The Product Guy

Nov 19 2008 8:34AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |
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By Nick Bajzek

Honeywell’s Spectra fiber, which you’ll find in both bulletproof vests and the company’s Storm-A-Rest curtains, just picked up Popular Science’s 2008 "Best of What’s New” award (If you have a moment, read through the entire piece for some very interesting new products). 

The Spectra fiber enables the Storm-A-Rest curtains, manufactured by North Carolina-based JHRG, LLC., to protect windows and doors during hurricanes. The roll-down curtains can withstand 155 mph winds and impact from large wind-borne projectiles (the product is approved under Flordia’s building code for Wind Zone 4). The curtains are also incredibly lightweight—putting these up beats the beejesus out of storing piles of plywood and corrugated aluminum to protect your homes when the next Big One barrels through if you ask me.

I don’t pretend to understand the science behind how they make the fiber so strong, so I’ll let Honeywell give you the Reader’s Digest version: “Pound for pound, Spectra fiber is 15 times stronger than steel. It is made from ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene using a patented gel-spinning process. The fiber exhibits high resistance to chemicals, water, and ultraviolet light. It has excellent vibration damping, flex fatigue and internal fiber-friction characteristics. It also has up to 60 percent greater specific strength than aramid fiber.”