Effects of Wind Speed and Clothing Wearing Method on Total Thermal Insulation of Down Jackets

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of wind speed and wearing methods on cold protection performance. Three levels of wind speeds and two typical wearing methods were determined based on the winter meteorological data and a dress habits questionnaire, respectively. Thermal insulation values were measured using an instrumented manikin for three down jackets with the same amount of down content per square meter and different lengths. With wind blowing, a significantly decreased tendency of the total thermal insulations was observed ( p = 0.005). With an increase in wind speed, the total thermal insulation was more sensitive to the change of wind speed when the placket was opened. The longer the length of down jackets, the greater influence of wind speed upon thermal insulation values. A wind speed above 0.4 m·s ⁻¹ led to a reduced rate of total insulation ranging from 27% to 47%. Opening the placket resulted in a 10–26% decrease in the total thermal insulation. The thermal insulation values measured locally at different segments of the thermal manikin pointed to greater regional variations in the obtained insulation values, especially during exposures to greater wind speed.