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mychristopherson-blog · 12 years

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A Love of All Things: Carbon Fiber

So I was walking down Rodeo Dr. the other day, and I see this in the Hermes shop window.

Que heart palpitations!

A few decades ago, the idea of carbon fiber was a silly one. Why would we go to such lengths to produce something like it when we already had other composite materials - such as plastics, or the more rugged Kevlar? In fact the only differences between Kevlar and Carbon Fiber is that CF is made from Carbon - an organic compound. Kevlar is synthetic. While this is a minute difference, the cost to manufacture CF over Kevlar was (and still is) insane.

Fast forward to perhaps a decade or two ago, and Carbon Fiber found a home in an unlikely place - the car industry. Not just cars though, Im talking sports cars - like the most expensive sports cars on the planet, might have had a carbon fiber spoiler, as a $5,000 optional add on. Kevlar made its name in the military, but CF and cars? Who would have guessed.

Fast forward again, to perhaps just a decade ago and things have really started to change. Carbon Fiber is no longer just a pointlessly expensive add on for your already expensive Lamborghini. Instead, the new Adventador is crafted almost entirely from it. Not only is the car now more rigid (a good thing) than any previous Lambo, but its safer as well. Did I mention it weighs 400 pounds less, accelerates faster, brakes faster, and is more efficient?

In an unlikely way, the car manufacturers proved something that we have been talking about for a long time - Carbon Fiber is a great material, and its only going to get better. This brings me back to the picture above - a carbon fiber riding helmet. Its the "trickle down" effect, but on steroids. The material is working its way down the consumer chain, from the outrageously expensive super-sports car, to the mildly outrageous car, to an ultra-expensive riding helmet. Hell, my iPhone case is made of Carbon Fiber!

Soon we can look forward to affordable cars, homes, national infrastructure, and much more - made from this amazing material that weighs less than aluminum but is as strong as steel.

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mychristopherson-blog · 13 years

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Why Read All Things Christopherson?

To give you the short answer to this question: Because I think im interesting. Hopefully you do to.

The long winded, overly explained, and perhaps terribly worded explanation:

Like I said above, I think im interesting, and hopefully you will as well.

About Me:

I like traveling/exploring, but only in nature - places that havent been manhandled... by man. Places you could get lost in and never find you way out of, places you wouldn't dare go by yourself because uve seen enough movies to know its just a bad idea.

I like animals. My family has an entire personal zoo of rare/exotic animals that come from nearly all parts of the world. We have Parrots from all over Latin America (pictured in my previous post), Tortoises from Africa, Dogs from Tibet, Chameleons from Madagascar (the one pictured is mine). No ordinary house cats here, sorry.

I like technology. Im a huge computer nerd, i usually spend my afternoons reading the latest blog/tech site to grasp and new source of info pertaining to that next shiny gadget that my life demands. I like Mac, I like Windows, I like iPhone, I like Android. I like it all, as long as it twirls and whirls and hums along to that fateful song that beats in tandem with my heart.

I like politics (America is driving me nuts right now).

I like environmentalism (though I think some aspects are pure B.S).

I love cars! Porsche, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Maserati, Ford, Chevy - anything with an engine the can pur/growl me into oblivion. I can sit and stare for hours at a sexy car.

These are just mere examples of the whirlpool I like to believe acts as the composer of my life. I live spontaneously, and independently of critical eyes or flakey companions. I like to think it makes for an interesting life.

Though I am still deciding exactly what it is I will continually blog about, I am of course always open/eager for suggestions. Give me something to write about/hunt down pictures of/rant about, and I promise to lovingly do it.

This is of course dependent on feedback, if I am lucky enough to even get any.

On that note, this is all for now. Ill wait awhile and then check for some love.

A.T.C

"Symphony of silver tears, sing to me, and soothe the ring in my ears".

p.s - its my first blog, forgive bad formatting, writing comp, and a lack of interesting pictures. Feedback is always appreciated in this regard.

#Christopherson #Animals #Chameleons #Adventure #Nature #Environmentalism

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