From Fiordland to Otago: Putting Nitecore to the Test in the New Zealand Backcountry
One of the challenges that we’ve faced over the time that we’ve been filming in New Zealand is how we approach carrying our equipment, nighttime filming, power banks, mosquitoes, and keeping everything powered. These are all things that have become increasingly important as we’ve started filming in more remote and rugged parts of New Zealand. The further we go into the backcountry, the more we need to be able to carry everything we need with us and know that it’s actually going to work when we need it.
Nitecore was kind enough to provide us with their BP23 Pro backpack, and it was an absolute game changer. It’s a 23-litre pack made from 500D CORDURA nylon, with four main compartments, an internal fibreglass stay and a 3D carrying system. I was able to fit all of my audio equipment, our head torches, my laptop, six terabytes worth of data storage, spare clothes, torches, nighttime filming equipment, a drink bottle, food, a tarp, thermal blankets and more into it. In fact, I was able to carry more than eight kilos of equipment in the pack. For us, that’s a huge amount of equipment to be able to have in one place, particularly when you’re moving between completely different types of filming throughout the day.
We took it with us out into Milford Sound and spent two nights with it camping in Fiordland. We spent a day filming up the Rees Valley, and then several more days using it around Dunedin. It was an absolute game changer in terms of being able to carry all the equipment I would need to film in remote and rugged environments, and then quickly slip between workflows or swap between different types of filming and survival equipment. We could be filming wildlife one minute, walking through the bush the next, setting up camp later in the day, and then heading back out again at night.
One of the things I really appreciated was the fact that it essentially served as a day pack and a filming bag in one. The flexibility it provided was absolutely fantastic for us. The BP23 Pro also has a high-visibility orange interior, which is a small detail but makes it considerably easier to find equipment inside the pack, particularly when you’re constantly moving between different pieces of gear.
That flexibility is really important for the type of filming that we do because I don’t necessarily know what we’re going to encounter when we head out. I need to be able to carry the equipment to film something if we find it, while also carrying everything we need to actually be safe and comfortable in the backcountry. Having one pack that could handle both sides of that equation made a massive difference to the way we were able to work.
86 Penguins, Nine Possums and One Night in Otago
Next up were the headlamps and torches that Nitecore provided, including the HA19 headlamp and MH25 Pro torch. We were able to take these out and use them in a number of different situations around Dunedin and Otago, and then ultimately take them into Fiordland as well. This gave us the chance to use them for actual nighttime wildlife filming and pest control rather than simply testing them around a campsite.
The first was nighttime filming at the little blue penguin colony, where we were able to see 86 little blue penguins come out of the water while we filmed. That was an incredible experience in itself, but immediately afterwards, we got to take the same equipment out hunting.
Pest control in New Zealand is one of the key challenges that we face, and one of the key ways that we protect our native species. We were able to use the MH25 Pro torch, alongside the HA19 headlamp, to spot and eradicate nine possums and three rabbits. For us, it was a chance to actually see what this equipment could do in a situation where being able to clearly identify something at distance genuinely matters.
Pest Control After Dark
We were able to identify possums clearly in trees up to 100 metres away, particularly with the MH25 Pro torch, while the HA19 headlamp was helping us identify possums clearly at around 50 to 75 metres plus. That ability to scan an area, spot something in a tree and then actually identify what we were looking at made a significant difference to what we were able to do.
We then took the same equipment out into the middle of Fiordland on a negative seven degree night, where we were able to track a number of possums across major rivers and through mature beech forest. This was completely different terrain again. We were in the middle of Fiordland, in extremely cold conditions, moving through mature forest and looking across rivers, and we were still able to use the equipment to spot animals and clearly work out what we were looking at.
For us, that was the important thing. We weren't just taking equipment out and seeing whether it turned on or performed well around a campsite. We were actually putting it to work in some pretty challenging conditions, using it for the type of conservation work and nighttime filming that we actually do.
Keeping Mosquitoes at Bay in Fiordland
Next up was the Nitecore mosquito equipment, including the EMR40 mosquito repeller. One of the things we observed was that even in the middle of winter in Fiordland, we were still being eaten alive by mosquitoes. We had a couple of nights where, even after temperatures had dropped into the negatives, mosquitoes were still appearing. It was something I wasn't expecting to be as much of an issue as it was, particularly given just how cold it got overnight.
We tested out the EMR40 and found that on the second night, when we used it, there was a significant drop in the number of mosquitoes we were encountering. That was really impressive, and we're looking forward to taking it back into Fiordland in the future, particularly on summer trips. If we're noticing mosquitoes when temperatures are dropping into the negatives, it's pretty easy to imagine how useful something like this could become when we're back there during the warmer months.
Fiordland is one of the wettest places on Earth, and despite being quite cold, you can still get absolutely eaten alive by mosquitoes. It was really interesting to see how the EMR40 could become another tool in the toolkit to help us combat that. It's one of those relatively small things that can make a massive difference when you're trying to spend long periods of time outside filming.
Filming in Sub Zero Conditions
Next up were the Nitecore NB20000 Gen3 power banks. Nitecore provided us with two of these, and one of the things I’ve always been worried about with power banks is how they perform in cold temperatures. When you’re relying on phones, audio equipment, DJI equipment and a laptop, losing the ability to charge isn’t just inconvenient. It can effectively bring a filming day to an end.
Remember, it was negative seven degrees. There was snow on the ground in some locations, and on other nights the frost was literally freezing us shut. We had two separate phones recording, plus DJI and audio equipment, so we had significant power needs. We weren’t just charging a phone at the end of the day. We were constantly filming and constantly using equipment, which meant we needed to be able to keep everything powered as we moved.
In the past, I’ve had power banks that haven’t been able to withstand the cold, or simply haven’t provided enough juice for what we needed them for. The NB20000 Gen3 was a real game changer. Having two 20,000mAh power banks gave us the capacity to keep multiple pieces of equipment running throughout some incredibly long filming days.
On one day alone, we were able to film kākāpō, yellow-eyed penguins, little blue penguins, albatross and possums. On another, we filmed goats, deer, swamp harriers, black swans, rabbits, New Zealand falcons, pipits and many more species.
That’s the kind of filming schedule we’re talking about. We’re not necessarily heading out to film one animal and then heading home. We can move between completely different environments and completely different species over the course of a single day, and we need our equipment to keep working throughout all of it.
Abby and I were just really stoked that we were constantly able to have up to two pieces of equipment charging. We were able to charge my laptop and upload audio footage several times, and it was just really incredible to have a workflow on the trip that actually worked and made a difference. We could keep filming while other equipment was charging, manage footage as we went, and then move on to the next story without constantly having to think about where the next opportunity to charge something was going to come from.
And I think that, for us, was the real game changer: feeling like we were seeing equipment make a difference in a way that we hadn’t before. All of these things individually might seem quite small, but when you’re actually out there filming, they add up. Being able to carry everything properly, see what we’re doing at night, deal with mosquitoes and keep our equipment powered fundamentally changes what we’re capable of doing.
It was very special to feel like our ability to produce good content in the New Zealand backcountry was significantly enhanced by having Nitecore on the trip. It meant we could spend more time actually focusing on the wildlife, the conservation work and the stories we were there to tell, while having equipment with us that made the entire process of doing that easier.