Marines land at UO, leave with plans to wear Oregon-made trai...(extreme environment to another in 30 min...)

"The Marines had a specific need to see how the suits performed during typical winter conditions at U.S. Marine bases such as Quantico and Camp Pendelton, but testing had to be completed during the summer so that the suits could be deployed in time for winter," Halliwill said. "We have the ability to create weather on demand, practically any climate or weather condition we want with the flip of a switch, so we were able to give them Base Quantico in winter even though it was August in Oregon.”

Each Marine was weighed immediately before and after each running session. Hearts were monitored throughout the sessions, and each subject was asked every five minutes about skin moisture, comfort and difficulty they perceived while in one of the jogging suits. Subjects each day took a two-hour break and then repeated the procedure a second time.

Researchers recorded heart rates, pre-exercise weight of the suits, changes in body weight in each run, moisture retained in suits and underwear and the moisture transferred into the environment.

"Dealing with cooler temperatures is not difficult in terms of clothing," Minson said. "What is difficult is moisture management. Even on relatively dry days, moisture from sweating can build up under a suit that does not ventilate well. This leads to less heat loss and less comfort. Most importantly, the excess moisture in clothes can lead to very rapid heat loss when exercise is stopped, which can be uncomfortable at best, but can be dangerous in certain circumstances. Moisture management is one of the areas where the material by InSport really stood out."

In the end, the Marines reported more comfort and a preference for "Design 2," which turned out to be InSport's product, over "Design 1," and, the researchers concluded
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