High-tech Prep: Synthetic Spider Silk Parka is Stronger than Steel
billj 11.11.15
Apparently The North Face is planning to release a parka made of synthetic spider silk called “Spiber”:
On September 26, 2015, based on The North Face’s Antarctica Parka, we created the world’s first outerwear prototype made with our spider fibroin-based protein material QMONOS. We call this historic prototype the “Moon Parka.”
The North Face’s Antarctica Parka is an outerwear jacket designed to endure the harsh conditions and intense cold of the South Pole, which the Moon Parka is designed to match. The QMONOS outer material is the natural web color of the Golden Orb spider, and the almost unearthly glow inspired us to dub the color “Moon Gold.” The embroidered logos are also made from a black QMONOS.
During the prototyping process, we chose the protein types in our library that are best suited to crafting the outer material and embroidery thread. We then conducted extensive trials in order to find the perfect threads for the spinning, twisting, weaving, and sewing processes. Moon Parka is the world’s first piece of clothing made from synthetic protein material, and the prototyping process gave us great insight into the challenges that we still face on the road to mass production. Now that we understand them, all that remains is to solve them. The countdown to practical application for synthetic protein materials has begun.
Video here:
Yep, I would absolutely love to add this to my BoB. Couple it with some hard armor plating and you’d have a fantastic bit of SHTF outerwear. Or, you could just go hunting in it if the world doesn’t end.
This thing is just a prototype. They seem to be quite a ways away from mass production. Still, it’s exciting to know that our prep options are getting better all the time.
