Why is it these days that whenever someone appears to be smarter or slightly more focused that suddenly they must have Aspergers? It's like the ADHD of the new millennium, everyone's got it.
What's the advantage of using flexible armor on body parts that don't flex? If it works as advertised, seems like this product would be more useful on the torso, back, neck, or near joints. Maybe I'm just jaded, but I'd bet that the skiers really couldn't care less about it.
The reason this flexible armour is and the shins and forearms is because of the events the athletes are competing in: the Slalom and Giant Slalom events. These involve skiing through, at very high speeds, series of gates that mark the progress through the course.
By "gating" or striking the flexible gates with a glancing blow as they pass, the skier can make thier way down the hill much faster than avoiding the gate entirely. The impact is on the skiers' shins and forearms, so this armour would be very much appreciated.
Check out some of the slalom highlights on Google Video if you want to the the gating technique.
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Why is it these days that whenever someone appears to be smarter or slightly more focused that suddenly they must have Aspergers? It's like the ADHD of the new millennium, everyone's got it.
I think that was Lao Tzu. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lao_Zi
me likey the web comics. just in case of slashdottedness, here's a coupla coral caches for the first issue of the apostasy series:
Part 1i d=148.nyud.net:8090
Part 2http://www.phwcomics.com/index.php?pid=12&cs=13&c
http://www.phwcomics.com/index.php?pid=12&cs=13&c
Part 3i d=151.nyud.net:8090
http://www.phwcomics.com/index.php?pid=12&cs=13&c