Technical apparel performance for women during rest and exercise in a cold environment

At an ambient temperature of -4°C, in 3 trials, while wearing 1 of 3 differently designed jackets, 10 women ran for 15 min, rested for 10 min and ran again for 15 min. They were measured for body temperatures, heat flux and clothing microclimate conditions plus they gave thermal comfort votes. It was hypothesized for jackets that varied in the placement of their regional fabric thermal resistance either in an inverse proportion (Jacket 1) or in a direct proportion (Jacket 2) to previously reported TSK (Fournet et al., 2013) that they would elicit different physiological responses and thermal comfort votes than a Control Jacket of consistent overall fabric thermal resistance, and, 2) that Jacket 1 would give better physiological responses and thermal comfort votes than Jacket 2. Results gave physiological responses that mostly followed as expected from the overlying fabric thermal resistance. Differing core temperature and regional physiological responses were evident between the 3 jackets but few results supported Jacket 1 had better physiological responses than Jacket 2. Jacket 1 gave significantly better thermal comfort votes than Jacket 2 and the Control Jacket in the first 15 min of exercise but the effects of the differing jacket designs were not evident in the second rest period and in the second 15 min exercise period. In conclusion, designing jackets with varied placement of regional fabric thermal resistance has potential to improve winter jacket performance.