Jessica's iPhone took the mother of all hits. It flew off a moving car at 50mph and them tumbled down the highway and SURVIVED. How? because she had an Arla LaserWorks Wood Phone Case on it. Can you imagine the relief? She was so psyched that she wrote to tell us about it.
“I just want to tell you that the phone case I ordered is so amazing! I accidentally left my phone on top of my car, and as I’m driving 50mph down the highway, it flies off. I see it bouncing across the highway, and by some miracle no one ran over it by the time I got back to it. Anyways, the case is a little scratched up now, but my phone is perfectly fine…Thanks so much for saving my phone!” - Jessica from Louisiana
How amazing is she that she took the time to write and share with us?! We’re so glad she did because it is such a great real-life example of how protective our wood phone cases are.
I want to share with you the WHY behind that now.
A lot of times when people think “protective” or “shock absorbing” they picture a big bulky phone case built like a tank around your phone, or they picture inner linings of some sort of gel. Protection isn't merely about bulk, nor is it about gel (because, friends, not all gels are created equal).
When it comes to protection, what matters is how well the medium reduces and dissipates the energy of the force acting upon it, while remaining in tact.
You might wonder then:
“How protective are wood phone cases?”
Answer? Very!
Let me explain a little bit.
Wood is “viscoelastic” material, meaning that it has a molecular arrangement that has both a resistance to flow, and a “spring back” ability. It is so strong, and so good at shock absorption, that it is the go-to for building earthquake resistance house-frames.
A great, large scale example is one done by the UCSD Jacobs school of engineering. They built a 2-story wooden structure then simulated several back to back earthquakes on it. They were successful because their wooden building did not sustain any significant damage, despite all the shaking. If wood structures can withstand 7.5 earthquakes, it can withstand our daily accidental phone-drops!
As I mentioned before, just as not all “gels” are created equal, neither are all wood types. But we’ve got that base covered, too! Arla LaserWorks phone cases are made with long-grain hard wood, with all the cutting and shaping done in the parallel direction. This is where the wood is strongest.
You’ll notice we offer two options: Cherry wood, and Black wood. As explained in our FAQ, our black wood is thickly coated Maple Wood. The hardness is measured by the Janka Scale. To give you a visual explanation of the Janka Scale, it asks “how many pounds of force would it take to embed an 11.44mm steel ball halfway into a particular wood?”. The higher that number, the stronger the wood.
Our Cherry wood cases at Arla have a Janka rating of 1,150 while our Maple wood has a rating of 1,450. To put that into perspective, Chestnut wood has a rating of 540, and Cedar wood is 900.
When it comes to real-life phone case protection, with unique style and personalization, Arla LaserWorks has got your phone covered!
Shop all our latest wood phone cases here! Now, you can even personalize with your own handwriting. Does a phone case get better than that?!
And when you’re ready to upgrade your phone, return your wood case to us for recycling and receive a coupon code for your next case. Read more about our recycling program HERE.
