FAQs

1. Why buy bamboo?

Environmentally friendly and sustainable. Produces more oxygen than a similar sized tree. Ready for harvesting in 3 years. The hotter and drier the weather, the more the bamboo flourishes making bamboo adaptable and requiring little human intervention. Bamboo also prevents soil erosion on river banks and mountain sides.

Bamboo is cheaper than wood and yet has not been fully exploited. With the growing scarcity of wood as forest cover dwindle, bamboo is now being appreciated and applications are now being developed with bamboo and in many cases replacing wood.

Even when exposed to the elements, the native bamboo hut can last for 50 years.

The silica content of bamboo gives it a high heat resistant quality, thus the native bamboo hut, “bahay kubo” remains cool even during the hottest summer days. The high silica content of bamboo also gives it moisture-absorbing abilities. Bamboo has also anti-bacterial qualities.

2. Why buy Philippine bamboo?

Bamboo is stronger than wood. Philippine ‘tinik’ bamboo (Bambusa blumeana) is stronger than commercially available “moso” bamboo (Phyllostachys Pubescens). Strand for strand, “tinik” is 100% stronger than “moso”

As a sympodial type of bamboo (grows in clumps rather than in single stands) ”tinik” is more amenable to manual-harvesting and thus makes it more expensive than monopodial bamboo types such as ‘moso’. ‘Tinik’ bamboo compensates its high price for its durability and tensile strength and is thus competitive with “moso” bamboo. The harvesting technique for “tinik” employs a larger workforce and thus can support whole communities.

“Tinik” has one of the highest silica content of all bamboos exceeded only by the ‘buho’ (Schizostachyum lumampao) variety. “Buho” has limited commercial applications due to its thin walls and its brittleness. “Tinik” is less susceptible to insect infestation compared to other bamboo types. “Tinik” has a higher silica content than “Moso”. “Tinik” is available throughout the Philippines and in most Southeast Asian countries. Differences in weather and soil conditions produce different qualities of “tinik” bamboo. (Tinik means thorns as the grass is characterized by thorny outgrowths which indicates its long ecological use by man and other animal species)

In recent years, due to competitive pressures from China’s “moso” bamboo, the bamboo industry in the Philippines has withered. Noypi Nation seeks to revive the bamboo industry by exploring and highlighting the distinctive features of “tinik” bamboo.

3. Why buy bamboo products from Noypi Nation?

The wrought bamboo technology developed by Noypi Nation is best applied with “tinik” bamboo due to its strength, pliability and rigidity. The long fibers of bamboo give it better bending qualities than wood. Bamboo is aesthetically pleasing and has a distinct natural smooth texture that Noypi

Nation seeks to preserve and utilize. Unlike other bamboo processing techniques, wrought bamboo preserves the skin as the skin is the strongest part of the bamboo next to the nodes.
The heating process that is applied to wrought bamboo ensures that insect infestation is eliminated.

Noypi Nation also highlights Filipino ingenuity and sensibilities in art and design. Filipino designs have been recognized worldwide. Filipino designers and artisans have created a niche of their own and can compete with the world’s best.

Noypi Nation seeks to ensure that the bamboo products it makes are durable and sturdy. Noypi Nation seeks to explore new and practical applications for bamboo.

Noypi Nation believes in the dictum, “Small is beautiful”. Small production runs alloAs a start-up, ws Noypi Nation to be responsive to market trends and client requirements.