Analysis of the Effects of Body Armor and Load-Carrying Equipment on Soldiers'Movements. Part 2. Armor Vest and Load-Carrying Equipment Assessment

摘要

This is one of three reports of a study on the effects of the Personnel ArmorSystem for Ground Troops (PASGT) vest and a prototype armor vest and two types of fighting loads on soldiers' movements. The fighting loads were the All-Purpose Lightweight Individual Carrying Equipment (ALICE) and the tactical load-bearing vest. Twelve male soldiers performed seven planar movements and a walking task while wearing the vests and fighting loads with either a T-shirt and shorts or the Temperate Battledress Uniform (BDU). Two measurement methods were applied to quantify the extent of the movements, one of which was a video and computer based technique. This report contains results of the effects of the vest and fighting load designs on the planar movements, as quantified using the video technique. It was found that the prototype vest imposed less restriction on movement than the PASGT vest did. Range of motion with the tactical load bering vest was also equal to or better than that with the ALICE. A second report (NATICK/TR-98/002) contains comparisons of the data acquired on the planar movements using the two measurement techniques, and a third report (NATICK/TR-98/004) contains findings from the video-based analysis of gait.