BODY ARMOR IN A HOT HUMID ENVIRONMENT. PART 2. STUDIES IN HEAT ACCLIMATIZED MEN

Abstract

The standard issue Marine Corps personnel body armor vest (M1955) was tested for its effect on men working under hot humid conditions approximating those seen in Southeast Asia. This vest is largely impervious to the passage of water vapor and thereby impedes evaporative cooling over the chest. Body armor produces a pronounced effect reflected by an increase in rectal temperature in the subjects when they are wearing the armor. This effect is restricted to a range of environment bracketed by 82 to 88F WBGT (approximately). Below this level, heat loss from areas other than the chest is sufficient to dissipate body heat effectively. Above this range, the stress of the environment is so great and the evaporation of sweat is so inefficient that wearing body armor makes little difference. The effect of wearing armor in this range (82-88F) is equivalent to a 5F increase in the WBGT for unarmored men. The experiment was designed to eliminate the weight of the armor as a source of difference.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1969
Accession Number
AD0682689

Entities

People

  • B. D. Litt
  • Ralph F. Goldman
  • William E. Yarger

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acclimatization
  • Analysis Of Variance
  • Base Lines
  • Body Armor
  • Body Temperature
  • Covariance
  • Data Science
  • Information Science
  • Marine Corps
  • Marine Corps Personnel
  • Measurement
  • Multivariate Analysis
  • Navy
  • North Carolina
  • Production Rate
  • Standards
  • Statistics

Readers

  • Exercise and Sports Science.