Evaluation of Test Methods on Personal Protective Equipment for Blast Overpressure

In recent conflicts, a major source of injury for military personnel are Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), which generate blast overpressure (BOP), fragments and heat. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) of dismounted soldiers are primarily tested for protection against bullets, fragments, heat and stabbing using accepted formal standards. Until now there are no formalised standards specifying test methods to assess the PPE performance on protection against BOP. This study presents an overview of test methods for PPE BOP protection for the thorax and eyes which are published in open literature. A discussion of the features of the methods will be concluded by a proposal for an optimized method with indications of knowledge gaps or shortcomings to be filled out in the future.