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Archive for the ‘Maritime’ Category

MATBOCK – The Amphibian

Tuesday, November 13th, 2012

MATBOCK is quickly earning a reputation for developing innovative solutions for very specialized problems. These are the issues that others won’t take on, but necessity is the mother of invention and, based on their own needs while serving, they’ve rolled up their sleeves and developed some answers.

For example, in certain situations operators are required to carry a supplemental air source such as an Aqua Lung Survival Egress Air (SEA) bottle or a Helicopter Emergency Egress Device (HEED) bottle. Usually this air source is tucked away in a backpack or pouch without easy access, but it’s still required gear. Not happy with just carrying a piece of life saving gear in a pouch that is most likely going to be a struggle to reach in a high stress, high stakes situation, MATBOCK developed The Amphibian.

The Amphibian combines two life saving elements, air and water, into one system. At first glance the Amphibian might look like another water bladder pouch, but they integrated a special sleeve specifically designed to hold an Aqua Lung SEA bottle. Additionally, the hoses of the Platypus water bladder and SEA bottle are bundled together in a Velcro sleeve, which is routed over the shoulder. Both the water and air mouthpiece are mounted to the front of a plate carrier for easy access that won’t get in the way.

Specifically build for Navy helo crews, NSW water operations, Search and Rescue crews or any situation when supplemental air sources are required.

The Amphibian consists of three components:
Pouch:
– 500 Cordura
– Side zipper pocket
– PALS Compatible

Platypus Bladder:
– 1.8L Hoser
– Drink Tube Kit with Bite Valve Cover
– Black Tube Insulator

Aqualung SEA Bottle:
– Model LV-2
– 2.0 liter bottle
– 27” hose
– Mouthpiece cover

Don’t forget, in honor of their 1st anniversary, MATBOCK is offering an exclusive 10% discount for all SSD readers. Please just enter “SSD10″ during checkout to receive your 10% discount. This coupon code will be good for the entire month of November.

www.MATBOCK.com

USIA and NanoSonic Integrate Pioneering Technology into Diving Products

Friday, September 21st, 2012

Oregon-based USIA (Under Sea Industrial Apparel) and Virginia-based NanoSonic, Inc have combined their manufacturing and technical expertise to transition NanoSonic’s HybridSil FR technology to dry and wet suit ensembles. Developed under a Small Business Innovative Research grant, the diver armor equipped dry and wet suits will be initially available for the military and public safety sectors, and as many next-generation defense technologies have in the past, may transition to the commercial and recreational diving communities.

Leveraging NanoSonic’s R&D 100 award winning HybridSil core technology, virtually any fabric may be infused with a molecularly engineered ceramic nanocomposite for drastic gains in environmental durability and chemical resistance with negligible influence on drape and weight. The primary focus for the first generation of dry and wet suit materials has been enhanced laceration, abrasion and puncture protection over current state-of-the-art materials. These fabrics are 15 times stronger than steel and 40% stronger than aramid fibers such as Kevlar and Nomex.
USIA was chosen by Nanosonic as its exclusive Phase III transition partner due to its extensive experience within the military and recreational diving business and immediate synergy with NanoSonic’s HybridSil technical team.

USIA is led by its founder Kim Johns, who has more than 28 years of experience in the military and public diving industries. “The bottom line benefit is a novel material that creates real dive armor,” said Johns. “For over 30 years we have all been making drysuits and wetsuits from the same types of materials – usually laminated materials (tri-lams and bi-lams), which can delaminate and separate under stress.” This technology infuses a coating on the material that changes the chemical composition and creates a innovative composite material – in this case, drysuit exposure protection. These new nanocomposite materials are fantastic. They are highly flexible and lightweight, yet extremely durable, tough and chemically resistant.

“In the short term, this new material will replace overlays for high wear areas in drysuits and wetsuit,” Johns stated. “High-use places like knees, elbows and shoulders will get an overlay that will add an extremely lightweight, pliable, yet tough layer to protect the diver. In the long term, we will be making entire suits out of these materials.”

According to Vince Baranauskas, PhD, Vice President of Polymer Science and Engineering at NanoSonic, HybridSil Dive Armor crosslinks molecules across the matrix, fiber and host ceramic particle interfaces to create an innovative product that merges the best qualities of any fabric with otherwise unobtainable performance enhancements. Imagine a light fabric that feels like paper but is 10 times stronger than any other product available. Vince Baranauskas received his Ph.D. in Macromolecular Science and Engineering at Virginia Tech, with a focus on the synthesis and characterization of siloxane functional block, random, and graft copolymers for use as durable oxidative barriers for metallic nanoparticles. Baranauskas co-invented the core technology, HybridSil, an advanced copolymer nanocomposite technology that is currently under evaluation on multiple military and commercial platforms.

SOFIC – DIVEX

Thursday, May 24th, 2012

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P3Maritime partner DIVEX caught our eye. P3Maritime manufactures the Jet Boots Diver Propulsion System seen mounted on the mannequins legs. DIVEX on the other hand, has developed a very high speed, closed circuit, lightweight shallow water underwater breathing apparatus called the Enforcer.