Bullet-proof Climbing Gear?
Posted on May 23, 2007
Filed Under /dev/null/ | 109 views |
We rock climbers have been enjoying the light-weight, high tensile-strength of Dyneema slings for years now but it turns out Dyneema also makes pretty decent bullet-proof vests:
A new material developed by Dutch scientists has made its way into soft body armor. Dyneema SB61 is a fiber made from an extremely high grade of the common plastic polyethylene.
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The original Dynema material was developed at DSM in 1979. Five years ago, Jean Beugels, Koos Mencke, and Réné Steeman were given an award by the American Chemical Society for developing the world’s strongest synthetic fiber. That material, a newer grade of Dyneema, was put to use in bulletproof armor long before they won the award. Their company, DSM, decided that the strongest fiber was not good enough. Making good on a vow to never stop improving their product line, the company recently released SB61, the newest grade of the super-tough material that is vastly better at stopping bullets.
Which is to say I wouldn’t go wrapping myself in my slings and stepping in front of guns anytime soon. Us climbers will just have to settle with stopping us from hitting the ground.
Pretty nifty, that chemistry.
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