Abstract
This study was designed to develop air force mechanic parka, evaluate it, and ultimately provide functionally superior parka to the air force. The development process was 1) conducting a survey, 2) identifying problems and shortcomings of currently-supplied parkas, and 3) improving the design, pattern and materials. The newly-developed parkas were evaluated in terms of their ease of fit, clothing mobility, and insulation. Ease of fit was evaluated by subjects' sensory tests, and clothing mobility was by fitness-for-motion tests and range-of-motion tests using a Goniometer. Evaluation on insulation was conducted by thermal manikins. Findings of this study were as follows: 1. In the subjective evaluation on clothing mobility, new parkas were considered to have sufficient ease of fit while previous ones scored much lower, confirming the improvement of the new version. 2. Both subjective tests and ROM measurements on fitness for motion verified the superiority of the new parkas. 3. Insulation tests found that although insulation capability of newly-developed parkas was at a similar level to those of the previous ones, their insulation capability per unit weight was superior, demonstrating that new parkas were better at blocking heat conduction. When making changes in parka patterns and designs to enhance the mobility, it was necessary to maintain the insulation function. The new parkas developed by this study was verified to be superior to the previous ones in their insulation and clothing mobility.
