Improvement in Comfort Properties of Gloves for Fighter Jet Pilots

Fighter jet costumes have no cooling systems, especially as it becomes very difficult to sit in the cockpit while flying on hot deserts and in humid environment. The sweating appears underarm, feet and on hands. After sweating on hand-palm, the fighter jet pilot losses grip during operation. To prevent this slippage the pre-existing glove of pilot combat uniform was re-engineered. It was observed that existing gloves were good in fire resistant, but they have poor comfort properties. In this study, four samples (Lenzing (100%), Lenzing/Protex (70/30%), Protex/Lenzing (70/30%), Protex (100%)) of the knitting interlock structure were prepared on a flat knitting machine having 13 gauge. It was observed that samples with the blend composition (Protex/Lenzing (70/30)) showed the best results for thermo-physiological comfort properties. It has comparatively better air permeability and very good flame resistance with mean after flame time 4 s. The manufactured gloves showed air permeability, moisture management and flame resistance values better than existing commercially available gloves. The manufactured gloves were light weight, comfortable and provide proper grip to the wearer.