• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
The Loadout Room

The Loadout Room

Professional Gear Reviews

Hardcore Gear and Adventure

Menu
  • Shooting
        • Pistol
        • Pistol Accessories
        • Rifle
        • Rifle Accessories
        • Shotgun
        • Machine Guns
        • Air Guns
        • Ammunition
        • Optics and Sights
        • Weapon Lights
        • Tips & How-To
        • Concealed Carry
        • Holsters
        • Suppressors
        • Precision Rifle Shooting
        • Firearms Training
        • m243The M24: America’s Headhunter
        • skorpFull-Auto Fun — Shooting the full-Auto vz. 61 Škorpion
        • p320-full-leftSIG Sauer M17/M18/P320 Pistol Just Can’t Seem to Escape Safety Controversies
        • TISAS_10100520_1__98179Tisas 1911A1 U.S. Army Review: Best Budget .45 ACP WW2 1911 Clone?
    • Close
  • Gear Reviews
      • Mission Gear
      • Camping Gear
      • Survival Gear
      • Medical Gear
      • Adventure & Travel
      • Knives & Tools
      • Overland
      • Disaster Preparedness
      • Footwear
      • Womens Gear & Clothing
        • Viking-Bags Logo 2Pic of the Day, Viking Motorcycle Bags 45L Tactical XL Bag
        • Hunting in TexasThese 5 ATV Dealers Will Get You Ready For Hunting Season in Texas
        • ac65a540-2ef3-4598-8d11-afdf53f46e94.__CR0,0,970,600_PT0_SX970_V1___Streamlight ProTac Rail Mount HL-X: A Thoroughly Bright Review
        • Bluetti 2 handsfree power backpackBluetti Handsfree 2 Review: The Ultimate Power Backpack for Off-Grid Adventurers
    • Close
  • Men’s Lifestyle
      • Fitness
      • EDC
      • Eyewear
      • Watches
      • Electronics & Technology
      • Downtime
      • Mens Clothing & Accessories
      • Manly Skills
      • Style & Grooming
      • Gentleman Drinks
      • Crate Club
        • Viking-Bags Logo 2Pic of the Day, Viking Motorcycle Bags 45L Tactical XL Bag
        • Tom and Blake Sell TeaHow Sasquatch Tea Is Revitalizing a Stagnant Tea Market With Veterans and Outdoorsmen in Mind
        • redcat-blackwidow-articleheaderWar of Words: In the Ultra-Competitive Defense Tech Industry, Storytelling is a Secret Weapon
        • Photoroom_20250525_074933Juggernaut Tactical Frame Review: The Best Upgrade for Your 365
    • Close
  • News
  • Video Demo
  • Buying Guides
  • Shop
  • Advertise
Men's Lifestyle

For a hundred grand you can wear this exo-suit to run errands

May 27, 2019 by Alex Hollings Leave a Comment

The benefits of robotic exoskeleton technology are easy to imagine. Increased strength and endurance, the ability to carry heavier armor plating for protection, and as Ripley pointed out in the sci-fi classic “Aliens,” there’s no better way to take on extraterrestrial hive queens. The Department of Defense has been investing money into the TALOS “Iron Man” suit since 2013, but thus far, there’s no indication that the technology has matured enough to see any reasonable use in a combat environment any time soon.

Of course, that doesn’t mean there are no less than reasonable uses for exo-suit technology available today.

Enter the Skeletonics line of exoskeletons, purpose-built for the type of guy that wants to look the part of an alien hunting space marine, despite not actually being able to do most of the things you might expect at first glance. Think of it as the robotic equivalent of an Airsoft gun: the Skeletonics exo-suits look and feel like an intimidating piece of combat hardware… but would never work in a real fight.

Skeletonics Unit 01

The suit is entirely analog, meaning it doesn’t actually provide the wearer with any increase in strength or capability. Nonetheless, the Skeletonics suits do represent some impressive engineering. At around 88 pounds, these platforms are designed to be moved and powered by the human body — and they manage to do so with an impressive degree of specificity.

“I’m frequently told that it looks fantastic, but then have to explain that it doesn’t really do anything, which ends up confusing a lot of people,” creator Reyes Tatsuru Shiroku told The Japan Times. “We didn’t think about creating anything useful. That’s probably why we were able to develop a unique thing.”

What the Skeletonics suits offer, if not any practicality, could best be compared to a marionette controlled by the wearer, or maybe as an expensive bit of cosplay. How expensive? Very. If you want to burn your own calories moving one of these nine-foot-tall robo-monsters around your high school reunion, it’ll run you a cool $93,000.

And you’ll have to pay extra to hire the cosplay models Skeletonics often uses to make their contraption (and its user) look cool in pictures.

Sarcasm aside, the Skeletonics suit may not represent the future of exoskeleton technology, but it does serve as a strong indicator of where commercial technology will likely be heading in the decades to come. Other firms, like South Korea’s Hankook Mirae Technology, recently unveiled the Method 2 — a 13-foot tall fully functional bipedal robot designed to carry a human pilot in its body. Megabots recently broadcast the first ever battle between fully functional 12-ton manned robots as well… though the show proved them to be clumsy, slow-paced and disappointing. Limited as the technology may be for now, there’s no denying the trend: exoskeleton technology is advancing, and there’s a chance we’ll see it in the private sector before the military can begin fielding their own.

Sort of like watching a traffic accident between farm equipment. (Megabots)

While it may seem silly to spend the same on a non-robotic robot suit as many who live in rural areas spend on their homes, chances are good that Skeletonics will find buyers — just as Megabots found an audience and the Method 2 will likely one day make it onto construction sites. The fact of the matter is, these silly looking, sometimes stumbling first steps are often exactly what the technology of tomorrow looks like before it reaches maturity.

You never know, the future of warfighting could look something like this:

 

Feature image courtesy of Skeletonics

Share This

About the Author

Alex Hollings Alex Hollings writes on a breadth of subjects ranging from fitness to foreign policy, all presented through the lens of his experiences as a U.S. Marine, athlete and scholar. A football player, rugby player and fighter, Hollings has spent the better part of his adult life competing in some of the most physically demanding sports on the planet. Hollings possesses a master's degree in communications from Southern New Hampshire University, as well as a bachelor's degree in Corporate and Organizational Communications from Framingham State University.

See All Alex Hollings Articles

More From The Loadout Room

Comments

Primary Sidebar

Most Read

  • The Biggest Little Roundgun: The 3-Inch Kimber K6s
    The Biggest Little Roundgun: The 3-Inch Kimber K6s
  • My First Single-Action Revolver Purchase: Heritage Rough Rider .22 LR/.22 WMR Range Report
    My First Single-Action Revolver Purchase: Heritage Rough Rider .22 LR/.22 WMR Range Report
  • Breek Arms Sledgehammer: The AR-15 Charging Handle That Gas Can’t Touch
    Breek Arms Sledgehammer: The AR-15 Charging Handle That Gas Can’t Touch
  • Bluetti Handsfree 2 Review: The Ultimate Power Backpack for Off-Grid Adventurers
    Bluetti Handsfree 2 Review: The Ultimate Power Backpack for Off-Grid Adventurers
  • Pyramyd AIR’s Springfield Hellcat Pro CO2 BB Pistol Is the Ultimate Dry-Fire Trainer
    Pyramyd AIR’s Springfield Hellcat Pro CO2 BB Pistol Is the Ultimate Dry-Fire Trainer

Find Us on Facebook

Recent Comments

  • Stepvenlau on Full-Auto Fun — Shooting the full-Auto vz. 61 Škorpion
  • Stepvenlau on Honoring John Taffin and Mike “Duke” Venturino with Some Big-Bore Magnum Revolver Blastin’
  • Military Update on M4A1 Block I: The Special Operations Origins of an American Icon

Latest From SOFREP

Firearms

Why My Favorite Gun Wasn’t a Sniper Rifle — It Was a Belt-Fed Beast That Made Grown Men Cry

News

Morning Brief: China Travel Crackdown, Russia Not Impressed with Trump’s Submarine Moves

Op-Ed

The Bolduc Brief: Navigating Future Leadership Appointments

Expert Analysis

The VA’s Chemical Straitjacket: How Polypharmacy Is Drugging Veterans into Silence and Suicide

Military Content Group

© Copyright 2025 Military Content Group · All Rights Reserved.

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Advertisers
 

Loading Comments...