Guide picks
Catcher's Gear
04/05/00 A comparison of the gear used be baseball catchers today and 100 years ago shows that materials have played a big role in cutting weight and improving performance.
A Boat Named Harold
02/09/00 Clinton Trowbridge named his new sloop "Harold" because he felt guilty about buying a fiberglass boat.
New Boating Record
01/13/00 A carbon and glass composite skiff powered by a Yamaha engine set a Guiness World Record for best gas mileage.
New Surf Board
01/03/00 The inventor of the Boogie Board has a new product: the fiberglass-covered Swizzle. $1.95
Advances in Skis
10/29/99 Composites and plastics are helping to improve the performance of skis and boots, as well as contributing to the proliferation of new designs.
Building a Sea Kayak
09/27/99 Brief article about building a stitch-and-glue kayak from Outside Magazine. Not a lot of construction details, but a good overview of the work involved.
Outdoor Clothing
09/02/99 Advanced fibers give outdoor clothing some impressive properties. Outside Magazine reviews some of the latest designs.
Mountaineering Gear
09/02/99 Mountaineering gear also benefits from advanced materials, becoming lighter and more effective. Another review from Outside Magazine.
New Golf Products
08/17/99 Wilson has announced two new products: "Smart-Core" golf balls (reported below); and New Fat Shaft irons with "Hyper Carbon 535" shafts.
Bat Grips
08/17/99 A new grip for baseball bats, golf clubs, and racquet equipment is made from an epoxy/sand composite.
New Surfboards
08/13/99 Polystyrene foam and epoxy resins are replacing polyurethanes and polyesters in surfboards.
Running Shoes
08/04/99 This review of new running shoes from Outside Magazine details the advanced materials used in each model.
Faster Arrows
07/19/99 If you're a bowhunter looking to increase your arrow speed, this article has some advice. Graphite is faster than aluminum.
Surfboard Review
07/07/99 Thanks to advanced materials, there are many designs available to surfers. Outside Magazine reviews five of them.
Outrigger Canoe Races
06/25/99 Outrigger canoes have gone modern, with fiberglass hulls and graphite-epoxy paddles.
Composite Bats in the Minors
06/17/99 The Brett brothers make wood composite baseball bats for the minor leagues. Question: are wood laminates a composite?
Skiing Improvements
03/16/99 This article touches on the many improvements in skiing over the past 25 years, including skis themselves. However, it fails to mention how composites allowed such innovations as shaped skis.
Archery Improvements
03/16/99 Holographic sights and carbon composite arrows help archers improve their accuracy.
Building a Wood Strip Canoe
02/23/99 Jim Loveless tells how he built a wood strip canoe. I used to think there were all wood, but they are held together by inner and outer layers of fiberglass.
High-Tech Motorsport Clothing
02/12/99 Simpson, a supplier of motorsports safety products, will be using Kapton, Nomex, and Kevlar in protective apparel.
New Hockey Stick
02/10/99 CE Composites Hockey has developed a new offset stick that gives shooters more power. Although this stick isn't composite, many of CE's other products are.
Graphite/Boron Fishing Rod
01/21/99 In Outside Magazine's description of this new rod, they describe boron as a "natural fiber," which is supposed to be in contrast to graphite fibers. Huh?
Plastics and Skiing
01/04/99 New plastics and composites are helping to improve ski and snowboard equipment.
Ted Nugent and Archery
12/29/98 Ted Nugent has been active in archery since he was a child, and he really likes the newest graphite arrow shafts.
Porsche Makes Tennis Racquets
11/24/98 Porsche has introduced two tennis racquets made from a carbon and Kevlar composite. The manufacturing technique is the same as the one used for the 911 GT1 body panels.