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Better protection for wildland firefighters
September 1st, 2022
North Carolina State University (NC State) researchers found that four new designs for shelters to protect firefighters trapped in wildfires could increase the survival time inside the shelter compared with the current industry standard. In lab simulations of wildfire burn-overs—where a wildfire sweeps over a group of trapped firefighters or equipment—temperatures inside the shelters remained […]
Animal care and protection
July 1st, 2019
As awareness heightens over the contribution that pets and other animals make to our lives, more attention is being paid to their comfort and well-being. by Pamela Mills-Senn Nobody ever really thinks about how swimming pools might affect frogs, toads, snakes, squirrels, mice and other small critters. Rich Mason, owner of Crownsville, Md.-based FrogLog®, didn’t […]
Growth in the inflatables market is coming from safety and protection
November 1st, 2018
Everybody knows about inflatables. They’re the bouncy houses rented for kids’ birthday parties, or the big blow-up gorilla that the local car dealership uses to attract customers. The real growth in the use of inflatable technology, however, is in much more serious (and practical) applications—even if they aren’t nearly as visible to most of us. […]
Playing it safer: performance and protection for sports and recreation
June 1st, 2018
Today, people of all ages are embracing active lifestyles: playing team sports, hitting the slopes, biking, climbing and hiking in all kinds of weather conditions, testing their mettle in boxing rings and martial arts classes or going for the gentler forms of exercise, like yoga. People are on the move, including retiring baby boomers who […]
Layers of safety: textile innovations offer protection when disaster strikes
June 29th, 2017
A suit of plate armor weighing up to 100 pounds. A 10-foot-thick stone fortress wall. A thin piece of highly engineered fabric. Whether the danger is a force of nature or a manufactured threat, all three provide protection. But much has changed since medieval days of storming the castle and the logic that “the heavier […]
Blast-mitigation fabric expands in width
May 1st, 2008
Zetix™ blast-mitigation fabric responds to the application of a tensile load by expanding in width as opposed to traditional fabrics, which get narrower. Thousands of small pores on the surface of the fabric open up, allowing a blast front—from a bomb, industrial accident or other source—to pass through the material, slowing it down and reducing […]
Underwriters Laboratories certifies Kovenex fabric
May 1st, 2008
Waubridge Specialty Fabrics LLC received four Underwriters Laboratories (UL) certifications of its patented Kovenex™ fabric. Each UL certification is in accordance with National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1971-2007 standards and will allow Kovenex to be used in safety applications including turnout and extrication gear, hoods, ear covers and gloves. Waubridge recently unveiled the Kovenex Occupational […]
Fire-resistant antimicrobial protection
May 1st, 2008
Problem: The U.S. military requested fire-resistant cotton or cotton/polyester base layer undergarments that wouldn’t melt, wouldn’t drip and offered antimicrobial features. Solution: Never fear, Undershield® is here. Gehring Textiles developed a patent-pending modacrylic/XStatic™ circular knit version of the Gehringuard fabric line. Undershield doesn’t melt or drip, wicks moisture away from the skin and has antimicrobial […]
A & R designs custom DRA protection pads
May 1st, 2008
A & R designed these DRA protection pads to be used as a customized layer of protection to lay on top of a special Lockheed Martin tooling. This unique assembly was created from pieces of Poron® foam, cut to size, and covered with a red denier polyurethane-coated material; the cover pieces connect to each other […]
Canopy and curtain system encloses equipment
May 1st, 2008
In order to provide rain and snow protection for the generator and power transformers on the roof of this Chicago high-rise, Evanston Awning designed a canopy and curtain system that encloses the power equipment, yet allows the curtains to roll up for maintenance. All components had to be brought to the roof via a service […]