Brett Boag holds a small square of what appears to be ordinary wooden, 20-millimetre-thick chipboard.
Only this material is heavier and startlingly stronger.
Bulletproof in fact.
During a recent test in the United States, it withstood even a burst from a high-powered AK-47.
“It’s phenomenally tough. We’re making products that are even way in excess of the hardest hardwoods, very high impact resistance as well,” said Mr Boag, who manufactures construction materials at a factory east of Melbourne.
The products are made from hemp — one of the toughest plants on the planet. …
This is the best summary I could come up with:
We’re making products that are even way in excess of the hardest hardwoods, very high impact resistance as well," said Mr Boag, who manufactures construction materials at a factory east of Melbourne.
But hemp went the way of sailing ships, falling from favour with the declining demand for hempen ropes and cordage and the rise of synthetics.
That ambition is supported by AgriFutures, the federal government agency that identifies and finances the research and development of Australian rural industries.
Brett Boag has a two-decade-long track record, in China and North America, manufacturing hemp into a range of very robust building and related products.
As one of the toughest plant fibres on Earth, its principal virtue has till recently been its major impediment, but there’s been progress in the field as well.
Brett Boag says no other crop can deliver such a tough, versatile fibre within 100 days from planting to harvesting.
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