British clothing brand Vollebak which is known to push the limits of fashion and science with the use of unconventional materials in its clothing items, has now unveiled a tracksuit made of pure silver. The outer shell of the Shielding Pants are embedded with pure silver that blocks radio waves and microwaves in the frequency range 0.2GHz to 10GHz – which includes WiFi, Bluetooth, Ku-band satellites and radar systems.
The ‘Sheilding Suit’ also deflects mid and long wave infrared radiation so it can’t be seen on infrared cameras. It comes with a phone shielding pocket that works like a Faraday cage – blocking access to your devices, regardless of whether they’re switched on or off. “We’ve designed the jacket to be comfortable to wear anywhere, just like a regular lightweight jacket; the only difference is you’ll look like you’ve just stepped off a spaceship,’ says the company.
The brand reportedly used the same shielding material that NASA uses for its Mars exploration rover, Curiosity. It says that a specialist lab was commissioned to build an electromagnetic compatibility shielding tent to protect Curiosity while it was conducting its tests. Vollebak used the same technology to build the Shielding Suit.
“Based in Bremen, northwest Germany, Shieldex are the lab that creates high-tech metallised fabrics for digital forensics, the aerospace industry and medical textiles...
and Mars Rovers. Applications for their materials have included protecting electro.
