A special message from the Department of Troll Control, come and get it!

I was thinking the same thing!

5,561 posted on 02/23/2006 3:29:42 PM PST by Monkey Face (When in doubt, wear red spike-heeled boots.)

InDEED.

My rucksack put such a painful strain on my lower back that I had to counterbalance it by hanging gear on my front. It solved the problem but made negotiating combat obstacles tricky. 200 lbs of body plus 100 lbs of gear makes for some footwork. I had thighs the size of zeppelins.

A very important matter you address, and if not resolved soldiers will have to rely on speed (less equipment, less armor) to survive the too easily upped power of AP ordnance.

A hungry Grizzly would take hours if needed to dig through to the tasty morsel within - that guy is going to become Yosemite fertilizer some day.

Good luck with your research. I hope you succeed.

5,562 posted on 02/23/2006 3:36:49 PM PST by the Marshal

I'd design a suit that could stand by itself.

In fact, you'd have to push down on it to pack it into a box.

The advantage of such would be that, when you put it on, you have a bit of help in supporting it.

Now, as to cooling: I would design the chest or torso portion as a rigid structure, such that, when you breathe in, you force the air out of the enclosed space. Then when you breathe out, fresh air would be drawn in.

A clear advantage can be seen to this for colder climates, as a system of pre-warming can easily be incorporated. It's not so easy to see how it would help in a hot climate. One of the ways that it would help is that a constant flow of exchange air becomes available.

Whether cool-kits or refrigeration units were incorporated is another question, but there is one other benefit to such a unit. If one is suddenly subjected to an atmosphere of unpleasant or possibly deleterious fumes, it would be easy to isolate the air one would breathe to that contained in the enclosed cavity.

That would not suffice for long, but it should be sufficient time to allow for other measures to be taken, such as gas masks or chemically generated oxygen, or something.

Theoretically, this knd of suit could be adapted for higher altitudes as well, by using a pumping technique to build the internal pressure. With cautious design, the soldier should even be able to sleep in a low oxygen environment without suffering from the effects that normally causes.

All of this is simply a response to the notion of hard-suiting. It does not address the concept of armor at all, except for the tendency of the suit to be partially self-supporting.

Imagine having springs in your legs, such that you had to compress them to squat down. It would make it all the easier to rise again, would it not?

5,563 posted on 02/23/2006 3:44:25 PM PST by NicknamedBob (Islamists say we shouldn't make a mockery of religion -- funny, that's the problem I have with them!)

To: stephenjohnbanker

5,564 posted on 02/23/2006 3:49:15 PM PST by Monkey Face (When in doubt, wear red spike-heeled boots.)

To: King Prout; Monkey Face; Irish_Thatcherite

"nice two pairs, there "

I got the quad threes a while back, too. Isn't that odd?

IT got the quad four.

5,565 posted on 02/23/2006 3:54:30 PM PST by NicknamedBob (Islamists say we shouldn't make a mockery of religion -- funny, that's the problem I have with them!)

To: stephenjohnbanker

When you eventually see Malcolm, tell him we're pulling for his good health, simply because he's a friend of yours.

And any friend of yours is also a suspicious character who bears watching.

5,566 posted on 02/23/2006 3:56:58 PM PST by NicknamedBob (Islamists say we shouldn't make a mockery of religion -- funny, that's the problem I have with them!)

To: NicknamedBob

Er uh.............thanks................. I guess.

: )

5,567 posted on 02/23/2006 4:32:37 PM PST by stephenjohnbanker

To: NicknamedBob

I never get anything fun...:o[

5,568 posted on 02/23/2006 4:32:49 PM PST by Monkey Face (When in doubt, wear red spike-heeled boots.)

5,569 posted on 02/23/2006 4:33:17 PM PST by stephenjohnbanker

To: stephenjohnbanker

I'm so glad you approve!

Anytime I can do something to make you drool, just let me know. Er...

I mean...recipes...yah...that's it...recipes...:o|

5,570 posted on 02/23/2006 4:36:25 PM PST by Monkey Face (When in doubt, wear red spike-heeled boots.)

To: NicknamedBob

5,571 posted on 02/23/2006 5:00:21 PM PST by Irish_Thatcherite (~~~A vote for Bertie Ahern is a vote for Gerry Adams!~~~)

To: Irish_Thatcherite

You're up late...usually you're leaving right about now...
Oh. Wait. That's me!

(Erase it, then!)

5,572 posted on 02/23/2006 5:03:22 PM PST by Monkey Face (When in doubt, wear red spike-heeled boots.)

My mother was updating Norton (it's still updating), so I only got here now!

5,573 posted on 02/23/2006 5:05:33 PM PST by Irish_Thatcherite (~~~A vote for Bertie Ahern is a vote for Gerry Adams!~~~)

To: NicknamedBob

I'm not thinking that far into the future - I'm looking at what can be done now, with current materials.

5,574 posted on 02/23/2006 5:06:22 PM PST by King Prout (many accuse me of being overly literal... this would not be a problem if many were not under-precise)

To: Irish_Thatcherite

I got post number 3333 and 5555. You got post number 4444.

Somebody hadda do it.

5,575 posted on 02/23/2006 5:09:42 PM PST by NicknamedBob (Islamists say we shouldn't make a mockery of religion -- funny, that's the problem I have with them!)

To: Irish_Thatcherite

WHAT? You actually let your mother use the computer???

What next from the Irish?

;o]

5,576 posted on 02/23/2006 5:12:46 PM PST by Monkey Face (When in doubt, wear red spike-heeled boots.)

To: NicknamedBob

Ah, I see... YAHOOOO!!!!

5,577 posted on 02/23/2006 5:13:24 PM PST by Irish_Thatcherite (~~~A vote for Bertie Ahern is a vote for Gerry Adams!~~~)

To: NicknamedBob

So I take it you have a thing for 8888's...?

5,578 posted on 02/23/2006 5:13:37 PM PST by Monkey Face (When in doubt, wear red spike-heeled boots.)

I can't update Norton, seeing as I don't own a credit card (and I never will own one).

5,579 posted on 02/23/2006 5:16:07 PM PST by Irish_Thatcherite (~~~A vote for Bertie Ahern is a vote for Gerry Adams!~~~)

"I'm looking at what can be done now, with current materials."

Just plastic valves, and a chest case. The pumping action, either from breathing alone, or also from walking, could push air around the body to cool it by removing sweat.

Still-suit

I don't know how the Arrakan stillsuit was supposed to work, but if the knee and elbow joints had bellows in the suit, they could act as air pumps.

5,580 posted on 02/23/2006 5:18:26 PM PST by NicknamedBob (Islamists say we shouldn't make a mockery of religion -- funny, that's the problem I have with them!)

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