Tis’ the season: Christmas gift ideas for composites enthusiasts
The Christmas season is all about spreading holiday cheer, spending time with loved ones and finding time to decompress before a new year. It can also be one of the most frustrating and anxiety-induced holidays around for one primary reason: gift-giving. And not just the act of giving gifts, but also receiving them (I think we all can admit we’ve returned a present or two in our time).
This is why the CW editorial team has compiled a unique list of 20 gift ideas for you, our readers, with one thing in common: each idea uses composite materials or is applicable to composites manufacturing in some way. Whether you’re looking for yourself, someone else or need to give friends and family some ideas that fit your style, we hope you find something that piques your interest. Even if you’re an extraordinary gift-giver and already have everything packed, wrapped and tied with a bow, stick around — you never know what you might discover:
1. Athletic footwear: There are a range of options, but a few that stood out to us were the Athletic Propulsion Labs | McLaren HySpeed line of luxury athletic footwear, an ARRIS Composites next-gen, individually tailored carbon fiber/thermoplastic plate for running shoes and Deckers Innovation Lab “fast-casual” composite footwear.
2. Inspiring design ideas for reusing renewable energy structures — we suggest the recently released Re-Wind Design Catalog 2nd Edition Fall/Autumn 2022 for a start.
3. The four-wheel Dragonfly electric hyperscooter by DFLY Technology Group Ltd featuring a lightweight carbon fiber composite deck.
4. The limited-edition Big Crown ProPilot watch from famed Swiss manufacturer Oris in collaboration with Canadian aerial firefighters Coulson Aviation featuring a 9T Labs 3D-printed carbon fiber watch case.
5. Convergence bicycle wheelset options from We Are One Composites . The carbon fiber rim shape uses Boston Materials ZRT composite film.
5. A free subscription to CompositesWorld magazine (subscribe here).
6. Carbon Mobile 's CFRTP smartphone combining “high-quality German engineering with cutting-edge materials innovation.” It’s light, sleek, green and comes in a monocoque design.
7. The latest in sporting goods from Vactech_carbon and diver_Australia using Hypetex-colored carbon fiber.
8. Redo your interiors with earth-friendly, better-than-wood Ekoa Surfaces Peel N’Stick natural fiber/bio-based thermoplastic composites from Lingrove (click here for more details).
9. A space tourism experience aboard the composites-intensive Spaceship Neptune with Space Perspective .
10. “Handbook of Sustainable Polymers for Additive Manufacturing,” a comprehensive, 600-page first edition handbook authored by Antonio Paesano, PhD, that provides the latest technical information on sustainable materials — including composites — that are feedstocks for additive manufacturing.
11. Pultruded fiberglass Jump Stick workout equipment from Flexi-StiX, inspired by fiberglass composite pole vaults and exercise equipment.
12. AFP head shipped to your door — Addcomposites AFP-XS is Plug-and-Place with any robot, easily installed, starting at less than $200,000.
13. Pela compostable phone cases made from flax fiber/biopolymer.
14. Wings for Living outdoor furniture made from repurposed wind blades, developed by Polish recycler Anmet (click here for more details) or a luxury REI chair from Tras manufactured from Bcomp’s flax-based ampliTEX technical fabrics.
15. Carbon fiber power suit collaboratively developed by Mubea and German Bionic that can aid workers when lifting heavy loads.
16. SNO-GO accessible ski bikes, which incorporate composites to decrease user fatigue and improve agility and responsiveness of the bike.
17. Free trial of Markforged Simulation software to design and virtually test your 3D-printed composite parts.
18. Predn Surf Co.surfboard using flax fiber composite construction.
19. Elegant, sporty 20-inch composite rim design by Bucci Composites 20-inch for the aftermarket.
20. Boka Marine recreational watercraft line featuring battery- or solar-powered technologies with a fiberglass frame.