Arm Armor System Performance Study: Net Effect (Perceptual Response) Analysis

This study compares the net effect of wearing different shoulder/arm armor systems on garment impediment perception and wearer acceptability. Two independent variables in this study were armor systems and shoulder/ arm movements. There were four armor systems of control garment and arm armor systems A, B, and C as well as five types of arm/shoulder movements, (shoulder flexion, should extension, shoulder abduction, shoulder horizontal flexion, and shoulder horizontal extension). Ten male volunteers wearing size medium battle dress uniform (BDU) with recent relevant military experience participated in this study. The volunteers performed shoulder/arm movements (while wearing each armor treatments) and completed the garment impediment perception as well as wearer acceptability scales. The body areas of neck side, shoulder top, and armscye front showed the highest frequency of reported impediments. Resistance to movement and localized pressure were the most frequently mentioned types of impediment. The armor system B had the most areas of impediment, and was rated as more restrictive than the control garment and armor system A for each movement. For wearer acceptability, no significant differences were found between the control garment and armor system A for all eight items; this indicated that subjects did not perceive a difference between wearing the control garment and armor system A. There was a trend for wearer acceptability to decrease from wearing the control garment to armor systems A to C to B.