The effects of mass, bulk and stiffness of personal protective equipment and clothing on physical performance when performing a military mobility obstacle course.

Background: Soldiers are required to conduct tasks and operations in physically demanding situations, where the ability to move (mobility) quickly is important to lethality and survivability. This study employed a specially designed suit to try to isolate the main mass property characteristics of personal protective clothing/equipment (PPCE) including mass, bulk and stiffness as much as possible and evaluated their effects on soldier performance across operationally-relevant mobility tasks.

Method: Eight male military subjects performed the load effects assessment program (LEAP) obstacle course while wearing 7 different configurations of specifically designed suit: unencumbered (control), 10 kg mass, 30 kg mass, 20 L bulk, medium stiffness, high stiffness and a mixed configuration consisting of 10 kg mass, 20 L bulk and medium stiffness.