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Evaluation of Canadian Armed Forces cold weather clothing with supplemental Indigenous clothing

From National Research Council Canada

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DOIResolve DOI: https://doi.org/10.4224/40003428
AuthorSearch for: 1; Search for: 2ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4124-2412; Search for: 1
Affiliation
  1. National Research Council of Canada. Ocean, Coastal and River Engineering
  2. National Research Council of Canada. Executive Offices
FormatText, Technical Report
Editionrevision 1.4
Physical description47 pages
Subjectthermal manikin; Arctic; Indigenous; Canadian Armed Forces; cold weather clothing
Abstract
Canadian Armed Forces personnel routinely operate in the harsh environments of the Northern Arctic, where they are exposed to freezing temperatures that could possibly result in injury or death. Canadian Armed Forces personnel often wear specialized clothing with high thermal insulation to help protect them against extremely low temperatures that can occur during the winter months. Improving the methods of protecting personnel in the Arctic would help to increase their safety and improve their performance. Canada’s Northern residents have lived and operated in the Arctic for hundreds of years, and have developed clothing to help protect them from these harsh environments. Defence Research Development Canada has requested that the National Research Council of Canada assist in investigating how the addition of Indigenous-made garments can change the amount of thermal insulation in typical clothing ensembles worn by Canadian Armed Forces personnel. Clothing ensembles that are worn by different branches of the Canadian military, along with a variety of Indigenous-made garments, were tested using a thermal manikin. The standardized total insulation value for each ensemble was calculated, along with the clo values for the hand, foot, head, and neck garments. Ensembles that incorporated Indigenous-made garments had higher standardized total insulation values compared to the base ones that did not use them. Indigenous -made hand garments had a higher clo value compared to those used in the base ensembles. When using Indigenous-made head and neck garments, ensembles had a slightly higher amount of thermal insulation compared to those that did not use them. There were negligible differences between the Indigenous made socks compared to those used in the base ensembles. While it may not be feasible to replace larger garments such as parkas for general military use, the inclusion of smaller Indigenous-made garments such as mittens or neck warmers may offer increased protection for personnel in the harsh environments of the Canadian Arctic.
Publication date
PublisherNational Research Council of Canada
Copyright statement
  • © Sa Majesté la Reine du chef du Canada, représentée par le Conseil national de la recherche du Canada 2022
Series
  • Technical Report (National Research Council of Canada. Ocean, Coastal and River Engineering), no. NRC-OCRE-2022-TR-013 (10 July 2022).
LanguageEnglish
Peer reviewedNo
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Record identifier4cdab027-371e-4785-ba69-18ff5d8f3812
Record created2024-10-31
Record modified2024-11-04
Date modified: