Composites are found in products used for 7 of the 10 most popular outdoor sports and recreational activities. Glass-reinforced and carbon-reinforced composites (alone or in hybrids with other fibers) continue to replace wood and metal in fishing rods, tennis racquets, spars/shafts for kayak paddles, windsurfing masts, hockey sticks, kites and bicycle handlebars, as well as in niche applications, such as fairings for recumbent bikes. Worldwide, sporting goods consume at least 11 million lb (4,990 metric tonnes) of carbon fiber annually, according to one carbon fiber producer, and the total value of carbon fiber components in sporting goods is more than $1 billion (USD), based on a 2006 estimate. Another source pegs carbon composite usage in sporting goods at a 21 percent growth rate, with the industry making up 22 percent of total worldwide carbon fiber shipments in 2008 (see “Learn More").

Many sporting goods manufacturers capitalize on the cosmetic aspects of advanced fibers. One is Nike Bauer Hockey, which has produced ice hockey equipment since 1927. It uses a new fabric product from Oxeon AB (Boras, Sweden) called TeXtreme, which is woven from spread tow bundles to form a wide checkerboard textile of very low areal weight. In addition to low weight and good drapability, as well as sharp appearance, the material behaves like cross-ply uni tapes, yielding better performance than a traditional woven fabric.