As we move our complex fuzzy sets of linguistic construction that we call modelspace around in 'forecast time', we frequently will be able to spot interesting trends, that while they have little bearing on the progression of omnihumanity in coping with the interdimensional politics (ufo's, reptilians, and all manner of other nasties yet unknown), the linguistically revealed glimpses into the mass social consciousness offered can be intriguing, in and of themselves. Such a trend has been observed in nascent development for some number of years now, as a new technology begins to make its way through the barriers placed by the social order imposed by government and ThePowersThatBe that we are 'told' is the 'natural' way of things.

We here at HPH have labeled this latest trend of a developing new technologic breakthrough being spread through the social order as the industry of 'soft and strong', or 'industrial fiber arts'.

Having spent some number of hours (perhaps 1500+) in converting impecuniousness and extra time into a skin on frame sailboat in which there are thousands of knots, and hundreds of feet of seams, I know a little something about the fiber arts. The umiak Q'oki-oki sails fine, thanks for asking. And after a brief shake-down cruise a few elements are being altered, including better placement of the HD video camera. The boat is water tight and the whole thing so light it weighs in at about 480 pounds empty. Very light. At 168 square feet of sail in a crab claw rig, there is a lot of driving power for virtually no weight at all, making for a fast boat. What allows the boat to have the remarkable stability so far demonstrated is not only the art of boat design, but also the effectiveness of knots and string. These are used even in creating and attaching two high floatation ama's (outriggers) intended to eliminate some of the expected tippiness of the light weight boat. The addition of 464 pounds of deep cycle batteries proved to be perfect ballast for the umiak and the ama's are likely superfluous as far as primary stability. However they serve as a great floatation-and-opposing counterbalance to the large sail area which (once i know what i am doing) will make the boat very fast. What all this has to do with the new trend recently spotted is the threads (pun intended) connecting both linguistic hunts and fiber. As with any other human, i am keyed into words that are used within one of my special lexicons, in this instance, my 'hobby' or 'free time' lexicon of boat building, specifically skin on frame boats.

I have special sets of lexicon words within my real work (for pie money) which have tons of meanings, such as the word 'fiber'...where the meanings range from [fiber optics] to the [fiber (of one's) being]. And that range is damn huge as may be imagined. Within this set are sub sets that include the whole [industrial] definition range for 'fiber'. The [industrial fiber] sub set took a large jump about 5/five years ago in several key sets around [research/development]. This jump was later discovered to be built around [synthetic 'steel'] or [Ultra High Molecular Density Polypropylene Fibers]. At the time, it was interesting, as basically it is the ability to manufacture, at an ever decreasing cost due to production volumes savings, a 'plastic' fiber that is between 2 and 20 times stronger in resistance to breaking, than steel wire (or braided steel rope) several times its size. Oh, and at a huge, perhaps near 95 per cent savings in weight.

And the stuff is soft....well, reasonably. Damn hard to cut as well. Requires a special ceramic knife to really work it.

Now the initial uses of these fibers in logging, and other resource harvesting such as fisheries (nets, haul out lines and such) have proven the material, and its potentials. Its main weakness is that it only lasts about 5 years in exposure to constant weather including sunlight. On the other hand, steel frequently goes in that same period due to imperfections in manufacturing that cut its supposed life span nearly in half. So a real toss up. However, the new fibers have a really cool property that steel does not....they are soft.

Really soft actually if obtained in the 11mm size or larger thickness. What makes that so cool is that human hands can begin to 'play' with the material now that it has 'filtered' out to the wives and relatives and friends of the first industrial users. It has now made its way into sports in several forms including as replacements for steel rigging on boats. It is there that some of the first of this new technology of 'soft, light, fiber arts' has emerged. The first signs of this new trend are actual products, that are worked out of the new synthetic steel plastic fiber rope. An example would be the availability of 'soft shackles' for rigging purposes. There are a number of these products emerging. Many are coming from the boating part of the populace, likely due to the traditional dependence of boats upon rope, and thus the familiarity with it as a material. However, we note that several other product sources for new, stronger than steel, but soft as plastic rope technology includes the forestry industry where they have been using these fibers for a number of years hauling timber up and out. And for dozens of purposes around the camp from tenting ropes to structural supports for decks for cookhouses and common areas (wood slats tied to UHMWPE line that was suspended between stumps to form a floating frame for the deck).

While not yet having the emotional tension values for impact that the [new electrics] sets within our work, the [soft synthetic steel] industry trend actually does show a far greater, and longer lasting value sum for [duration of impact]. The sub sets within this trend are pointing toward a [critical mass] being reached soon as the material costs drop down enough to make the fibers more available. The trend forecast is for a virtual explosion of [manufacturing creativity], when the [synthetic steel fibers] make it to the [home hobbyist], and the [crafter] world.

Imagine what will happen when screwy uncle charlie who can tie any kind of knot known to man can do so with soft rope that has 15 thousand pounds breaking strength, a five thousand pound working load level, no stretch, is 11 mm in diameter, and is soft to the touch? Or what happens when the synthetic steel fibers reach the [crochet] sub set of the populace? Imagine granny being able to crochet up a car hoist?

Or, what about fibers tied into cloth (a'la the polynesian methods) that could then be sewn into a car that could take a direct, head on collision at 100 mph with NO damage to the occupant, due to effective distribution of energy through pre-tensed corded structures......sound familiar? continue on....

it can easily be done...of course, we still have to knit up the car body first...but that is what could put humans back to work again. And at a level, and scale un imagined by previous industrial social planners. This soft and strong industrial revolution would give real power to those gifted with hand to eye to brain creativity, both as individual producers of products, but also as creators of new designs and sellers of information to other fiber artists globally about how to also produce the new creations. In many ways, the trend has the potential to replicate the early days of the spread of software as an 'art form' produced by talented designers and coders.

This industrial trend also favors the 'third world' populace of the planet as those societies are still more closely bound (pun intended) to fiber as a daily resource than are the more industrial sections of the planet. However, the skills required are old, and are actually 'in the hand'.

Looking for a new technology to end global depression? Seeking the Next Big Thing? Then look into synthetic steel fibers, or UHMWPE line or rope. Then revisit your copy of Buckminster Fuller's Synergetics, the vector equilibrium, and other Fuller descriptions of 'tensegrity structures', and imagine what can be done with new soft and strong fiber technology along these lines....

I am doing just that...imagining, and i ordered a hundred feet of the stuff for play which is the first stage of creativity. I will likely use some in the umiak, as it is already fiber, and could use some synthetic, light weight steel here and there, but i am sure there are billions of other things that can be created from super strong fibers that can be worked by hand. Just have to think of them....over pie and coffee. Hmmmm.... a tensegrity engine hoist that could life a diesel train and only weighs about 900 pounds....yep....ok, so let's start a list.

Oh, one brand is called Dynex Dux. There are others. And will undoubtedly be even more.

The point of bringing up this trend, a really very minor one that currently involves no more than a few hundreds of thousands of persons at the maximum, is that, against the background of a disintegrating currency and control system into stage 3 of the planetary Greatest Depression, and amidst what are called 'earth changes', this new human activity of knitting up a new world out of super strong synthetic steel *could* be the way out of the depression, *could* be the first signs of the [second wave (of industrialization) in america], and is a technology that has such low barriers to entry as to be planetarily egalitarian at its core. The petty people pretending to be powers such as the 'build r buggers' and the 'owl worshipers' have it all wrong.....it is not the coming days of the NWO (New World Order) in which booted thugs claim title, but rather a period where your granny can crochet up a scarf that will stop a train, or knit a house that would withstand a tornado. No, not the NWO, rather the NUF (New Universe of Fiber).

'nuf said!?

clif high

August 26, 2010