In the growing segment of defense gadget design, there’s a new generation of protection equipment that seeks to facilitate the process of demining 'hot' areas littered with mine bombs. The Norwegian-based Kode Design A/S firm has developed an innovative Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) design that after five years of pre-production, appears to be finally ready for manufacturing. Kode's PPE includes a super strong vest and visor combo, though they haven't mentioned which type of ballistic metal or other material they'll use or customize. It transfers weight from the shoulders to the hips, employs newfound lateral movement flexibility and by creating separate parts of the vest that are independent of each other, it enables the user of a natural fit. According to the designer's site:
Click on the next page to check out the helmet prototype.
While many different processes of demining are out there, such as bomb-sniffing dogs and metal detectors, the most effective method, according to the United Nations, continues to be manual demining.
Demining is a separate process from military mine-clearance, and is usually carried out by civilians and coordinated by local and international humanitarian entities, such as the UN.
The use of this armor is expected to reduce casualty numbers in mine-affected populations, “improve [the] health and safety of the deminer, protecting both against explosions and work injuries,” and increase the standards for other types of PPEs. According to Wikipedia, it takes "one to two million US$ to clear a square kilometer of land in most environments,” so it is imperative that the money is used in the most advanced and effective of equipment. It's also important to note that only until a piece of land is completely bomb-free can any other humanitarian developments take place. The Kode PPE system was one of the top nominees for the 2007 Index Design Awards.
