Biomechanical Analyses of Body Movement and Locomotion as Affected by Clothing and Footwear for Cold Weather Climates

A study of Army cold weather clothing was conducted to determine effects on soldiers' movements and walking gait of adding layers of clothing to the body. Performance in a temperate duty uniform was also compared with performance in cold weather clothing, and differences in walking gait associated with regular combat boots and with cold weather foot gear were investigated. Study participants, 13 Army enlisted men, were each testing in seven clothing conditions. A video-based motion analysis system and a force plate were used to capture the maximum range of motion in various planes of the body and gait kinematics and kinetics. A total of 104 dependent variables were measured directly or derived. Analyses of variance revealed that adding clothing layers interfered with bending at the waist and moving the upper arm at the shoulder. Compared with the temperate duty uniform, cold weather clothing changed walking patterns; participants leaned further forward and moved the arms less at the shoulders with the multilayered clothing. The cold weather boots also interfered with leg swing, compared with regular combat boots. A principal components analysis yielded factors suggesting simple and complex metrics sensitive to effects of protective clothing on gait characteristics.