There is an old saying that “X doesn’t grow on trees.” This is becoming less and less true as many fitness related products are using sustainable materials. We’ve seen bikes made of wood, and shirts made of bamboo. Now Coyle Wood Design is looking to introduce a line of sports helmets that will rely on wood as well.
These brain buckets are handmade in Oregon and are the brain child of Dan Coyle, who has a personal interest in woodworking and sports. He’s reportedly made his own clothes and fitness gear by hand, and this year began to make helmets that are a natural alternative to the traditional ABS plastic and foam. The helmets are created using a patent-pending status designed for “natural fiber helmet shells’ that works with his CNC machining tools.
The process involves prepping the wood and using the CNC machining for an hour or so, which produces a lank. From here the helmet can be transformed as necessary for the specific intended sport. To date Coyle Wood Design has produced about 20 prototypes, so don’t expect to see these at retail just yet. But he’s designing helmets that could be using for snow sports, equestrian, climbing, paddling, skate boarding and of course biking.
Now Coyle is working with the Oregon State University Wood Science and Engineering program to do impact studies with various materials. According to reports Coyle believes that the helmets should actually be more effective in terms of energy-damping than other materials including ABS, Mylar or even composites. Of course this could depend on the type of wood used. It is certainly interesting to see something thinking of new ways to protect what we do our thinking with, and to do so with a sustainable material at that.
Coyle Wood Design Official Website
Coyle Wood Design Facebook Page
[Via GearJunkie: Upstart Company to make Sports Helmets out of Wood]