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April 15th, Ripley Davenport plunged deep inside the most sparsely populated independent country in the world to do what no one else has ever done – to attempt the longest recorded solo and unassisted walk ever completed.
The goal is to walk across the entire land mass of Mongolia, a journey of over 2700 km / 1700 miles east to west through the Eastern Mongolia Steppe, Gobi Desert and Altai Mountain Range.

The Mongolian winter will still grip the land while Ripley pulls his 250kgs of supplies, in a specialist designed wheeled trailer, over some of the toughest terrain on Earth in less than 90 days. Enduring sub-zero temperatures, icy blizzards, sand storms, isolation and maybe a touch of frostbite, Grey wolves will look on and shadow Ripley as he marches along the frozen steppe and the brutal Gobi desert.
 
The expedition objectives are:
 
To raise awareness about human and environmental sustainability and act with strong consideration for the environmental; social and interpersonal impact of one's actions
To inspire, educate and create optimism as well as encourage youth to engage their dreams and get active
Produce a documentary film, book and educational curriculum that will focus on teamwork and the spirit of adventure
Develop a post expedition multi-media lecture series for education in schools and organizations
To raise funds and awareness for four charities: edurelief, Shelter Box, Hope & Homes for Children and UNICEF

“I will have Blizzard’s survival bag, jacket and blanket in my kit because I need kit I rely on, particularly in an emergency, and the Reflexcell™ material is the lightest, warmest material of its kind” – Ripley Davenport

“It is our pleasure to support Ripley in his effort and wish him every success. We actually hope he has no need of our products but if he does we are glad he has them along.” – Mark Musgrave (Blizzard)
 
If you would like to sponsor Ripley please contact him at mail@mongolia2010.com or on his website http://www.mongolia2010.com where you can also track his progress

A key theme within UK Sport’s Research & Innovation programme is to support GB’s leading summer and winter sports in their competition preparation for championships. Novel approaches to maximising the probability of athlete success, when it really matters, have been a key strand of the teams programme.

One novel partnership has been with UK based company Blizzard Survival, who have been an integral part in the development of bespoke technologies to help support British winter sport athletes in their competition strategies, by optimising warm up preparation. Blizzard worked with UK Sport and the team to custom develop thermal jackets and blankets with their award winning Reflexcell™ material to help improve performance in sports, such as skeleton bobsleigh, where speed and power are critical to the final outcome. The concepts and technology have significant application to many other sports where preparation and recovery are critical to high performance athlete management.

“If Blizzard played even a minor role in the success of British athletes we are extremely proud to have been a part of it. We hope to continue our support to UK Sport in the novel application of our technologies and look forward to seeing more British sportsmen and women achieve success” – Mark Musgrave (Blizzard Protection Systems Ltd)

Dr Scott Drawer, Head of Research and Innovation at UK Sport, said: “Our job is to seek out that extra tiny drop of performance from Britain’s best athletes as we aim to help them be among the best prepared, and most feared by their competitors, when they reach the start line. Blizzard has been hugely responsive and supportive in bringing concepts and ideas to fruition and deliver them in rapid time with maximum effect”
More information about the work of UK Sport can be found here http://www.uksport.gov.uk/

Several years ago I came across a piece of equipment at the World Congress of Wilderness Medicine. It caught my eye at the time but didn't really generate too much excitement. It was a remake of the foil blanket in a sleeping bag design. Since then I suspect we have challenge the physiology of over 100 individuals in Norway with our standard ice drills: plunge into cold water, 1 minute controlling breathing and then exit using ski poles and follow the standard drill to ensure you don't get hypothermic.

Up until now the only device I had come across which was useful in the field and delayed the onset of hypothermia was the heatpac. This doesn't require a plug and can generate 250W of heat. It is slightly temperamental and is dependent on batteries (which don't respond well to the cold).

This year however I discovered the Blizzard Heat. A 3 layer (Reflexcell™) casualty bag with Velcro access to the front both sides and chemical heat packs inserted.

In our simple test two victims were placed in the two systems, subjectively the Blizzard Heat performed as well if not better than the heatpac. The advantage is it requires no batteries, is not fiddly to set up and the thermogenic bags lasted for 12 hours.

I was impressed and will be packing one for all our polar medicine courses from now on.

Dr Sean Hudson
Medical Director
Expedition and Wilderness Medicine

For more information about the Blizzard Heat please contact us at info@blizzardsurvival.com

Maria Leijerstam – Three Peaks Yacht Racer - With only one day to go before the start of the Three Peaks Yacht Race 2009, I found myself on the top of Snowdon in the most unusual situation. Being the only all female team to race the BBC took particular interested in us and were keen to film our team's preparation and so I found myself running back and forth with Nick Crane on a particularly wet and windy day on the top of Snowdon.

The Three Peaks Yacht race involves sailing from Barmouth in Wales all the way to Fort William in Scotland only stopping off to cycle and run up the highest mountains in Wales, England and Scotland en route.

During the land phases, which amount to 72 miles of running and 40 miles of cycling there is a requirement to carry certain kit and equipment, two of those things being a sleeping bag and an emergency blanket. Looking at the combined weight of these (which comes to almost 2kg) I was delighted to hear that the organisers would accept the Blizzard Survival bag which weights less than 1/2kg.

For the next few hours we talked of our preparation and training and as the weather turned even colder we found it difficult to get Nick out of the Blizzard Survival bag that he seemed to be appreciating (see picture above).

Having the Blizzard Survival Bag made a real difference for us as the running sections were tough enough without having to carry heavy kit.

The footage was shot by the BBC for next year’s Gower to Anglesey episode of the programme BBC Coast.

Being an expedition adventure racer the Blizzard Survival Bag is a must have piece of kit. During the expedition adventure racers we are required to keep going for up to 5 days and night with no planned sleep stops. This means that we sleep at short intervals of 20-60 minutes but only when really needed. Again the Blizzard Survival bag is ideal as it is light weight and sufficient enough to provide protection from the elements for these vital power naps that keep us going until the end.

My sleeping bag and emergency blanket no longer come with me on adventure races - thanks Blizzard Survival!

More details at: odloukadventureracingteam.blogspot.com

A British breakthrough in battlefield survival equipment has won the Queen's Award for Enterprise: Innovation 2009 – the UK's top industrial honour.

Blizzard Survival Blankets™ and the new Blizzard Heat™ products are now being issued to all United States Army and Special Forces units as the most effective way to keep casualties alive on the battlefield.

Variants of the product are also widely deployed as personal survival equipment in all new RAF fighter aircraft, by air sea rescue teams and by armed forces from Finland to Australia.

The products are made from Blizzard Survival's unique Reflexcell™ material – a triple layer of metalised polymer foil, which expands to form insulating air pockets as well as reflecting heat. Reflexcell™ is as warm as a 2-3 season sleeping bag, with a fraction of the weight and bulk. It is also totally windproof, waterproof, tough and re-useable.

Arctic tests by the British Royal Marines have shown that Blizzard Survival Bags™ made from Reflexcell™ are up to four times more effective at preventing hypothermia than standard issue bivvy bags.

But the company's greatest military success is the Blizzard Heat™ - a special version of the Blizzard Survival Blanket, fitted with self-heating pads to address the problem of hypothermia in battlefield trauma cases.

Blizzard Survival inventor and managing director Derek Ryden said: “We developed the Blizzard Heat™ specifically to meet the US military medical authorities' requirement for a system that provides an answer to shock induced hypothermia and is easy to deploy in combat situations as part of the evacuation process. It has proved fantastically effective and there is nothing else like them on the market.

“Even without the self-heating elements, our products have been taken up in a wide range of military applications, because of their ultra light weight, small pack size and unique thermal performance. For example, the Australian army has purchased several thousand Blizzard Survival Jackets™, which allow wearers 100% mobility.”

Blizzard Survival products are also used widely by mountaineers, mountain rescue teams and air sea rescue crews.

The company has seen sustained growth for over 4 years but most dramatically in the last 12 months, where sales have doubled and over 90% of products are exported. It is now planning to expand its sales worldwide in markets including civilian medicine, emergency preparedness and disaster relief.

Derek and members of the workforce will be invited to Buckingham Palace to receive the award in person from Her Majesty the Queen later this year.

View article on the BMC web site 23/07/2009.

View article in the North Wales Daily Post 22/07/2009.

View article in the North Wales Daily Post 21/04/2009.

View article on the BBC News web site 21/04/2009.

View all articles in the North Wales Daily Post.

The new awards are for the company's ground-breaking Blizzard Survival™ and Blizzard Heat™ products, which are made from Reflexcell™: a revolutionary thermal material, developed and manufactured exclusively in Bethesda.

In the last two years, Blizzard has dramatically increased its international markets and doubled its workforce every few months. It now employs around 50 people and exports more than 90% of its products.

 

Blizzard equipment has been adopted as standard equipment by armed forces from the USA to Australia and is increasingly in use mountaineers, rescue organisations, disaster response authorities and civilian medical practitioners.

Inventor and managing director Derek Ryden: “People have started comparing our success to the take off of GoreTex™ in the 1980s, because Reflexcell™ is an entirely new material which out performs anything else on the market.

“We are proud that Blizzard is rapidly becoming a world brand, as the new standard in lightweight thermal equipment. We are also delighted to be creating sustainable jobs and economic activity in an area that has lost so much of its manufacturing base.”

Blizzard's Reflexcell™ material consists of a triple layer of metalised polymer foil, which expands to form insulating air pockets as well as reflecting heat. Reflexcell™ is as warm as a 2-3 season sleeping bag, with a fraction of the weight and bulk. It is also totally windproof, waterproof, tough and re-useable.

The Gwynedd Business Awards are organised by Gwynedd Council and supported by the Gwynedd Business Network, with sponsors including Bangor University.

Blizzard's Reflexcell™ is the key to the products' ultra light weight and thermal performance.

The Blizzard Heat™ – a special self-heating blanket – is in action with all US Army units and Special Forces in all theatres.

View Report in Daily Post.

View all articles in The North Wales Daily Post.