had a light on this dive, you wouldn’t have seen a thing. At this point I could only imagine what the night dive was going to look like. We finished dive one on the Lana Carolafter finding a lobster with a set of claws the size of a small dinosaur, and headed over to the Colleen for the last 2 dives. The Colleen allowed for some fun penetration, although we found no lobsters. We managed to get the final dive in around 7:45, so it was BLACK upon reaching the bottom, which my Miniwave LED lead my way. There’s a small tank off the stern of the Colleen, which had I had a weaker light I wouldn’t have found and ultimately would have lost the anchor line as well. Go Miniwave!
We surfaced, dried off, unloaded the boat, loaded the trucks, and proceeded to end the day with the best of Jersey tradition, Windmill Hotdogs. That bed never felt so good!
Despite a brutal heat wave in Philadelphia, our friend Robert Jolly took part in the 20in24 race this on July 17-18. The 20in24 is a fundraising run in which participants run (ideally) 20 laps around the Schuylkill (for those not from the land of cheese steaks, that’s pronounced “Skookle”) running path, which is 8 miles. There are relay teams and “Lone Rangers” alike, running to support Back on My Feet, a running program designed to aid the homeless.
Our Jolly friend had the goal of 100 miles in mind, but the heat and humidity had different plans for him. However, Robert was able to overcome what would be, for most people, race-ending cramps and dehydration. Despite spending a few hours in an ambulance and medical tent, Robert got back on his feet and persevered through the heat, exhaustion, and, thanks to the PTec Remix, the impending darkness.
“While the running path was lit sporadically by street lamps and strategically placed event lighting systems, many areas are pretty dark. Having a lightweight, powerful light was great for not only navigation and safety, but also camaraderie. A few other Lone Ranger runners without lights stayed with me due to the light and allowed us to talk and keep moving through the humid night.”
Once again, we are very proud to help another athlete in their efforts to push the limits of their body, while they help support others. Hats off to Robert!
I can still remember getting my first headlamp. It was actually brought to me by the Easter Bunny – beleive it or not. At the time, I was still in Cub Scouts and was just starting to get excited about an upcoming week long camping trip.
I dug the big blue and yellow headlamp out of the plastic grass and was somewhat confused. I thought: “It’s a flashlight? That… you wear… on your head?” The idea baffled me. Wouldn’t I look like a dork? I always was a dork, and always will be, but I like to try and keep that a secret from others. After my Dad (who proudly sported a PTec Vortec headlamp before headlamps were in fashion – um, yea) explained to me how much better, and therefore, cooler, headlamps were than handheld flashlights, I was willing to take the steps to handsfree light, and thusly, greater enjoyment and fullfillment.
I proudly wore this headlamp for years. Then one day, as all things eventually go, I put it in a drawer for retirement. There it sat for about 10 years. Now I’m surrounded by flashlights 5 days out of every week. Needless to say, I’ve gotten pretty accustomed to the size, power, and stylish features of technically advanced PTec headlamps, and then - it happened. I opened up this old drawer yesterday to clean out the years of clutter. I was stunned and borderline speechless when I found my old headlamp. This thing is friggin’ HUGE! It has an incandescent bulb in a housing the size of a hockey puck, with a battery pack attached to the back that holds the 4AA batteries. The strap on the light is bigger than the strap on my scuba mask, and it pretty much feels like wearing a brick on your head.
I had to share this treasure with the other guys here at PTec, and take some pictures to show you guys just how far headlamps have come. Check out old Big Blue, and you can see it compared to our Fuel and Eos headlamps. Thank you Princeton Tec, for evolving headlamps to where they are now, and reducing my personal neck strain over the years.
If you have any cool pictures or stories of old flashlights/headlamps, let me know!
Life at PT sure is interesting, but it’s what happens when we saddle up and head out of Bordentown that fuels our passion and provides inspiration. Our travels present the opportunity to explore new places, see old friends, meet strangers that grow into old friends, and share our enthusiasm for the outdoors. www.livingonthedash.com is our outlet to share these experiences.
