Biomechanical study on man's adaptation to cold -Comparison of the outfit of JARE and Eskimos in heat insulation and physical activity-

• Main Authors: Kazuhiko Watanabe, Kei Terai
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Japanese
• Published: National Institute of Polar Research 1985
• Subjects: Geography (General); G1-922; Greenland; eskimo*
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.15094/00008454; https://doaj.org/article/1c32de9a84a244deabc2b03c9e79dfdc

The heat insulation and the physical performance were tested to compare the winter clothing of the JARE with that of Greenland Eskimos. Four healthy students were chosen as subjects. In the heat insulation test, each subject's body temperature was monitored during 60 min in chamber (-40℃). The condition of bicycle ergometer exercise was 2.5 kp×15 min. The results revealed the following : In heat insulation the Eskimo outfit excels the JARE outfit. In the physical performance test, the sportswear proves better in "broad jump" than the JARE and Esikimo outfit. But in the seven other items of the test, the three kinds of clothing showed almost the same result, though the Eskimo outfit was a little lower in "trunk flexibility". The JARE outfit seems suitable for physical activity, but its gloves require some improvements in heat insulation so as to cope with the severe cold.