• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.83-88
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• 2016

Over the last five years, 568 people have died while hiking according to 2015 statistics from the public safety ministry. Among those deaths, approximately 33% were due to loss of footing or falling. In this respect, the highly advanced functions of hiking boots should be considered to prevent these unfortunate accidents. For example, by utilizing the Internet of Things (IoT) and Information and Communications Technology (ICT), hiking boots equipped with a Global Positioning System (GPS) or vital signs monitoring systems should be considered. In addition, many challenges remain for the production of 3D printed hiking boots, because the functions of hiking boots are variable, which is important when handling changing terrains and situations. The design of customized hiking boots was introduced in this paper, and 3D printing applications for midsoles using a Porous Polymer Printing (PPP) method was also suggested to verify the possibility of manufacturing hiking boots.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.115-119
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• 2006

To investigate the effects of independent suspension technology(IST) of hiking boot on the stability and load of foot, eight participants performed medial and lateral drop landing from 33.4cm height and 85cm distance to uneven surface while wearing normal & IST hiking boots. For the stability of foot during the drop landing, the balance angle & suspension angle and rearfoot angle was analyzed using high-speed video analysis. Also kinetic analysis using the force plate and insole pressure measurement was conducted to analyze vertical & breaking ground reaction force and pressure distribution. Not only the balance angle & suspension angle but also rearfoot angle was improved with IST boots for lateral drop landing. These results indicate the IST boots may have the suspension function which keeps the foot to be stable during landing. However the IST boots did not show any effect for medial landing. This might be related to the hardness of medial part of outsole. Therefore the softer outsole of medial part could be recommended. Furthermore the impact force & breaking force and insole pressure were reduced with IST boot. These results means that IST boot has not only cushioning effect but also good grip effect. Therefore the hiking boots applied the independent suspension function may help to reduce fatigue and prevent injury such as ankle sprain in hiking on uneven surface.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.387-397
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• 2009

Physical activity has been increased with increased leasure time. Specifically, due to our mountainous geographical benefits, people actively participate in hiking and climbing as regular daily activities. Thus, more stable and comfortable hiking boots are required to walk on uneven and sloped rocky surface for a long period of time. 5 male subjects were recruited for testing planter pressure patterns of four different conditions(barefoot, classic hiking boot, stiffness 60 and stiffness 65). Tested hiking boots(stiffness 60 and stiffness 65) consists of the multiple pieces of outsoles as they are designed for a better shock absorption. In the results, some positive aspects of stiffness 60 and stiffness 65 such as wide contact area and powerful propulsive patterns at take off was observed compared to the classic hiking boots. Therefore, biomechanical development of hiking related clothes and footwear as well as equipment would be beneficial for people who enjoy hiking to maximize their quality of activities.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.1-8
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to evaluate normalized jerk according to shoes, slope, and velocity during walking. Eleven different test subjects used three different types of shoes (running shoes, mountain climbing boots, and elevated forefoot walking shoes) at various walking speeds(1.19, 1.25, 1.33, 1.56, 1.78, 1.9, 2, 2.11, 2.33m/sec) and gradients(0, 3, 6, 10 degrees) on a treadmill. Since there were concerns about using the elevated forefoot shoes on an incline, these shoes were not used on a gradient. Motion Analysis (Motion Analysis Corp. Santa Rosa, CA USA) was conducted with four Falcon high speed digital motion capture cameras. Utilizing the maximum smoothness theory, it was hypothesized that there would be differences in jerk according to shoe type, velocity, and slope. Furthermore, it was assumed that running shoes would have the lowest values for normalized jerk because subjects were most accustomed to wearing these shoes. The results demonstrated that elevated forefoot walking shoes had lowest value for normalized jerk at heel. In contrast, elevated forefoot walking shoes had greater normalized jerk at the center of mass at most walking speeds. For most gradients and walking speeds, hiking boots had smaller medio-lateral directional normalized jerk at ankle than running shoes. These results alluded to an inverse ratio for jerk at the heel and at the COM for all types of shoes. Furthermore, as velocity increased, medio-lateral jerk was reduced for all gradients in both hiking boots and running shoes. Due to the fragility of the ankle joint, elevated forefoot walking shoes could be recommended for walking on flat surfaces because they minimize instability at the heel. Although the elevated forefoot walking shoes have the highest levels of jerk at the COM, the structure of the pelvis and spine allows for greater compensatory movement than the ankle. This movement at the COM might even have a beneficial effect of activating the muscles in the back and abdomen more than other shoes. On inclines hiking boots would be recommended over running shoes because hiking boots demonstrated more medio-lateral stability on a gradient than running shoes. These results also demonstrate the usefulness of normalized jerk theory in analyzing the relationship between the body and shoes, walking velocity, and movement up a slope.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.945-953
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• 2014

This study aims to develop protective pants to relieve impact from falls and to present basic data for the development. The survey results are as follows; First, 45% of the respondents were in their 60s and 55% of them were in their over 70s and older. Also, 64% of them have fallen once for the past year and 36% of them have fallen twice or more. The older they were, the more there were those who have fallen twice or more. This indicated the older people has experienced more fall accidents again after a initial fall accident. Second, as per accident situations, the survey showed that fall accidents happened the most in the winter and in the afternoon (12-18 pm). Also, it happened on a street mostly and they were wearing sneakers or hiking boots when they got a hurt slipped in a front or side by missing their step in a walk. The injury areas are mostly knee and ankle. They had the bruises or a sprain in their knee and ankle mostly. The rate of bone fracture was 19.5%. Therefore, the protection area to falls in lower body is the knee. But hip and hip joint should be protected with knee as well because those are usually be broken when it is damaged. Third, approximately 80% of those who were hospitalized for treatment had surgery. Patients who had surgery were rather in their over 70s than in their 60s. The older they were, the more serious their fracture was. The period of hospital or outpatient treatment is more than three weeks in many cases. They responded their health got worse after falls. Aftereffects of accidents were physical discomfort, anxiety and medical costs. Falls to the old makes physical damage, psychological damage, which cause reduced physical activity and the increased cost of health care with economic losses. So it results on a negative impact on the life of the old. Fourth, elderly females were rarely aware of impact protective clothing and they have never purchased such clothing. For impact protective pants, the major consideration was suitable design for their body types. They liked casual style with front or side pockets and simple designs without any patterns or decorations. As per pants materials, they responded that they need functionality, activity and elasticity. Among the functional points, insulation of cloths are considered importantly, so the heat reservance of material in the impact protective pants should be considered carefully.