A Q&A With Armor Guys

What is GRAPHENE and why is Armor Guys using it in hand protection?

• Discovered in 2004 by two scientists at the University of Manchester who won a Nobel Prize for it, Graphene is an allotrope of carbon that is the most abundant material on earth. It’s a two-dimensional, honeycomb lattice structure at only one atom thick. It is a nano particle of Graphite that was found to be 100 times lighter than paper, 200 times stronger than steel and harder than diamond. Graphene is also inherently bacteriostatic, thermal regulating, odor neutralizing and highly resistant to UV-A and UV-B rays.  Armor Guys has chosen to use Graphene in hand protection because of the key inherent properties noted above. One of the biggest issues with wearing gloves is they tend to make a user’s hands hot, causing them to sweat, which ultimately leads to the gloves having a foul odor, so they are discarded prematurely.  Our Kyorene® and Kyorene® Pro gloves are the 1^st gloves in the market to address these issues as Graphene, by its very makeup, helps regulate the heat buildup in the gloves, minimizing the sweat and killing odor-causing bacteria that causes the gloves to smell.  This is a significant achievement as it means companies using our Kyorene® and Kyorene® Pro gloves are seeing greater longevity of their gloves and realizing the cost savings associated with it.

How long was the development process for this product?

• Our parent company began researching Graphene in 2010, employing a team of nearly 100 scientists and industry experts from around the world.  From R&D to commercialization, it took us nearly 8 years to formally launch our Kyorene® range.

Armor Guys is involved with the production of GRAPHENE from raw material to finished product. Why is this important?

• Our parent company has always been a vertically integrated producer of protective gloves and sleeves.  This has been a critically important differentiator for their business given the vast number of companies that offer protective gloves and sleeves.  As they began exploring Graphene and how to apply it to their portfolio, it only made sense once they figured out how to master producing it, that it too would be done in-house, remaining vertically integrated in the production of it as well.

Doesn’t a fiber that strong make personal protective equipment (PPE) uncomfortable to wear? 

• One would think that to get something that performs to exceptionally high-performance levels for cut and abrasion protection that it would be uncomfortable to wear.  With Kyorene®, this is not the case.  In fact, it’s the exact opposite.  Drawing on years of technical leadership in the development of high-performance gloves and sleeves, we have excelled in bringing a patented, new technology to market which addresses the need for higher performance levels while improving fit and feel.  Not to mention, the products wear exceptionally well and have been approved for use by a number of Fortune 500 companies.

 Armor Guys has introduced high-performance Kyorene (GRAPHENE) gloves. Are they available in different models?

• Kyorene®, and our newest range of Graphene gloves and sleeves, Kyorene® Pro, are offered in variety of gauges, coatings and cut levels.  In fact, with our Kyorene® Pro range, we were the first company to introduce an 18-gauge, A9 cut resistant glove to the market. Between our Kyorene® and Kyorene® Pro ranges, we cover all ANSI cut levels: A1-A9.

 Is GRAPHENE being used for other kinds of PPE as well?

• Currently, we are the only company to successfully use Graphene for protective gloves and sleeves.  In fact, we have more than 30 patents under application or awarded for the various aspects of Graphene preparation, production, yarn development and polymer development.

What industries are most likely to benefit from the use of Kyorene gloves?

• Nearly every user that wears Kyorene® gloves will benefit from them.  The key inherent features of Kyorene®; bacteriostatic, thermal regulating and odor neutralizing all improve the user’s experience and increase the lifespan of the product.  It’s safe to say that most industries, if not all, will benefit in some way by deploying Kyorene® gloves as part of their hand protection offering.

https://armorguys.com/product-category/product-range/kyorene-pro-product-range/