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Troy Hurtubise

Canadian pseudoscientist

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 5, 2026
Entity authorityQ7846859 ↗
Source-derived summary

Troy James Hurtubise (November 23, 1963 – June 17, 2018) was a Canadian inventor, entrepreneur and conservationist, noted for creating the Ursus series of bear suits which showed the Ursus Mark VI in the 1996 film Project Grizzly directed by Peter Lynch for the National Film Board of Canada.

Hurtubise starred in the 1996 film Project Grizzly documenting his development of a series of protective suits that would allow for close-quarters bear research as well as testing of deterrent bear sprays. For his suit invention, he was awarded the satirical Ig Nobel Prize for Safety Engineering in 1998.

He also developed the Trojan Ballistics Suit of Armor, an exoskeleton suit intended for soldiers.

Personal life

Born in Hamilton, Ontario, he moved to North Bay and later died in a vehicle collision west of there on June 17, 2018.

Inventions

Ursus suit

Hurtubise built a metal suit for protection from grizzly bears; recorded as a National Film Board of Canada documentary and called Project Grizzly, in which Hurtubise tested the capabilities of the suit using himself as the test subject. Hurtubise discovered that bears wouldn't attack the suit. This resulted in his Ig Nobel Prize for Safety Engineering in 1998. The documentary focuses on version six of the suit ("Ursa Mark VI"), and also includes clips of the previous versions being tested.

Firepaste

Firepaste (see also Starlite) is an intumescent white paste that, when dry, is flame and heat resistant.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Troy Hurtubise” as canadian pseudoscientist. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Troy, Hurtubise and Canadian.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1963, 2018, 1996, 1998—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1963-11-23. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Troy, Hurtubise and Canadian providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Troy Hurtubise”, the useful work is to connect “canadian pseudoscientist” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7846859. VIAF identifies the subject as 106151619. The Library of Congress control number is no2018147960. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1963, 2018, 1996 and 1998.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Troy Hurtubise” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.