Outdoor Product Testing

CORD's immersible thermal manikin (TIM-Thermal Instrumented Manikin) is the only commercially available immersible thermal manikin in the world, and the only commercially available thermal manikin in North America.  TIM is the tool to use to gather hard scientific data on the insulation values and heat loss characteristics (dry or evaporative) from full scale garments at any stage of design.   Using TIM allows proof of concept testing, or final product testing and comparison to your other garments or those from manufacturers using other materials.  This full scale testing of garments has the advantage of incorporating fit, drape, compression, ventilation, and vapour permeability into test results on a human form, rather than basing material choices and design on hotplate data collected from small isolated swatches of material. 

The manikin was originally designed for testing marine immersion suits and wetsuits, but over the last 6-8 years, it has been extensively used to evaluate the performance of waterproof-breathable garments in our climate chamber (50F-95F), wind tunnel (0-10m/s), and under artificial rain.  TIM has sweating capabilities. By making TIM sweat, we can directly measure evaporative heat transfer through prototype and finished garments. 

Also, by putting the manikin in various wind speeds from 0-10m/s, the quantitative effect of ventilation (i.e. pit zips and mesh vents), air infiltration (i.e. air passing through the zipper), and the design features to resist air infiltration (i.e. closures, storm flaps, waist drawcords, etc.) on insulation can be directly observed and measured.

TIM is also used to test beds (e.g.hospital mattresses), sleeping bags (ASTM F 1720), gloves and boots, headgear, and layering systems.

 Here at CORD, we can follow the standard test methods, or we can step out of the box and create custom tests to specifically look at your design goals. For example, we could compare your sleeping systems in our wind tunnel. You could choose the sleeping bag, sleeping pad, tent, and ventilation options and investigate the performance of your sleeping bag inside the tent vs. ourside the tent in 50 km/hr of wind. We will work with you to create the best testing scenario for your needs.