Clothing and individual equipment for the female soldier: developing a framework to improve the evidence base which informs future design and evaluation.

The development of inclusive equipment and clothing is a priority across national defence departments that are part of The Technical Cooperation Programme. As such, a collaborative effort has been established to inform the development of clothing and equipment for women. This invited review provides an overview of an ongoing collaborative project presented at the sixth International Congress on Soldiers Physical Performance.

Clothing and Equipment Fit Among Male and Female Canadian Armed Forces Members.

Introduction: The fit of military clothing and equipment is essential for the health and safety of military operators. Given the aim of increasing the proportion of women and the known biological and morphological differences between male and female soldiers, an understanding of fit across different items of kit is needed. The aim of this study was to quantify subjective fit ratings of 8 items of military clothing and equipment, including combat shirt, combat pants, rucksack, small pack, tactical vest, fragmentation vest, helmet, and ballistic eyewear as a function of relative stature and occupational group among male and female Canadian Armed Forces members.

A data-driven framework for assessing soldier performance, health, and survivability.

Presented is a framework that uses pattern classification methods to incrementally morph whole-body movement patterns to investigate how personal (sex, military experience, and body mass) and load characteristics affect the survivability tradespace: performance, musculoskeletal health, and susceptibility to enemy action. Sixteen civilians and 12 soldiers performed eight military-based movement patterns under three body-borne loads: ∼5.5 kg, ∼22 kg, and ∼38 kg.

Defining the lumbar and trunk-thigh neutral zone from the passive stiffness curve: application to hybrid sit-stand postures and chair design.

Minimal data exist on the neutral position for the lumbar spine, trunk, and thighs when adopting a hybrid posture. This study examined sex differences in the neutral zone lumbar stiffness and the lumbar and trunk-thigh angle boundaries of the neutral zone, and determined if the standing lumbar angle fell within the neutral zone. Passive lumbar flexion and extension moment-angle curves were generated for 31 participants (13 M, 18 F), pooled from two datasets, with trunk-thigh angles available for 10 participants.

A Pilot Investigation of the Influence of a Passive Military Exoskeleton on the Performance of Lab-Simulated Operational Tasks.

OCCUPATIONAL APPLICATIONSMilitary load carriage increases musculoskeletal injury risk and reduces performance, but is essential for operational effectiveness. Exoskeletons may play a role in reducing soldier burden. We found that wearing a customized passive exoskeleton during a military obstacle course decreased overall performance compared to a mass-matched control condition.