When I see a bear on the back roads, there are musings of him.
It is not often you come across someone who has an award-winning movie made of his efforts or had an animated sitcom – The Simpsons episode – inspired by his bear suit. And someone who has lectured at Harvard after receiving an international scientific award.
To this day, Troy Hurtubise remains a complicated person. You have to sort out the facts and the fiction.
This New Year marks the 30th anniversary of a National Film Board (NFB) documentary, Project Grizzly, that helped create a northern Ontario legend.
In part, a folk hero, or a cult figure, is a public personality who continues to achieve renown from a fanbase, even without widespread mainstream fame. This is often due to unique personalities, memorable moments, or defying expectations, becoming affectionately known within a group of fans.
Troy Hurtubise fits the bill. Recent history identifies him as the “bear suit guy,” the “bear man,” and simply “RoboCop” from the 1987 movie. He is also known as Canada's Don Quixote (acting in a chivalrous but impractical way, guided by lofty ideals rather than reality).
And his unique status lives on. He is a Canadian version, of sorts, of the motorcyclist showman Evel Knievel at a different scale.
In part one of two stories, we find out about the intricacies of Troy Hurtubise and his life.
His persona
Hurtubise was a North Bay inventor who, after a near-fatal encounter with a grizzly bear in 1984, became obsessed with creating protective armour. The award-winning Genie documentary showcases his bizarre and often hilarious testing methods, which included being hit by a pickup truck, having logs and rocks thrown at him, and being whacked with baseball bats by bike gang members. And a lot more.
Many of his inventions were never realized, even after they consumed hundreds of thousands of dollars and much of his adult life. Project Grizzly, Peter Lynch’s classic Canadian documentary from 1996, sustains his notoriety.
Hurtubise’s exploits were recognized by filmmaker Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained- Academy Awards). He was a known fan of the classic documentary telling the story of Hurtubise’s quest to test his homemade bear-proof suit. At the time, Tarantino called the film "fantastic" and named it one of his top ten films. The documentary chronicles Hurtubise's eccentric mission to build an armoured suit (the "Ursus Mark VI") capable of withstanding a grizzly bear attack. The acclaimed director's praise for the film helped elevate its status to a cult classic in the United States and internationally.
Troy was a reported favourite at the 1996 Toronto International Film Festival, gaining favour with actor Val Kilmer and Canadian film producing mogul Norman Jewison. David Carradine hugged him in warm recognition.
There was also a The Simpsons parody. The 2003 (Season 15, Episode 5) show, The Fat and the Furriest, features Homer Simpson building a similar Hurtubise-inspired, bear-proof suit called the BearBuster 5000. In this episode, Homer is humiliated after he is attacked by a bear, so he tries to regain his dignity. See what Troy says about this at the time (Nov. 2003) on this social media account.
If you are a gamer, you will know this cross-reference. The Halo armour Trojan refers to the Trojan Ballistics Suit of Armour, a real-life, full-body exoskeleton created by Troy and inspired by the MJOLNIR armour from the Halo video game series, designed for military use to protect soldiers from ballistic threats.
Fame
He appeared on various talk shows and programs like Roseanne Barr’s, Ripley's Believe It or Not!, the Discovery Channel, and Penn & Teller's show. David Letterman wanted to drive out of a New York alley in a limo and crash into Hurtubise in his armour, but Hurtubise declined. He was recognized in the 2002 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records for the most expensive research suit ever constructed.
Troy also lectured at the prestigious Harvard University. For his innovative approach to safety engineering, he received the Ig Nobel Prize in 1998, awarded by the Annals of Improbable Research. The prize is a satirical prize or spoof awarded annually to promote public engagement with scientific research. It aims to "honour achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think." The name of the award is a pun on the Nobel Prize, which it parodies. Most awards are for genuine scientific achievements with an unorthodox, obvious or humorous slant, while other awards are given ironically.
The suit's development was cited for its many prototypes, incorporating materials like chain mail, Kevlar, and rubber. Fast forward, it was ultimately tested against a caged Kodiak bear in 2001, touted to withstand bites and slashes without penetrating the armour.
At the time, Troy said, "This is the pinnacle of what I have been doing; it shows that I am being taken seriously to some degree and am not just a nutcase who is putting all his money in a grizzly suit," he told a North Bay Nugget reporter Phil Novak.
The lead of the story went like this.
“Troy Hurtubise looked so scary in his Ursus Mark VI suit that a 585-kilogram Kodiak took 10 minutes to approach him, while a 157-kg grizzly didn't want to, period. (The suit had many features, including a solar-powered air system, recording device, compartments for emergency morphine and salt, and a knife and gun holster.)
“Hurtubise, the North Bay inventor and star of Project Grizzly, climbed into his virtually indestructible body shell this weekend - exactly where it was kept secret to keep the media at bay - because he wanted to test the suit against a real, live bear.
“But things turned out differently than expected, with the Kodiak, owned by an American animal trainer, avoiding Hurtubise…”
It was the closest he would come to a Grizzly bear encounter with his suits. Never in the wild.
All the while, as years went by, during and post bear suit prototypes, Troy was relentless in tinkering. There were other inventions.
Hurtubise invented a range of unconventional devices from his garage workshop. The exoskeleton was designed with impenetrable material (which he called a Superman suit). He spent two years and about $150,000 developing the Trojan suit. When worn, the Trojan provided 97% coverage of the body and claimed 95 per cent flexibility. The suit also weighed 50 lbs maximum. He said that it could be suited to a soldier for CA$2000 if it were mass-produced.
Then there was also a device capable of seeing through walls. It was called Angel Light. Then, a biodegradable fire suppressant (Firepaste). There was a BayToday article on Oct. 4, 2003.
The lead went like this: “Troy Hurtubise says he doesn’t feel the heat, even with a 2000° C blowtorch flame blazing at his head.
“The North Bay inventor has developed a physics-defying substance called fire paste, which he claims eliminates the cross-transfer of heat and prevents anything coated in the substance from burning up
“Not only does the paste stop heat from getting through, it cools to the touch within 20 seconds of the fire source being removed… It will save the insurance industry billions,” Hurtubise said…
“He adds that fire paste can handle such high temperatures, that had the steel skeleton holding up the World Trade Towers been sprayed with it, the buildings wouldn’t have imploded after being hit by two airliners on Sept. 11.”
There was also a ray gun to grow hair and crops (“R-light”). He said the rainforest would no longer be cut down.
And there was a machine to harvest a chunk of dark matter (“Pandora’s Box”).
There was also an innovative concussion-proof prototype hockey helmet he called the G-Dome. In a New York Daily News story on April 25, 1999, he said, “I admit the G-Dome is ugly as hell, but it would be a mild headache . . . It’s like cough medicine, it may taste terrible, but it works.”
Hurtubise has also invented a skate shield, a shin pad called “The Gladiator,” that skate blades could not cut through and a body suit called “Air Johns” that mimics the long johns that hockey players wear under their equipment. Hurtubise said the Air Johns weigh only four pounds but are loaded with protection.
He had good ideas.
But none of the claims offered independent or credible corroboration. And there were no takers.
He eventually ran out of funds, facing the prospect of working a minimum-wage jobs. His possessions, including wedding rings. were sold. One of the three remaining bear suits wound up for sale at a local pawn shop. And you can still use one of the models today, to be referenced in Part Two.
His beginnings
Troy James Hurtubise (pronounced HER-tah-bees) was born in Scarborough, Ont., on Nov. 23, 1963, and spent his early childhood in Hamilton. On one of the front covers of his bear suits books, he only uses the name Troy James.
There is the story of indicating his life’s path during childhood when he nearly burned down his home by creating a science fair type of mini “volcano” in his bedroom using gasoline and water.
From various sources, his father was either an anthropologist, an English teacher or an archaeologist. According to Troy, his father singlehandedly built a recreated Haudenosaunee longhouse village, in elm and cedar called Ska-Nah-Doht, about 27 kilometres west of London at Mt. Brydges. It is still in use as a museum today. But when you go to the heritage site’s website, there is no mention of this.
This is an example of the inconsistency when you view stories or audio clips from Troy’s past.
Hurtubise left high school after grade 9, later pursuing formal education in a conservation program at Sir Sandford Fleming College in Lindsay. While attending, he developed the first Ursus Mark I bear suit. He said he took courses but never mentioned graduation.
This hands-on training equipped him with outdoor skills and an interest in bear research.
His early career centred on manual labour and outdoor activities in wilderness areas, such as panning for gold in British Columbia's Cariboo region at age 20. It was here at the age of 20, when he unexpectedly encountered a large male grizzly bear that he later referred to as "the Old Man” throughout the documentary movie.
Troy explains this within the Project Grizzly film. “The bear charged at me without warning, knocking me to the ground with a powerful blow to the chest. I drew two hunting knives and shouted at it, staring it down in a moment of intense confrontation.” After a tense pause, the grizzly retreated into the surrounding forest without further aggression. He sustained no serious physical injuries from the brief clash, though the close call left him shaken and with new resolve.
This new mauling encounter greatly impacted Hurtubise psychologically, instilling a deep-seated fear mixed with fascination toward grizzly bears. This enabled an immediate resolve to better understand and protect against their power. He began researching bear behaviour more intensively while developing preliminary concepts for protective equipment that would allow safe, close-range observation—ideas that would evolve into his lifelong pursuit of bear-resistant armour.
Inventing
Following his 1984 encounter, he intently began developing the Ursus Mark series of protective suits, driven by a desire to safely observe the animals up close. The project evolved over a decade, with each version incorporating lessons from prior failures to enhance durability, mobility, and resistance to bear attacks.
He was on his way to test a new bear repellent spray (before current commercial versions) in the backcountry of B.C., relying on his martial arts training for protection, backed by snipers with rubber bullets, but also wearing an early version of the Ursus Mark series of grizzly suits.
The provincial government objected. In 1988, JHC Walker, director of the Wildlife Branch of the British Columbia Ministry of Environment and Parks, wrote to Hurtubise, saying he had read a newspaper story about "your plans to deliberately place yourself in a position to be mauled by a grizzly bear.
“It is not our intention to allow this to occur,” he stated. “Your reliance on martial arts training is more appropriate to the streets of Vancouver than the wilds of Northern B.C.”
He was becoming a media magnet. Videos of his exploits went on to become viral hits on YouTube.
The Ursus Mark I, constructed primarily from hockey gear layered with chain mail, proved unwieldy and required assistance from two people to wear, limiting its practicality. Subsequent iterations, such as Mark II through IV, introduced fireproof rubber, titanium plates, and chain mail reinforcements to address vulnerabilities like punctures and impacts, though early models still suffered from excessive weight and restricted movement. He named each of his homemade prototypes with Roman numerals, like a luxury car or a space vehicle.
After continuous testing, including visits hiding within the layered refuse, at the Mattawa landfill site, with black bears - where they all ran away, the models progressed to advanced composites by the mid-1990s, resulting in the Ursus Mark VI seen in the movie. This six-minute video is a good portrayal of Troy and highlights his innovative thinking and the extremely interesting testing pursuits which made him a legend.
The Mark IV, weighing 147 pounds (67 kg), incorporated chain mail, galvanized steel, titanium, high-tech plastics, and liquid rubber, along with features like an onboard camera and airbag system, and was recognized by Guinness World Records as the most expensive animal-protection suit at a cost of $150,000 USD.
By Mark VI in 1995, the suit weighed 150 pounds (68 kg) and integrated titanium, high-tech plastics, liquid rubber, air cushioning systems, and over 2,000 meters of duct tape for added integrity, transforming Hurtubise into a bulky, robotic figure. Troy always cited the 1987 RoboCop movie for his initial inspiration.
In the early 90s, he was a North Bay scrap metal dealer with a steady income, but inventing and the series of bear suits went from avocation to vocation. It becomes the storyline of fame and some fortune, leading to an untimely, tragic death.
One of his autobiographical books, Bear Man: The Troy Hurtubise Saga (2011), is a rambling chronological series of events with self-edifying conclusions. But then on page 179/180, Troy talks about his internal difficulties, the state of his mental health.
“Others, however, have, (sic) on occasion, tried in vain to put thought-out reason to my conundrum. Its (sic) Santa Claus (sic) and the goddamned tooth fairy teaming up to thwart me. I guess I didn’t brush my teeth enough…No more so than the learned who would suggest that my path with God is not in balance. A dark force is at war against me. More sane individuals have suggested the lack of an agent as being the root cause of my failure. I have an agent. He’s an idiot. Others still point to my not having the business minds and money behind my innovations. I’ve tried, Stupid! Trump ain't (sic) available, so I’m stuck treading water without a lifejacket with the #$%&* morons. More, you ask? Surely ye jest-my head hurts…”
The book is almost impossible to find; I read Troy’s son, Brett’s cherished copy. You really have to watch and listen to Troy and read his books to understand.
There is endless stuff about Troy. I went down the rabbit hole – so interesting – fan or fascinating? I was hooked.
Putting these two stories together is difficult, as there is a plethora of conflicting details/truths to sort through. And it is because of Troy’s complex personality. Where is the truth?
Who would really know and would understand. Two people.
To prepare yourself for Part Two next week and to better understand the bear suit guy, the 72-minute NFB documentary film is a must-see.
Within the film, he says, “If you can leave something behind in life… you know?” “You always want to leave something behind.” That was important to Troy.
There is more to come when sorting out fact and fiction of the “behind,” on the back roads.
