glass-skateboard

[Image above] This bulletproof glass skateboard holds its own at the skatepark. Credit: Braille Skateboarding; YouTube

Certain glasses take strength and durability to new levels.

Take, for example, Corning’s Gorilla Glass. This summer, the company unveiled the next generation of tough with Gorilla Glass 5, which “touts dramatically improved drop performance compared with competitive glass designs and earlier versions of Gorilla Glass,” according to Corning’s website. Compared to the previous version, Gorilla Glass 5 can survive drops from up to 1.6 meters up to 80% of the time, Corning explains, and is up to four times better in drop height to failure.

Glass keeps us safer on the roads, turns windows into power sources, and enables land speed record attempts, among so many other impressive feats. And stronger, smarter functional glasses are redefining what researchers know about this complex material.

Plus, glass is really cool—just ask the guys at Braille Skateboarding.

In their YouTube video series, “You make it, we skate it,” viewers can create custom skateboards and send them to the team to put the boards to the real test. A couple months ago, skateboarding company Avenue Trucks upped the ante and sent the Braille folks a glass skateboard to try. Not surprisingly, the fragile attempt ended abruptly when the skateboard shattered seconds into the test ride.

Undeterred and inspired, the Braille team received version 2.0 of the glass skateboard concept from Invizaboard Creations that uses something a bit more robust for those half-pipes—bulletproof glass.

And the bulletproof glass skateboard delivered—it withstood drops, flips, twists, and turns without so much as a scratch. Check out the video to see it in action!

Credit: Braille Skateboarding; YouTube

While that’s impressive, the testers note that the bulletproof glass is a bit heavy and the surface lacks enough grip for any real mid-air tricks. According to Invizaboard’s website, the company plans to launch the glass skateboard commercially sometime soon. Maybe with some tweaks, this crystal-clear board could show up at skate parks and sidewalks near you. 

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