About one year ago, Karl Bushby approached Morovision Night Vision and Night Optics to request a donation for night vision equipment to enable him to cross the frozen Bering Sea. The most difficult and challenging leg of Karl Bushby’s incredible Goliath Expedition.
Morovision Night Vision and Night Optics donated two (2) MV-300 monoculars for his expedition. As Karl explained in one of his emails to us, the night vision equipment was an important part of the concept to cross the Bering Sea because they anticipated being forced to continue to move across ice well into the night to achieve the maximum distances against the south/ north drift that was expected.
There was also the bear threat, where with limited visual range at night, bears would have been encountered at uncomfortably close range. The equipment was tested repeatedly, and training was done in the local rivers around Fairbanks, Alaska, where they found that exchanging the headsets for lightweight helmets produced the better results and gave them the hands-free operations that would be needed in a very difficult environment.
Once in the village of Wales, the launch point for the Bering Straits crossing, they again tested the equipment and were very impressed with the results. Having had no previous experience on the Straits and being dependent on stories and video clips Karl and his associate Dimitri were not sure just how the whole scenario would play out. Uncertainty and unpredictability were the only sure things they could count on.
Once actually on the Straits they quickly learned that a lot of their ideas and preconceptions were simply not practical. After just the first day they realized that walking at night was simply not feasible under the conditions. At sunset on the first night they were completely and physically exhausted. They never used either of the the MV-300 systems at any stage of the actual crossing, even though on one or two occasions they pondered the idea as things got more desperate.
It was the same in fact for a number of other pieces of equipment that they had obtained and/or had manufactured for the crossing. Overall, weight became the overriding factor and concern. Once on the move, they rapidly learned how much they had underestimated the upper body strength required to lift and pull our heavy sleds over a field of crushed ice. On the second day they lost a sled when it became so badly damaged it became no longer 'seaworthy'. We were then left with one sled between us which was loaded with over 400lb of equipment.
Approximately 20 miles from the Russian coastline the team ran into extremely difficult broken ice and found they were unable to make any real progress. The expedition looked doomed. The maps simply predicted they would not be able to make the coast unless there was a dramatic change in circumstances. At that point, they need to make some hard and fast decisions. They had to lose weight. It was the major factor in limiting the distance to shore. They decided to abandon a large amount of equipment, including food and fuel.
The MV-300s were left to the mercy of the sea, and they took with them only the equipment that was deemed absolutely necessary for survival. It was a painful decision, as they left behind over $8,000 worth of equipment. However, the decision proved to be the right one because they reached shore within the next three days. At which point, they spent the next 54 days explaining to the Russians why and what they had done.
Somewhere down at the bottom of the Bering Sea, are two MV-300 Generation 2+ monoculars with headgear and probably other accessories and things… They are "FREE" to anyone who finds them.
To read more or catch up on the latest expedition news, visit Karl Bushby Official Odyessy Expedition Website.
This article and photos not to be republished without the express written consent of Morovision Night Vision.
