Analysis of the Effects of Body Armor and Load-Carrying Equipment on Soldiers' Movements. Part 1. Technique Comparisons

This is one of three reports of a study on the effects of two types of armor vests and two types of fighting loads on soldiers' movements. 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.) The movements were quantified using two measurement techniques. One was the traditional approach of measuring the extent of movement using a meter stick and a gravity goniometer. The other involved use of video and computer based techniques to capture and analyze the movements. This report contains a comparison of the data acquired on the planar movements using the two techniques. It was found that the techniques yielded different values for ranges of motion, with the higher values generally associated with the video based data. However, the results of the techniques were similar with regard to the relative extent to which the various clothing and equipment configurations tested were found to restrict movements. A second report (NATICK/TR-98/003) contains results of the effects of the vest fighting load designs on movements, and a third report (NATICK/TR-98/004) contains findings from the video-based analysis of gait. ADA332749 ADA332750