British Army Desert Camo NBC Suit
Purpose
The MK IV NBC Suit is worn in conjunction with a respirator, gloves and
overboots, and gives protection against all known chemical warfare (CW) agents. The life of the suit in
operations depends on the level of attack. In most situations it can be worn
for up to a month and still offer protection to the wearer. Under extreme conditions of multiple attack it
may be necessary to change the suit after 24
hours.
It is intended that the protective suit should be worn over normal clothing. The constituent
materials have, therefore, been selected to impose minimum physiological stress, which is obviously a
potential hazard in any closed system.
In addition to
providing protection against toxic agents in both liquid and vapour form, the suit is also self-
decontaminating by encouraging rapid evaporation. Furthermore,
by virtue of its flame retardancy, it offers a high level of protection not only against conventional
fire, but also against the thermal pulse resulting from a
nuclear burst.
Description
The MK IV is a two-piece suit consisting of a smock and trousers. The smock, which is single breasted, has
a
front opening which can be closed with a slide fastener and also touch and close tapes. It has an attached
hood with an elasticated face opening, which gives a
good seal around the respirator. Touch and close strips are also provided at the cuffs and hips to allow
easy individual adjustment for size. Bellows type
pockets, with stitching penetrating only the outer layer of the main suit are provided on each breast and
on the right sleeve, and a patch pocket with
divisions for pens is fitted on the left upper sleeve.
The trousers are of pyjama type with a gussetted front end with brace tapes sewn at the back, and loops at
the
front to give over-the-shoulder braces which can be tied at the front. Waist and the lower legs can be
adjusted by touch-and-close fasteners. Bellows type
pockets are provided on each thigh, together with detector patches. Both smock and trousers are designed
with the outer and inner layers of fabric constructed
separately and only joined at the edges, thus reducing any possibility of ingress through stitch
holes.
Materials
The complete suit is constructed from two layers.
The outer material is made of monacrylic fibres reinforced with polyamide fibres. It has a strong,
hard-wearing outside surface. A silicone treatment is applied to make the garments shower-proof, and to
permit rapid spreading of liquid chemicals, which
in turn speeds up evaporation. This reduces the loading on the second layer, whose main function is to act
as chemical barrier.
The inner fabric is based on activated charcoal as a means of protection against toxic gases and
vapours. It.s bonded to a non-woven fabric, which is flame retardant. A fluorocarbon finish is applied as
an oil repellent, thus acting as a further
barrier to toxic liquids. This combination of repellents represents a chemical barrier which is highly
efficient, yet air permeable and thus imposes low heat
stress. This liquid control system formed by a wicking layer over an oil-repellent layer permits the
incorporation of less charcoal than in other
systems, which in turn results in a fighter garment and smaller package size.
Dimensions
When vacuum- and pressure-packed, the two packages (smock and trousers) together measure approximately:
310 x 160 x 140 mm (12.2 x 6.3 x 5.5in).
Weight
Weight of the suit (smock and trousers) is 1.6Kg.
