An innovative design of the firefighter clothing for improving comfort and physical properties

Thermal protective performance of firefighter's clothing is of primary importance. Clothing performance is also affected by design, size, accessory, and how a garment is worn. User comfort determines the evaluation criteria for clothing performance. The sizes recommended in ISO 13688 standard are not suitable for all users. In this work, the conformity problems of the firefighter clothing were tried to be determined and new designs that could solve these problems were introduced. For this aim, 20 male firefighters working in two different fire department with different body characteristics were selected. The human body was divided into 56 different areas such as neck circumference, shoulders, arms, thighs, calf, front and back knee area. All body parts of firefighters were measured manually by tape measure. A size chart was prepared for each person. Suitability of clothing for firefighters was evaluated by CLO | 3D Fashion Design Software. Three-dimensional (3D) avatars of all firefighters were created in the software. Then, the pattern dimensions of all firefighter clothing were also transferred to the software. Prepared garments by new pattern dimensions were dressed on the avatars according to each firefighter's clothing size (S-M-L-XL-XXL) and 3D clothes were simulated. At this stage, the size chart defined in the ISO 13688 standard and the measurements of the actual garments were compared. Four positions were selected for a firefighter to take while on moving. As a result of the fit control, regional pattern problems were determined separately for each movement. Common fit problems were identified in all 20 firefighters and these problems were eliminated by the developed new pattern sizes. New garment designs were developed based on the obtained data. The 3D simulations of the newly designed clothes were made and compared with the clothes examined in the study. As a result, it has been found that the new pattern dimensions developed in this work can solve most of the adaptation problems of firefighter clothing. The results obtained in this study will serve as a guideline for appropriate pattern dimensions when designing more comfortable firefighter clothing.