[Carfanate]

http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/15/p...t-for-militar/




The grizzly man is back, and this time he's ready to take on bullets and bombs.
Troy Hurtubise, the Hamilton-born inventor who became famous for his bulky bear-protection suit by standing in front of a moving vehicle to prove it worked, has now created a much slimmer suit that he hopes will soon be protecting Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan and U.S. soldiers in Iraq.
He has spent two years and $15,000 in the lab out back of his house in North Bay, designing and building a practical, lightweight and affordable shell to stave off bullets, explosives, knives and clubs. He calls it the Trojan and describes it as the "first ballistic, full exoskeleton body suit of armour."
Using the hard-learned lessons of his Project Grizzly experience -- a 20-year odyssey that included a National Film Board documentary, an appearance on CNN and personal bankruptcy -- he's ready to start selling his newest idea.
Already, he says, the suit has stood up to bullets from high-powered weapons, including an elephant gun. The suit was empty during the ballistics tests, but he's more than ready to put it on and face live fire.
"I would do it in an instant," he said. "Bring it on."
Yesterday, he returned to Hamilton to show off the suit, hoping to generate some publicity that will get him the meetings he wants with military and police outfitters.
On Saturday, he plans to wear it to Nathan Phillips Square in downtown Toronto and wait for the reporters. It shouldn't take long to create a stir.
Hurtubise, 43, wore his suit -- helmet and all -- on the four-hour drive down south, partly as a way of making sure it would be comfortable enough in the field. Even sitting on his armoured butt cheeks, he said he was fine.
As he drove his black pickup in his black getup, other drivers gawked and honked. Just south of Huntsville, he was delighted to be pulled over and gave an apprehensive OPP officer a close-up look at the suit.
Once he established that he could see just fine in his helmet and that the guns attached to his magnetic holsters were just props, Hurtubise was free to continue his trip.
The whole suit -- which draws design inspiration from Star Wars, RoboCop, Batman and video games -- is made from high-impact plastic lined with ceramic bullet protection over ballistic foam.
Its many features include compartments for emergency morphine and salt, a knife and emergency light. Built into the forearms are a small recording device, a pepper-spray gun and a detachable transponder that can be swallowed in case of trouble.
Dangling between the legs, that would be a clock.
In the helmet, there's a solar-powered fresh-air system and a drinking tube attached to a canteen in the small of the back. A laser pointer mounted in the middle of the forehead is ready to point to snipers, while LED lights frame the face.
The whole suit comes in at 18 kilograms. It covers everything but the fingertips and the major joints, and could be mass-produced for about $2,000, Hurtubise says.
He said he hopes to earn enough of a living from the suit so he can keep on inventing, but the real reason he did this, he says, is "for the boys."

[ropinirole]

He just needs to paint it green and then he'll be ready to kick some Covenant ass

[Roxanjbra]

Neither Covenant-stolen shield tech nor strength-enhancing underlayer? Tsk, tsk... back to the drawing board....[no]

Would make a killer Halloween costume, though.

[251EPyso]

That armour actually looks really kickass. Just disappointed that it doesn't cover the major joints yet, but I'm sure with some further development (which is no doubt needed anyway), it can.

Seriously looks awesome. But is it really a step forward? And are the advantages gained worth the tradeoff of the advantages lost with current-gen armour, if any?

[freddystone]

The military isn't even willing to put decent armor plating on its vehicles, much less purchase a $2,000 suit for everyone of its soldiers. It's sad but true.

[Friend_Joe]

The military isn't even willing to put decent armor plating on its vehicles, much less purchase a $2,000 suit for everyone of its soldiers. It's sad but true.

From what I have heard, the Humvees have so much armor on them, that they are now fairly slow and the engine is stressed constantly. Though I am not sure if it is due to soldiers adding their own protection or what.

There are always sacrifices somewhere. Either you get more armor and become a slower moving target, or you take less armor and be a faster harder to hit moving target. It depends on what you prefer, and the situation.



This suit seems to be very limited too who can wear it just like in Halo. It would even slow down the biggest of people. If you get caught in fire somewhere, without that armor you have the ability for a fast get away, but with that armor you are going to take more shots at you before you can get away.
The armor works way better in halo. Normal humans could wear the armor, so it would be like nothing for a spartan to wear it. Plus it actually enhanced all of your body movements and made you even more responsive then you are without the suit. That is why the humans died in the book who wore the suit.
This suit however does not do that, and would only slow you down. Also, if you get wounded, its going to be pretty hard to get that stuff off so that you can get fixed up. In halo, the suit did it for you.


Military operations, no I see no future in it. Though, I can see this armor being improved upon by the government and used in swat teams as those guys are in vests from head to toe. In the military, most they give you is a chest/back vest.

[uneniaPhenits]

Its like someone took Marcus Fenix and gave him the Master Chief helmet.

[MackBranon]

Why on Earth is there a clock dangling between the legs?!

[maclaudser]

Why on Earth is there a clock dangling between the legs?!

Makes for good jokes, and you'll always know what time it is?

Personally, I think this is freakin' awesome. [thumbup]

[Scukonahuy]

Where can I buy mine at?[surrender]

[Xfxhbcxp]

Whatever happened to his spy ray that let you see through walls, hmmm? Disappeared without a word said.

[freddystone]

Makes for good jokes, and you'll always know what time it is?

Personally, I think this is freakin' awesome. [thumbup]

I think it gives people a good excuse to stare at you down there.

[blogforloversxx]

The military isn't even willing to put decent armor plating on its vehicles, much less purchase a $2,000 suit for everyone of its soldiers. It's sad but true.

That's funny... because the military is paying me $1 Million per 4 years for my Ph.D. work to develop better boron carbide and silicon carbide shapes for armor...

[freddystone]

That's funny... because the military is paying me $1 Million per 4 years for my Ph.D. work to develop better boron carbide and silicon carbide shapes for armor...

$1,000,000 is a lot less than $2,000 times the hundreds of thousands of troops the U.S. has. There were even reports of soldiers who refused orders because driving through the streets of Iraq in unprotected vehicles was like a suicide run. Some even welded make-shift armor onto their vehicles.

Just because the technology is there doesn't necessarily mean it will be widely deployed. If money were no concnern, I'm sure they'd love to replace the entire air force with brand new F-22's and whatnot.

[kmjbbT3U]

I think it gives people a good excuse to stare at you down there.

Are you checking out my clock?

[freddystone]

Are you checking out my clock?

That's the nicest clock I've ever seen.

[kmjbbT3U]

That's the nicest clock I've ever seen.

Takes a whole heap of licking, and still keeps ticking.

[blogforloversxx]

Yeah but your work in unlikely to be made into a full suit of body armour from head to toe tho is it?

yes. Look up Future Force Warrior chassis and other things in the works at Natick Soldier Systems Center.

[Nafheense]

no mention about the breathability or aircoditioning of the whole suit then.

good luck with that in high temps out in iraq and afganistan

and why the fook would you want to point out snipers with your head ?

[Nafheense]

From what I have heard, the Humvees have so much armor on them, that they are now fairly slow and the engine is stressed constantly. Though I am not sure if it is due to soldiers adding their own protection or what.

There are always sacrifices somewhere. Either you get more armor and become a slower moving target, or you take less armor and be a faster harder to hit moving target. It depends on what you prefer, and the situation.



This suit seems to be very limited too who can wear it just like in Halo. It would even slow down the biggest of people. If you get caught in fire somewhere, without that armor you have the ability for a fast get away, but with that armor you are going to take more shots at you before you can get away.
The armor works way better in halo. Normal humans could wear the armor, so it would be like nothing for a spartan to wear it. Plus it actually enhanced all of your body movements and made you even more responsive then you are without the suit. That is why the humans died in the book who wore the suit.
This suit however does not do that, and would only slow you down. Also, if you get wounded, its going to be pretty hard to get that stuff off so that you can get fixed up. In halo, the suit did it for you.


Military operations, no I see no future in it. Though, I can see this armor being improved upon by the government and used in swat teams as those guys are in vests from head to toe. In the military, most they give you is a chest/back vest.

a lot of wagons ive seen out there are sandbagged.

both american and british vehicles.