By Jenifer Nii
Deseret News business writer

       Roland Christensen's companies would seem to have the whole body covered, working as they do on arms and feet.

      But Applied Composite Technology and Christensen Arms are not vitamin or skin care companies. You see, the feet made by the former are prosthetic. And the arms made by the latter are guns.
      Don't bother with the jokes. Christensen has heard them all.
      "Most people don't know the two companies are related," Christensen said, chuckling. "They're usually just interested in guns or feet. There's not much crossover between the two. But I guess it is unique. I'll give you that."
      Both businesses are headquartered in rural Fayette, Sanpete County. They employ 50 people — a significant number, considering the population of Fayette hovers around 250.
      Christensen Arms is a 4-year-old company specializing in graphite-barrelled rifles, including lightweight big game, competition, tactical and sniper rifles.
      Its elder sister, Applied Composite Technology, has been in business for 15 years, founded after the death of a friend.
      "I had a friend who knew an amputee," Christensen said. "My friend was actually my boss, and he was working on an artificial leg. Partway through the project, he died. The company he was working with came to me, because I had a similar background working with these (graphite epoxy) materials, and he asked me to continue with the project."
      The project evolved into a partnership with Flex-Foot, a California-based leader in lower limb prosthetic devices for amputees of all ages and activity levels.
      Christensen is the first to reel off a string of witticisms about his unique product pairing.
      "It's a 'shoot the guy in the foot, and we'll build you another foot' type of thing, I guess."
      But the self-effacing man, a descendant of Martin-Willie Handcart Company pioneers, is quick to emphasize that the two products — guns and prosthetic limbs — actually have a common fundamental base.
      "The materials we use is the common thread. High-strength, low-weight aerospace materials. People wanted artificial legs that are a lot lighter, and people want to carry around guns that are a lot lighter in the field. With the carbon graphite materials we use, they get all the stiffness and strength of steel at about one-fifth or one-sixth the weight."
      Making guns was a way to add depth to his business, Christensen said.
      "We were looking to diversify and get into different types of markets. So if one market went down, we'd have other things to do. We were sitting around the table talking and decided to make these guns.
      "The materials used are exactly the same," he said. "What's different is the configuration and what you get out of it. With a gun, we use a different configuration to make it lighter and stiffer. What it does is reduce vibrations. And, the graphite doesn't change shape when the barrel heats up. This way, the point of impact doesn't change with temperature changes. So, the final product is lighter and more accurate."

      So far, Christensen said business is small but growing. Initial product reviews were promising.
      "Christensen Arms may have come up with the best tactical sniper rifle ever made," wrote Gun World Magazine editor Steve Comus.
      Christensen was first introduced to graphite epoxy while working as a rocket scientist at Hercules Inc. in Magna after the Vietnam War. With that experience, the University of Utah Ph.D. went on to found a series of companies, including Applied Composite Technology.
      "I guess it was just the right timing," Christensen said. "It was a little bit before the slowdown in the military, and we were lucky to be a part of the aerospace industry. It was a matter of luck, and seeing what happened."
      He said he never planned to go into the prosthetics and orthotics business but admits he has enjoyed the ride.
      "It makes me feel a lot better than making rockets. We're very proud of what we do. We're proud because we're helping people.
      "We're going to do about 20,000 feet this year. If you lined all those people up, who will benefit from those feet, that's about eight miles of people."
      ACT partnered with Flex-Foot more than a decade ago. Using Flex-Foot founder Van Phillips' unique "J" design and ACT's materials, the Flex-Foot product stores and returns energy to wearers, allowing them to increase their levels of mobility and activity.
      "These feet are very flexible, yet very strong, returning energy to people so they can run and jump," Christensen said. "Before we got into it, the industry was stuck in old 'Peg Leg Pete' technology — like a piece of wood with a foot attached to the end of it."
      J. Thomas Andrew, a certified prosthetist in Salt Lake City, said he believes the Flex Foot is the "highest performance foot on the market."
      "All of the top athletes wear it," Andrew said. "But Flex Foot offers a lot of different models. They work great for 'regular folk,' too.
      "The advantage of the carbon fiber spring is that you basically have a spring that goes all the way from the residual limb all the way to the toe. It's kind of like a bow and arrow, the way it returns energy to the person wearing it."
      Karen Dinsmore, marketing services manager at Flex-Foot, said 97 percent of track and field medalists at the 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta were wearing Flex-Foot prosthetics.
      "Usually, the people you see in the media — the superstar athletes — are using our product," Dinsmore said.
      However, she said, "It's important to recognize that this product benefits all ages and levels of activity. The people our product benefits the most may be the older population of amputees. The Flex-Foot allows people to wear the prosthetics longer, walk further and (it) requires less energy to use."
      Jack Riddle endured nine surgeries as doctors fought to save his leg, which was crushed in a 1991 ATV-truck accident. Riddle, 45, prides himself — always has — on being an active man. He loved to hunt, hike, ride horse and play on his personal watercraft. He and his wife, Karmal, raise ostriches on their ranch in Sanpete County.
      After a year of fruitless surgeries, doctors amputated Riddle's leg seven inches below the knee.
      "I had been on crutches for the year while they were trying to save the leg," Riddle said. "The quality of my life was pretty poor."
      Riddle visited a prosthetist in St. George, who recommended the Flex-Foot.
      "We kind of took his word and went with the Flex-Foot, but I love it. I can do everything. It has given me total mobility. I can run, jump, hunt, ride horses."
      Last December, Riddle was promoted to the rank of sergeant at the Central Utah Correctional Facility in Gunnison. To qualify, he had to pass a fitness test.
      "They accommodate for age and gender, but make no such accommodations for the physically challenged. So I had to pass it," he said. "I ran a mile and a half with the foot. My fastest time was 13 minutes, 42 seconds.
      "I received an 87 percent overall fitness agility award," Riddle said, his voice thickening with pride. "It wasn't easy. But I did it."