Stanley Cup Final showcases Durham company's custom gear

As the Carolina Hurricanes compete on hockey's biggest stage, a Durham company is helping athletes stay in the game through custom 3D-printed protective gear.

PROTECT3D manufactures custom braces and protective equipment for athletes across professional and collegiate sports, including the Canes.

Athletic trainers use a smartphone or tablet to create a 3D scan of an injured body part. That scan is then sent to PROTECT3D’s headquarters on West Main Street in Durham, where dozens of specialized 3D printers create a customized piece of gear for the athlete.

“You can scan any body part,” PROTECT3D founder and CEO Kevin Gehsmann explained. “There are thumb splints, shoulder separation products, rib protectors for elite athletes and for general patient settings.”

Gehsmann said that because no two bodies are the same, protective gear shouldn't be either. 

“It can be an arm cast that’s waterproof and you can still swim in the pool, or an ankle brace that’s thinner and more comfortable than a walking boot,” Gehsmann said. 

Earlier in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the company was tasked with creating a custom protective insert that would fit inside a player’s skate.

“In hockey, we make a lot of products for the wrist, thumb splints, and shoulder separation products are pretty common,” Gehsmann said. “Rib padding is another one, or shot blockers on the lower body.”

The company touts as little as a 48-hour turnaround time for any of its equipment and works with teams across multiple professional sports leagues, including the NFL, NHL, NBA, WNBA and MLS. 

Local teams can often get their gear even faster. 

“When the Canes are less than 15 minutes from our office in downtown Durham, we’ll routinely drive something to them or have one of their athletic trainers come by the 3D printing lab here and pick it up,” Gehsmann said. “They can have products within 15 hours.”

Back in February, Carolina Hurricanes Head Athletic Trainer Doug Bennett showed WRAL how the team has used the technology over the years. 

"We're putting them in a pad or a splint for a reason, and we get a lot better compliance because again, guys barely notice it," Bennett said. “When it’s custom-made, it’s contoured to your body. If you ask our players, they say they’re just more comfortable.” 

Gehsmann said customization becomes especially important during a long playoff run, when players are dealing with the physical toll of an entire season.

"These guys have played well over 75 games, and we're in the Stanley Cup Final now, just trying to protect bumps and bruises that they've had," Gehsmann said.

While PROTECT3D products have appeared on some of sports' biggest stages, Gehsmann said seeing a hometown team make a run to the Stanley Cup carries special meaning.

"Our products have been used in the Super Bowl the last couple years and college football championship, but for it to be a hometown team and like a team I've been a fan of, the Hurricanes, seeing them going to the Cup now is just an amazing experience," he said.

Gehsmann joked that as a company serving teams across the country, he is “inherently a fan of anybody that’s wearing the products.” However, he noted one Stanley Cup contender is not currently among the company's customers.

"The Vegas Golden Knights are not customers of ours," he said with a laugh. “Go Canes.”