The Evolution of Sports Safety: From Basics to Advanced Tech

Sports safety has come a long way, evolving from simple materials to sophisticated designs and cutting-edge technologies that prioritise both protection and performance. Let’s take a closer look at this fascinating journey and examine the science behind the materials used to safeguard athletes.

EVA/XLPE Foams: (Ethyl Vinyl Acetate)/(Cross-Linked PolyEthylene)

Most of the basic safety protective wear on the market uses these foams. These are cheap and easy to access foam. While it offers some level of impact absorption, its effectiveness is limited, typically providing as little as 15-30% impact protection. To achieve any meaningful protection against higher forces, these types of foams must be at least 15mm thick.

PU Foams: (PolyUrethane)

More advanced protection than EVA, these foams tend to have higher impact absorbing qualities. These foams tend to be higher density than EVA, therefore heavier. Slightly better protection, usually in the 25-45% impact protection range. Companies can afford to have thinner material thickness than EVA for equivalent protection benefit.

Non-Newtonian foams and gels: Quite soft to touch and flexible when moved but harden on sudden impact, these foams and gels display excellent impact absorbing qualities. The gels tend to be quite heavy, in comparison to the foams. You can expect an impact protection in the 30-60% range.

SWAARM’s Advanced Armour: A New Standard in Impact Protection

Three Phases of Protection:

      1.   Energy Dispersion: When impacting force strikes, the ensuing energy must go somewhere. SWAARM’s Advanced  Armour plates deflect initial impact and disperse that energy  across the grid through connected micro-hinges. The Advanced  Armour plates then subtly flex, via the micro-hinges, to absorb  residual forces.

 

2.      Gradual Deceleration: The nature of the hinge design allows a torsion to occur at each plate, promoting greater time of contact with the offending force, thus increasing the amount of energy absorbed by this more gradual deceleration.

3.      Elasticity Effect: The hinges allow for a “trampolining effect” to occur… Think of a ball hitting a net. The net (or in this case the plate/hinge matrix) captures the ball (force) and slows it down due to the elasticity afforded by the hinge orientation.

 

Unlike traditional bulky protective wear, SWAARM uses a combination of precision-engineered Advanced Armour Tech embedded between dual layers of proprietary Advanced Armour foam to provide superior all-round protection, without sacrificing mobility. SWAARM is home of the #1 Sports Halo, achieving 5 Stars Virginia Tech’s Helmet Ratings. Impact protection for the Halo on in-house linear drop tower testing measured at 92.9%!

The evolution of sports safety wear isn’t just about materials - it’s about innovation, science, and a commitment to keeping athletes safe. From the humble EVA foam to advanced, multi-layered, tech-infused designs like SWAARM’s Advanced Armour, this space is ever-evolving to provide a safer, more enjoyable experience - whether you’re a professional athlete or a future star in the little leagues.