Effects of inner and outer clothing combinations on firefighter ensembles’ thermal- and moisture-related comfort levels

The special clothing ensembles firefighters wear should provide not only thermal protective performance but also thermal- and moisture-related comfort. The comfort property of protective clothing has great influence on work efficiency. In this study, inner clothing was designed to combine with firefighters’ protective clothing in order to create different clothing ensembles. Two separate wear trials were carried out under the temperatures of 28°C (warm) and 15°C (cool), respectively; cardiopulmonary indexes, temperature and relative humidity under clothing microclimate and subjective sensations were evaluated. These objective and subjective experimental data were analysed to differentiate clothing ensembles’ thermal- and moisture-related comfort properties. The effect of different inner clothing items, combined with the firefighters’ protective clothing, on the overall comfort level of the clothing ensembles was also investigated. The results showed that there were significant differences in the thermal, moisture and clingy sensations of various clothing ensembles under the temperature of 28°C (warm), but the differences were not significant under the temperature of 15°C (cool), except for clingy sensation. Combined with the same firefighter clothing, there was no significant difference in the thermal- and moisture-related comfort properties, but the differences in clingy sensation were significant. The clothing ensembles with polyester inner clothing were not very good for providing thermal and moisture comfort. The clingy comfort of clothing ensembles with linen inner clothing was better than those with cotton or polyester inner clothing.