Man creates real world Halo suit

Since I was a wee nipper I've always dreamed of becoming a walking tank. It was a dream I never thought would become reality, that was until I saw the 'Trojan' full body armour suit.

This new, military-standard suit, designed by a Canadian inventor called Troy Hurtubise, is pretty spectacular. Not only does it look almost identical to the suit worn by Halo hero, Master Chief, but it performs many of the same functions.

For starters, the suit is effective against knife, blunt melee, bullet and explosive attacks. So well designed is the suit that Hurtubise also claims it can protect the wearer from a shot from an elephant gun. For those who don't know, an elephant gun is one designed to have enough stopping power to fell an elephant. This armour is therefore, pretty effective.

Those aren't its only features. Alongoside the magnetic gun holsters, the suit has emergency compartments for morphine and salt injections in an emergency, as well as an emergency light and a knife. The helmet contains an air filtration system powered by solar panels as well as a tube hook-up so soldiers can easily get to water. The whole suit cost $15,000 to design and will cost $2,000 a piece to produce. The inventor hopes the 18 KG weight will be light enough to make the suit practical for all environments, and hopes to see Coalition troops using it out in Iraq.

The designer of the suit is famed for his work on Project Grizzly. Hurtubise recorded a film-come-documentary as he trialled a suit that he hoped would protect him from bears, an extract taken from Wikipedia describes some of the scenarios the inventor placed himself in:

"Hurtubise approached a tall, heavy biker and his colleagues, and paid them to attack him while wearing the suit, with baseball bats, splitting mauls, and wooden two by fours. The suit survived, as did Hurtubise, while the weapons were reduced to splinters. Other tests included an impact by a swinging 300-pound log, a feat that the Ripley's Believe It or Not television program later attempted with a BMW, as well as tossing him down the side of an escarpment."

There is no word on how the new, military-grade suit would cope with toilet or cigarette breaks as of yet. Our only hope is that the suit's built in voice unit makes soldiers sound like Darth Vader. We consider that an absolute must.

Think these suits will catch on, or is it all just an elaborate hoax? Let us know your thoughts in the forum.