Eli Erickson Product Designer Portfolio

Design Brief

This Project was introduced to me by an instructor who has a family member in the United States special forces. He approached her with a problem he was having with his current issued gloves while fast roping out of helicopters.

Currently, service members fast rope out of helicopters and need to transition to their weapons and other equipment quickly. Their fast rope gloves are protective for the rope, but too bulky for combat use AND THEY NEED TO CHANGE GLOVES BEFORE THEY CAN EFFECTIVELY do their jobs.

Provided images of current Gloves in use By an Active Duty Green Beret:

Outdoor Research Tactical Gloves

Petzl Fast Rope Gloves

Research

Air Force Study

A study conducted on the effectiveness of different existing gloves by the Air force Research Laboratory 711 human performance wing at the Wright-Patterson Air force Base, June 2012 (Approved for public release)

Ansell Hawkeye (Current Issue)

HexArmor GGTS

Mecanix Silica Aerogel (Prototype)

Oakley FR Fast Rope

Superior Cool Grip

Superior Emerald CX

Superior Kevlar/SilaClor/Temperblock

Yates Tactical Rappel/Fast Rope

View the full report by clicking here

My findings from this study:

-The heat on the rope can reach 145° F with bare hands

-The rope will wear though normal gloves quickly

-Too thick of gloves will result in a loss of dexterity

Ideation

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Top Three Picks and Feedback

I picked three ideas I felt would be most effective and producible. I show them to and got feedback from different retired and active duty marines, army Solders, and Green Berets.

"These look durable but hot. The leather looks like it would work good on the rope but you would sacrifice on dexterity and movement quite a bit."

"These look high speed, light weight comfortable. I'm worried about the mesh with sand and dirt. I also wonder if the Superfabric material on the palm will be too slick to be able to stop on the rope or grip any gear."

"I like this idea most. Most guys have assault gloves that they like and won't want to switch from what they have been using. This would give the guys an option to use any glove they want and still be able to transition quickly to their weapons. I am worried about snag points and the safety concerns that go along with that."

I went with the third mitten option. I feel like it is the best way to provide protection from both heat and friction caused by the rope while allowing a quick transition to your more dexterous assault gloves.

Rapid Removal

Hands free to access weapons and gear until gloves can be removed entirely

Prototyping and Development

Low fidelity prototype made from a cut up work glove and taped back together.

Initial Patterning

Tear Away Pull Testing

Mid-Fidelity Prototype with a PVC backed Cordura as a substitute for Leather

Easy pull hook and loop wrist strap

tear away Pull loop - Tears as approximately 35 LBS.

Light rope testing

The PVC backed Cordura shows wear faster than leather would

High-Fidelity prototype

The goatskin palm in this final prototype used a cow hide as a stand in due to the inability to get goatskin by the project deadline.

The Three layers of kevlar add protection from wear and heat.

The ballistic nylon encases the kevlar and grips the users inner glove better than the raw kevlar

Compatible with existing gloves

In discussions with special forces veterans, I found that they all had a preferred glove that they liked and were used to. This design allows them to still use their preferred glove.

Rapid Transition Testing

First time user's first attempt running a shooting drill with the gloves

threat called - gloves removed - first shot on target

5.85 seconds

Future Ideations

I found that the single piece of leather on the palm didn't give much dexterity or comfort. dividing the leather into multiple pieces sewn onto a 500D cordura would add more dexterity and flexibility. An additional gusset would assist in the rapid removal of the glove.