Nineteen-year-old expert skier Janne van Enckevort was told that
this cap would harden when his head struck the ice. To make sure, he removed the spongy pads lining the hat, crumpled them into a ball, and then smashed them against the floor. The ball stiffened upon impact, then quickly softened again.

The protective pads morph because they are made of a material called d3o. Engineered by a British company of the same name, d3o is an elastic polymer that tenses in response to quick movements.

Constructed of a wood-based polymer that can be injection-molded like plastic, the RKS maintains the tone and long-lasting sound of wood. The material also allows for the ax´s unprecedented â€neck-through†open design, which accommodates the series of resonating aluminum ribs that add layers to the sound. The result is a guitar with the bite of a solid-body electric and the fullness of a hollow-body. From $2,000