Military Weight Transportation Systems: A Biomechanical and Design Based Approached Review

AbstractWeight transportation is massively present in our current society and it is characterized by adult populations wearing heavy backpacks, or carrying extra weight in their torso, due to obesity. [1]In military life load carriage is a constant presence, since military personnel is often required to carry their personal supplies and equipment for long distances, facing a lot of biomechanical and postural changes. [1,2] This load, usually carried in a backpack placed in the torso of military personnel, increases the mass near this area which potentiate the risk of injuries due to falling. [1]Literature indicates several approaches for facilitating load carriage, among them there may be seen: reducing total loads, modifying equipment and improving load distribution. [3] Among these approaches, at least two of them are directly connected with the design of the load carriage system namely: modifying equipment and improving load distribution. Equipment modifications may reduce strain by allowing pressure and load to be distributed to other body locations and appropriated changes may even lead to lower energy consumption, injury rates and improved performance by military personnel. [3]In order to contribute to this subject, this paper intends to present a review on biomechanical aspects regarding military weight transportation systems so that design contributions may be made upon them. In order to do that this paper tries to give a holistic view on the state of the art that surrounds the products used by military personnel for load carriage transportation