newscientist.com

14:40 03 December 01 Alison Motluk A Canadian man and a three-metre, 585-kilogramme Kodiak bear will face off on 9 December, in an attempt to test a handmade, purportedly bear-proof suit.

The suit and its maker, Troy Hurtubise of North Bay, Ontario, won a 1998 Ig Nobel prize for Safety and Engineering and an entry in the 2002 Guinness Book of World Records for the most expensive research suit ever constructed.

Fifteen years of tinkering and US$100,000 have gone into the design, which incorporates plastic, rubber, chainmail, galvanised steel, titanium - and thousands of metres of duct tape.

The suit has proven itself to be virtually indestructible. It has survived two strikes with a 136-kilogramme tree trunk, 18 collisions with a 3-tonne truck at 50 kilometres an hour, and numerous strikes by arrows, bullets, axes and baseball bats. "I've never had a bruise," says Hurtubise.

But the suit has never come up against the very thing it is meant to protect against - a Grizzly bear. On 9 December, in an undisclosed location in western Canada, that will change. In a "controlled attack", the Kodiak, a larger, heavier subspecies of the Grizzly, will put it to the test.

Ripped to shreds

The bear, which has appeared on TV commercials and in movies, will be instructed by its handler to attack for 10 seconds. Showbiz aside, Hurtubise stresses that it is a real bear. "Real teeth, real claws, real power," he says.

He fully expects the outside of the suit to be ripped to shreds. "The suit's a toy to the bear," he says. "He'll make his way to the titanium."

Hurtubise is banking on the titanium layers around the chest, head and lower body to protect him. If there's a weakness, he says, it's the chainmail joints.

Hurtubise says he's excited, but a little anxious too. "Little things like trucks and baseball bats and axes and things - you don't feel that," he says. "This is a bear." 14:40 03 December 01

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2001

Answers

ROTFLMAO!!

US$100,000 have gone into the design, which incorporates . . . thousands of metres of duct tape.

NASA could learn something from this guy

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2001

They could have gotten the suit for free from the Michelin folks.

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2001

How does the bear tell time? 10 seconds indeed. LOL

I wonder if he has put as much research into a helmet...otherwise the bear is likely to just rip his head off.

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2001

I'm no expert on bears, but I don't think the Kodiak has the incredibly nasty disposition of the regular Grizzly, which is an absolutely terrifying animal.

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2001