Everyone knows a firefighter’s job is extremely dangerous. The Northern Star provides our brave men and women in the fire service with an additional level of personal protection, allowing them to maintain their orientation in dangerous firefighting conditions when visibility is low and time is critical. The Northern Star easily integrates with existing safety mask equipment and provides cardinal directional information to the firefighter allowing them to navigate hazardous situations while performing their heroic jobs.

How you can participate

Our Kickstarter campaign will raise money to finalize prototypes and purchase tooling for mass production. By contributing, you can bring this technology to your local firehouse and be part of a solution that protects those who protect you and your loved ones. Join us and help put Northern Star’s micro-technology into your community’s firehouse and help equip your firefighters with this life-saving device.

The Northern Star concept was born at the firehouse dinner table.In the fall of 2014, Capt. Jeff Dykes took the idea to a local entrepreneur contest and ended up winning the grand prize – Northern Star Fire was born. For the next two years Capt. Dykes worked with local business advisors, University of Wisconsin programs, and firefighters nationwide to develop the latest fire safety product.

In 2016 Northern Star Fire hired on Poliac Research Corp and GenesisTEK to design and develop the Northern Star. By the fall we were testing over-sized prototypes and ensuring that the Northern Star was accurate in the most hazardous conditions.

Designed by firefighters, for firefighters

From the perspective of a firefighter, every feature of the Northern Star is engineered with simplicity in mind. With prototypes in hand and initial testing complete, we now need to to finalize our prototypes and prepare for production . With your help, Northern Star Fire will be launching our national campaign at FDIC in Indianapolis April.

A firefighter’s job is difficult, stressful and dangerous. That is why we have built the Northern Star to perform under the harshest and most demanding conditions. We will be dropping, kicking, vibrating, freezing, and heating the Northern Star ensuring it will perform up the highest standards.

Conditions are rarely stable inside a structure fire and every second counts. That’s why the Northern Star refreshes multiple times per second. No matter how fast a firefighter turns their head or changes direction, the Northern Star will always provide accurate direction.Smooth-Accurate-Reliable.

A firefighter does not need another piece of equipment to maintain. That is why the Northern Star is programmed to wake up when the firefighter double taps their face mask. Our powerful rechargeable lithium battery will last even the longest fire and can be easily swapped out when the job is done. (2 batteries included with each purchase). An early low battery function is also included to ensure proper notification.

We conducted extensive testing to discover the most accurate magnetometer on the market. The Northern Star showed remarkable accuracy in all environments; hospitals, high-rise structures, big box stores. The Northern Star even has a interference indicator. If the Northern Star detects interference, it notifies the firefighter so they can act accordingly.

We designed the Northern Star to keep the water and moisture out through the use of a strong O-ring and innovative locking desing. After all…firefighters deal with water. It will get wet.

Every feature of the Northern Star was designed from a firefighter’s perspective. From the double-tap feature to the innovative accuracy indicator, the Northern Star as been built from a firefighters perspective.

Good things do come in small packages. The amount of technology packed in the tiny device is mind blowing. Accelerometers, magnetometers,gyroscopes…all packed in the diameter of a quarter.

Installation is easy. We’ve designed the Northern Star so that the firefighter can choose for themselves where within their mask the compass is best suited. A strong adhesive backing is used to ensure that the Northern Star stays put once properly installed. Simply peal the protective backing and press the Northern Star into place.

The Northern Star is going through a battery of tests in house. We are kicking, dropping, smashing, freezing, baking, and dunking it. But don’t take our word for it. Just to be sure, will be working with 3rd party testing agencies in the future to validate our findings and test to the NFPA standard.

What competition? The concept is so simple that we often hear, “Why didn’t I think of that?” The fact is, the use of cardinal direction to navigate in low visibility conditions is fairly new to the fire service. No mask manufacturer offers a solution to our disorientation problem quite like the Northern Star. While others are working hard on expensive GPS locating systems, the Northern Star solves disorientation in a simplistic and low cost effort – from a firefighter’s perspective.

With our team’s talent, the sky is the limit and we plan on seizing the opportunity. The initial feedback has been so positive that we are already talking about future fire service safety products. A 2.0 version of the Northern Star is on the drawing board waiting for the green light. But first things first…prove us right on the Northern Star and we promise to continue our quest to bring firefighters new safety products at a low affordable cost.

Who knew getting a product off the ground would be so expensive? Money raised through our Kickstarter campaign will go towards finalizing prototypes, production tooling, product testing, and product attainment. FDIC is quickly approaching and we have a lot to accomplish between now and April 2017. Your pledge will go a long ways to ensure we can meet our benchmark goals and put Northern Stars in firefighter masks this spring.

Help support us by backing and enabling your local fire department.

Thank you,

The Northern Star Team

www.NorthernStarFire.com