d3o padding for tactical products

[Iraq Ninja]

If you haven't heard about d3o, you may want to read up on it. I think it was originally designed for the British Military to use in helmet pads.

"d3o (dee-three-oh) is a specially engineered material made with intelligent molecules. They flow with you as you move but on shock lock together to absorb the impact energy."

http://www.d3o.com/index2.php?section=21-tech

Most applications are for sports, but I see a big need for this stuff in tactical kit as well. Imagine knee pads that are thin and soft, yet go hard when needed. Check out these volleyball knee pads coming out soon.

http://www.wwsport.com/Volleyball/SKU/NVBK1/Nfinity+Volleyball+Knee+Pads.aspx?ParentTabID=268

http://www.wwsport.com/Sta.DnnWebService/GetProductImage.ashx?ImageOverride=NVBK1&ImageTypeID=4

Shooting gloves are another application. Imagine a Vickers glove with the soft knuckle padding that goes rock hard like aOakley glove when you punch something.

Has anyone actually played with this stuff, or know if it is even being considered by tactical clothing manufactures?

[LOKNLOD]

Last year at SHOT, we stopped and visited with the Lady at the Alta booth and she had some samples of a similarly behaving material, at least it sounds similar. It was a putty that you could mold by hand but if you hit it hard it would hold shape. I thought she said they were making pads that used it?

Sounds like a shear-hardening fluid (like the old corn-starch in water mixture), but in a solid rubber base form. Soft rubber until high impact then acts more like a hard plastic.

[militarymoron]

"d3o (dee-three-oh) is a specially engineered material made with intelligent molecules. They flow with you as you move but on shock lock together to absorb the impact energy."

'intelligent molecules' is a marketing gimmick. the 'intelligence' is in the design of the substance, not the way in which the molecules react. the molecules themselves will just react predictably and repeatably based on their composition without the capacity to acquire and apply knowledge.
just about any non-rigid substance is going to act like that to a certain extent. water, for example. dip your hand in it slowly and it'll flow over it. slap it fast and it'll 'harden up' relative to your hand and make it hurt. the trick is to engineer the substance to go from protect over a range of velocities (from taking a knee slowly to hitting your knee on a corner while you're running).

just anally arguing sematics here - looks like a cool product. :)

[awm14hp]

someone made a Tshirt for backing soft armor along the same idea I believe but like MM said it doesnt it at the sudden but cant react to some or partial stress

[Azul]

They are typically known as non newtonian fluids i guess they integrate into into the pads. The cornstarch and water thing i have seen as a "watch me walk across water" demonstration of course you have to run otherwise you will sink like a rock

Its been speculated to do a bunch of things as far as integrating it into fabrics to make them bullet/stab proof, i believe that company developed it as a solution to skiers who dont want to wear real protective gear so now they integrate it into clothing

I can see the knee pad or glove idea working out pretty well if the pad holds up over a long period of time.

[Chameleox]

someone made a Tshirt for backing soft armor along the same idea I believe but like MM said it doesnt it at the sudden but cant react to some or partial stress

I think it was 5.11 that made the shirt. I never heard how well they worked or didn't work, but I always wanted to try one out. If this d3o stuff works well, it can change a lot of products. Knee/elbow pads, armor, uniforms, groin cups, helmets, off the top of my head.