Troy Hurtubise is an extreme human. There’s really no other way of putting it. After surviving a brief bout with a grizzly bear in the backwoods of British Columbia in August 1984, Hurtubise could’ve scampered back to civilization all whimpering, cowering and forever scarred from the brief encounter. But no. Hurtubise began obsessing over bears. Which got him thinking: Is it possible to study the beasts at very close ranges without getting mauled?

Hurtubise got to work almost immediately. Taking cues from RoboCop he became hellbent on constructing the perfect bear-proof suit, which after numerous iterations and upgrades (and consulting with physicists, of course) has morphed into the sort of ballistic exoskeleton body armor fit for the Canadian infantry. Or so Hurtubise thinks.

So call him what you will – man, dreamer, inventor, legend, 20th Century warfare expert, Bowie-knife loyalist, guy who hates children that don’t eat. But one thing is for sure: Troy Hurtubise is indestructible.

Reach this writer at brian@motherboard.tv. @thebanderson

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Connections:

• David R. Smith is Hidden in Plain Sight
• P.W. Singer’s Robots of War
• VICE: Ghost Recon – Only the Dead Fight Fair
• The Armored Motherboard