Quick release garment

Abstract

A quick release garment such as a tactical vest wherein the garment includes a waist belt that is provided with two connector systems, one for manual release of the belt and one for remote release of the belt. The vest may include armor that is generally conformable to the waist shape of a wearer, which armor is insertable within the waist belt of the garment.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]Load bearing garments such as vests and packs are often worn by people who encounter situations where the garment needs to be either partially or completely removed. Such situations include an injury to the wearer where access needs to be gained to the site of the injury, often times under the garment, where the weight of the garment and supplies / equipment have become an encumbrance, for example on the battlefield. The garment may also become engaged with another item inhibiting movement of the vest wearer thereby necessitating partial or total removal of the garment. Such garments may be used for carrying equipment, supplies and / or armor. So called cutaway vests are known in the industry, and provide an improvement over non cutaway vests, at least in certain regards. Such a vest may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 7,047,570 which provides an advance in the art by having a quick release mechanism that permits quick jettisoning of the vest in separate compo...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0006]The present invention also involves the provision of a mounting system for carrying soft armor in lower portions of the garment, and in particular around the waist of the garment user in a manner that allows selective use of the armor.

Problems solved by technology

Such situations include an injury to the wearer where access needs to be gained to the site of the injury, often times under the garment, where the weight of the garment and supplies / equipment have become an encumbrance, for example on the battlefield.

While providing an advance in the art, complete separation of the vest into separate components for removal is not always necessary or desirable, particularly on the battlefield where both the wearer and the medic attending to the wounded wearer of the garment are subject to hostile fire.

While such a cutaway vest has provided an advance in the art of vest design, reassembly after cutaway can be problematic and time consuming.

It can take several minutes to reassemble a vest for wearing which may exacerbate a situation in which a wearer is using the vest such as in a hostile fire environment.

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