A few years ago, one of our relentless BlackHawk Industrial Team Bloggers got the scoop on Santa’s flight preparations for Christmas Eve. We’ve since learned that Santa is a BIG  BlackHawk Industrial customer and he buys a lot of his gear from us. Now that the big day is nearing, we thought that you would like to take a look back at how Santa really gets down all of those chimneys in one night.

As the clock ticks toward Christmas Eve at the North Pole, Santa and his elves gear up for the Big Ride. If you think about the logistics involved, a lot more goes into that sleigh than a few bottomless bags of toys.

Santa’s Sleigh is inspected annually
Start with that magical sleigh itself. Every year Santa’s sleigh is inspected end-to-end for its structural integrity, and the windshield and rails are replaced. The chassis receives a fresh coat of paint with an aerodynamic coating to minimize wind resistance. The bed is rigged with anchors and tie-downs to hold its precious cargo securely. The sleigh includes a Vestil three ball tow hitch for a flying flatbed to hold oversized gifts like that ginormous outdoor grill your neighbor wanted.

Santa has been granted a special pilot’s license by all of the world’s nations, giving him free “rein” to traverse the globe on his joyful mission. While Santa generally flies just above the housetops — well below commercial airspace — the sleigh is equipped with all the exterior safety and navigation lighting that you would find on a small plane. Just to be safe, Santa carries the night vision compatible Streamlight 88700 Super Tac flashlight to aid with navigation in nasty weather. Sometimes a senior elf navigator rides along, but with or without a co-pilot, Santa relies on GPS to makes his rounds accurately.

Santa uses special PPE
Santa himself layers up with thermal long johns, a Milwaukee heated vest, PIP heat packs and covers everything with his iconic red suit. His goatskin PIP 120-4800/M Cold Protection gloves are heavy but flexible for a long night of handling the reins. He wears night vision safety goggles and slip-resistant River City BBS1608 MAX-Lite boots. Santa’s cap contains Bluetooth to keep him in touch with Mission Control at the Pole and with his global supply chain. (More on that later.) Santa requires no breathing apparatus, but he does carry Sqwincher to keep hydrated and replace depleted electrolytes. For that slide down tight chimneys, Santa uses TRIM OV2200/54 Premium Vegetable-Based Oil that won’t leave him smelling like a pasta salad. (To go back up, Santa puts his finger on his nose. He IS an elf, remember.)

Even magic reindeer need to follow OSHA rules
The reindeer, hardy enchanted coursers that they are, require nothing special aside from rugged belled harnesses and a few energy snacks. Their hooves are perfectly suited for landings on pitched, snowy rooftops. Santa does keep a GPSK-PP spill kit on hand, for obvious reasons. Eight reindeer pull the sleigh, of course, but did you know that they work in shifts, and that two on every crew are first-year flyers? Rudolph’s great-grandson Clarence is pulling the Tulsa-to-Topeka leg this year along with Olive, his sister.

BlackHawk Industrial is a Santa endorsed supplier
Now, about that supply chain. Old St. Nick’s logistics team has perfected a pickup-and-drop system so refined it would put a smile on the Grinch. The number and location of distribution points is a closely guarded secret, but Santa never runs empty and he never misses a delivery.

And you thought Santa’s work was all about magic. Think again. A lot of planning and work went into getting those gifts under your tree and BlackHawk Industrial is proud to be a small part of this enchanted flight.

Merry Christmas to you and yours from everyone at BlackHawk Industrial!