The Military Origins of Layering

[Rex Sanders]

Layering has either been around a long time – or (re)-(re)-invented recently.

For the M-43 layering system to work, soldiers had to know how to use it. So military experts developed a layering-education curriculum, which shows how the M-43 became both a popular style and a model for dressing according to scientific principles. During one 90-minute indoctrination class, soldiers listened to a lecture on how to stay alive in the cold and watched a demonstration of how to wear and adjust each item in the M-43 uniform assembly.

Interesting story.

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/09/how-military-science-popularized-layered-clothing/597577/

— Rex

[PaulW]

An interesting read. Thanks for the link.

[Dave Heiss]

The military lab that conducted these early clothing tests is now known as USARIEM (US Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine). About 15 years ago my company updated that old copper manikin of theirs (built by GE in 1962 if I remember correctly), but it was finally retired about 3 years ago. Here are two photos I was given that shows Copper Man in his heyday, along with a group photo of their thermal manikins and research team. The pioneering work these researchers did is still immensely valuable today, and it’s the foundation for many of the standards and test methodologies in use now for the thermal evaluation of garments and clothing ensembles.

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