Abstract:
Nonwoven safety garments are described. Features of the stitching of some embodiments limit the number of particulates emitted from seams between cut edges. Attachments features may be included on the garments to enable secure, external attachment of measuring equipment. Doffing features, such as loops, are provided to help the wearer safely remove the garment, either by helping her pull off part or all of the garment or by starting to separate closure devices. In some embodiments, a repositionable closure on a neck flap covers the neck up to the bottom of a face mask or respirator, and a grasping tab helps the wearer safely open the repositionable closure and the neck flap.

Description:
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/243,282, filed Sep. 23, 2011, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/192,097, filed Aug. 14, 2008 (now abandoned), which is a nonprovisional of U.S. Provisional App. No. 60/955,718, filed Aug. 14, 2007 (now expired), and was a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/428,728, filed Jul. 5, 2006 (now abandoned), which was a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/798,646, filed Mar. 11, 2004 (now abandoned), the entireties of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference. Any disclaimer that may have occurred during the prosecution of the above-identified applications is hereby expressly rescinded. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    The present invention relates generally to the field of safety apparel, and more specifically to safety garments for use in various environments, including for example environments containing actual or potential radiological, biological, or light-splash hazards, the apparel having, in various embodiments, reduced particulate shedding properties, attachment facilities, reinforced points of wear or contact contamination risk, and ease-of-safe-removal characteristics. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Safety garments, such as disposable smocks, jumpsuits, gloves, shoe coverings, and hair coverings, are required apparel for the performance of many jobs. Some of the jobs requiring safety garments are performed in clean room environments, wherein the introduction of foreign matter must be minimized. For example, technicians in certain sensitive medical fields dealing with infectious matter, aerospace researchers assembling interplanetary probes, and material scientists developing and manufacturing ultra-pure materials all wear safety garments in clean room environments. The safety garments in some situations perform the dual function of protecting the wearer from the potentially hazardous materials he is working with as well as preventing unwanted matter from the wearer&#39;s person from contaminating his work product. In other situations, safety garments protect the worker from exposure to dangerous materials, such as radioactive, chemical, and biological hazards. 
         [0004]    Safety garments for use in clean room environments are typically made from nonwoven disposable materials, such as from sheets of spunbond/melt blown/melt blown/spunbond (SMMS) material and the like. Such sheets of material are cut into patterns and stitched together to form desired safety apparel. Typically, as these garments are intended to be disposable and the focus is on their functionality and not aesthetic appeal, little attention is paid to the hemming and stitching. The “as cut” edges are thus exposed. However, in clean room environments where contaminant levels in the parts per million or even parts per billion would be too high, such exposed cut edges present genuine sources of potential particulate contamination. 
         [0005]    Moreover, as these garments are intended to be disposable, little effort is made to provide durable stitching. The prevalent attitude is that a garment intended to be worn for just a few hours does not require superior stitching. However, in a clean room situation or a hazardous environment such as asbestos remediation or nuclear demolition and decontamination, seam separation is not only a potential source of particulate evolution in and of itself, but also produces a pathway from the exterior to the interior of the garment through which potentially hazardous material may flow. 
         [0006]    Many workplace environments from industrial settings to hospitals hold the potential to expose workers to various types of radiation. One problem faced by workers in such environments is how to safely perform tasks while monitoring their exposure to potentially harmful radiation. Often such protective measures include the use of personal radiation measuring devices referred to as “dosimeters” along with protective garments. 
         [0007]    Traditionally, personal dosimeters have been attached to a worker&#39;s protective garments using tape or some other improvised means. Under normal working conditions, such informal attachment methods often lead to the detachment and potential loss or damage to the dosimeter device. Additionally, such protective garments are often bulky and difficult to remove safely when they are no longer needed. 
         [0008]    In addition, while most protective apparel is used with full-faced respirators to safeguard against respiratory particulate or chemical vapor inhalation in environments where minor skin contamination is not a major health issue, but presents an inconvenience (e.g., spray painting), radiological workers must maintain a contamination-free environment inside the protective “envelope” of their protective clothing and guard against contamination while doffing the protective clothing after the work in a contaminated zone is completed. Hence, they cannot overlook any types of gaps or openings to the suit. 
         [0009]    Heretofore the solution to bridging the gap typically formed by the closed zipper and hood underneath the chin and respirator has been to apply layers of duct, vinyl, masking or other tapes over the gap and surrounding the respirator mask to ensure a tight seal. This requires a safety professional to conduct audits of personnel entering contamination areas to ensure adequate application of the tape and correct positioning. It also requires skillful and careful removal of the contaminated tape around the bare neck upon exiting the contaminated work area while the personnel are still wearing potentially contaminated protective gloves, and risks exposing the worker&#39;s neck to that cross-contamination, creating a Personal Contamination Event (PCE) that may risk the worker&#39;s health and have to be reported to a regulatory agency. 
         [0010]    Traditional designs for this level of protective apparel account for a large portion of accidental self-contamination or PCEs each year. Even if a front zipper is closed to the end of its travel path, and the hood is applied over the head and around the face, many of those designs leave a gap in the neck area below the chin. Often, tape is wrapped around the respirator or other face mask to cover that gap. When the person is wearing a respirator, this gap can easily allow contaminants against the skin, which in radiological or biological environments is considered a recordable accident by the Occupational Safety &amp; Health Administration (OSHA). Safe removal of the apparel is often challenging, sometimes requiring a partner or observer and/or a mirror to help the wearer find the end of the tape to begin the sequence of doffing the hood and respirator, running the risk of self-contamination. 
         [0011]    There thus remains a need for an improved safety garment that is more durable and less prone to particulate shedding. There is also a need for protective garments to which personal dosimeter devices and other monitoring equipment can be effectively attached, as well as a garment that can be removed quickly, safely, and easily, and withstands high-wear regions such as elbows and knees. There is a further need for garments that protect the wearer from radiological, environmental, and other contaminants, both during exposure and during doffing of the garment. The present disclosure addresses these needs. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0012]    One aspect of the present disclosure relates to a safety garment. Some embodiments include at least one sheet of nonwoven fabric having at least one cut edge, a plurality of stitches formed in the sheet(s) of nonwoven fabric to define a garment; and hemming formed at cut edges. The nonwoven fabric is preferably formed from spunbond/melt blown material. The stitching is characterized by an optimized stitch density of between ten and twelve stitches per inch. The garment includes at least one attachment feature for holding or attaching one or more dosimeters to the garment. These may be positioned to allow the wearer to grasp them and tear open certain seams, partially or completely open a zipper, or otherwise remove the garment. In various embodiments, the garment also includes an improved neck closure that simplifies donning of the garment and aids the wearer&#39;s effort to doff the suit while avoiding self-contamination events. Some embodiments have reinforced knees and elbows for additional protection against contact with hazardous materials. 
         [0013]    One object of the present invention is to provide an improved safety garment. An object of some embodiments is to facilitate doffing of the garment with a reduced risk of contaminating oneself. Related objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0014]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a safety garment in a first embodiment. 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  is an enlarged exploded partial view of a hemmed edge of the embodiment of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a safety garment in a second embodiment of the disclosed technology. 
           [0017]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a safety garment in a third embodiment of the disclosed technology. 
           [0018]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a safety garment in a fourth embodiment of the disclosed technology. 
           [0019]      FIG. 6  shows a protective garment according to a fifth embodiment of the disclosed technology. 
           [0020]      FIG. 7  shows a protective garment according to a sixth embodiment of the disclosed technology. 
           [0021]      FIG. 8  shows a closure mechanism used in the fifth embodiment. 
           [0022]      FIG. 9  shows a protective garment according to a seventh embodiment of the disclosed technology. 
           [0023]      FIG. 10  shows an alternative design for the hood and upper body portions of the garment of  FIG. 8 . 
           [0024]      FIG. 11  shows another alternative design for the hood and upper body portions of the garment of  FIG. 8 . 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION 
       [0025]    For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the disclosure and presenting its currently understood best mode of operation, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, with such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated embodiments and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art. 
         [0026]      FIGS. 1 and 2  illustrate a first embodiment of the disclosed technology, a reduced particulate shedding disposable nonwoven safety garment  10 . In this embodiment, safety garment  10  is formed as a smock. Safety garment  10  is preferably made from spunbond/melt blown/melt blown/spunbond (SMMS) material, spunbond/melt blown/spunbond (SMS) material, or the like, and includes double-folded and hemmed edges  12 . The edges  12  are folded such that all cut edges of the non-woven material are double-folded under so as not to be exposed. Non-exposure of the edges  12  thus greatly reduces the potential for generation of shed particles where the material was cut. The seams  16  are stitched with an optimization of the number of stitches per inch (SPI), increased to 10-12 SPI over the standard 6-8 SPI. Stitch densities of 10-12 SPI have been found to be better than the lower range, as densities greater than 12 SPI weaken the non-woven material via excessive perforation and those less than 10 SPI provide a looser and weaker hem, such that particulate shedding is not minimized. 
         [0027]      FIG. 3  illustrates a second embodiment of the present invention, a jumpsuit  14  made from spunbond/melt blown/melt blown/spunbond (SMMS) material, spunbond/melt blown/spunbond (SMS) material, or the like. The jumpsuit  14  includes twice-folded and hemmed edges  12 . As in the first embodiment, the edges  12  are folded such that all cut edges of the non-woven material are double-folded under so as not to be exposed. The seams  16  in this embodiment are stitched with an increased stitch density of 10-12 SPI over the standard 6-8 SPI. Seams are also bound with additional welting or other integrative material to reinforce the seams against contamination. The garment also includes foot coverings  18  that are preferably stitched to the garment but may alternately be individually formed and attached, such as by an elastic band stitched into the hem at the foot opening. The garment  14  further includes an excess of material in the armpit  20  and groin/seat area  22 , to minimize the risk of accidental tearing that might generate additional particulate matter that enters into the environment, and might expose the wearer to environmental hazards. 
         [0028]    In practice, the garments  10  and  14  are often made by cutting one or more sheets of nonwoven material into a desired safety garment pattern. Simple patterns (e.g., shoe coverings) may require a single sheet; more complex patterns (e.g., smocks, jumpsuits, and the like) may require two or more sheets of varying size. The sheet(s) is/are then stitched together to define a garment  10 . The edges of the garment  10  are then hemmed All cut edges are twice folded and hemmed under to prevent exposure of any cut edges that could increase the likelihood of particulate shedding. All stitching in these illustrative embodiments is characterized by a stitch density in the range of 10 to 12 stitches per inch. 
         [0029]      FIG. 4  illustrates a third embodiment garment  24 . The garment  24  of  FIG. 4  is similar to that described in  FIG. 1 , but with the addition of loops  30  affixed to the sleeve  32  portion of the garment  24 , to engage a wearer&#39;s hands so as to keep the garment  24  positioned about the wearer&#39;s body. In this embodiment, as in the foregoing embodiment of  FIG. 1 , the safety garment  24  is formed as a smock and is preferably made from spunbond/melt blown/melt blown/spunbond (SMMS) material, spunbond/melt blown/spunbond (SMS) material, or the like. The garment  10  includes double-folded and hemmed edges  12 . The edges  12  are folded such that all cut edges of the non-woven material are double-folded under so as to not be exposed. Non-exposure of the edges  12  thus greatly reduces the potential for generation of shed particles where the material was cut. The loops  30  are likewise folded over and stitched such that there are no exposed cut edges. The seams  16  are stitched with an optimization of the number of stitches per inch (SPI), increased to 10-12 SPI over the standard 6-8 SPI. 
         [0030]      FIG. 5  illustrates a fourth embodiment, a jumpsuit  34  similar to that of  FIG. 3  with the addition of loops  30  extending from the sleeve portion  32  of the garment  34  to engage the hands of a wearer (similar to the embodiment of  FIG. 4 ). The jumpsuit  34  is likewise preferably made from spunbond/melt blown/melt blown/spunbond (SMMS) material, spunbond/melt blown/spunbond (SMS) material, or the like. The jumpsuit  34  includes twice-folded and hemmed edges  12 . As in the first embodiment, the edges  12  are folded such that all cut edges of the non-woven material are double-folded under so as to not be exposed. The loops  30  are likewise formed of the SMMS, SMS or the like and folded over and stitched such that the cut edges are not exposed. The seams  16  are stitched with 10-12 SPI. The garment also includes foot coverings  18  that are preferably stitched to the garment, but may alternately be individually formed and attached, such as by an elastic band stitched into the hem at the foot opening. The garment  12  further includes an excess of material in the armpit  20  and groin/seat area  22 , to minimize the risk of accidental tearing that might generate additional particulate matter into the environment as well as expose the wearer to environmental hazards. 
         [0031]    The loops of the embodiments of  FIGS. 4 and 5  are preferably formed with no exposed cut edges  12 . In particular, each loop  30  is preferably formed from an elongated piece of cut nonwoven fabric defining a pair of generally parallel cut edges  12 , and wherein the cut edges  12  are folded under and hemmed into place such that the cut edges  12  are not exposed. 
         [0032]      FIG. 6  illustrates a protective garment  110  for use with a radiation monitoring device according to one embodiment of the disclosed technology. In this particular embodiment, the garment  110  is a jumpsuit or coverall-type garment having a hood portion  125  and a body portion  115 . This particular embodiment also includes separate boots  120 , although other embodiments include separable or integrated foot coverings. Still other embodiments include separate, separable or integrated hand coverings. Yet other embodiments include separate, separable, or integrated hoods. The arm openings  155  and the leg openings  156  in this particular embodiment are hemmed so as to reduce shredding of the garment material. Optionally, the edges at arm openings  155  and the leg openings  156  are double-folded and hemmed such that all cut edges are double-folded under so as to not be exposed. Non-exposure of the edges greatly reduces the potential for generation of shed particles where the material was cut. In other embodiments, the arm openings  155  and/or leg openings  56  further include elastic bands so as to ensure a tight fit. 
         [0033]    Garment  110  is accessible through opening  146 , which is held closed using a closure means  150  shown in greater detail in  FIG. 8 . In this particular example, closure means  150  includes a zipper  152 . In other examples, closure means  150  includes snaps, buttons, hook-and-loop closure materials such as Velcro®, adhesive strips, or any other suitable closure means. Additionally, closure means  150  further includes a cover flap  195  capable of being folded over once opening  146  is closed using zipper  152 . Cover flap  195  prevents material from entering garment  110  through zipper  152 . Flap  195  is releasably held in the closed position by a securing strip  190 , which may comprise hook-and-loop closure materials such as Velcro®, adhesive strips, or any other suitable securing means. 
         [0034]    Garment  110  can be made from a non-woven material such as polypropylene, polyethylene, polyester materials, and the like, including combinations of two or more non-woven materials. Such materials may be manufactured using spunbond/melt blown/melt blown/spunbond (SMMS) techniques, spunbond/melt blown/spunbond (SMS) techniques, or other suitable techniques for manufacturing non-woven garments, and may include two or more layers of material and/or multiple layers of different materials, as desired. The seams  116  located at various points about the garment  110  are optionally double-folded under so as not to be exposed. The seams  116  are also stitched with an optimized number of stitches per inch (SPI) increased to 10-12 SPI over 6-8 SPI, which is the industry standard. A stitch density of 10-12 SPI has been found to be optimal, as more than 12 SPI weakens the non-woven material via excessive perforation and less than 10 SPI provides a looser and weaker hem, such that particulate shedding is not minimized. Optionally, seams  16  are formed using some other method such as sonic welding or binding with welting or other materials. 
         [0035]    Continuing with the embodiment shown in  FIG. 6 , garment  110  further includes at least one attachment feature  130  for a dosimeter or other measurement, communication, or detection device. In this particular example, garment  110  includes two attachment features  130  located near the garment shoulders on its front side. Other embodiments include a greater or lesser number of attachment features positioned at other locations about the garment, such as the arms, wrists, or waist area, as desired. Attachment features  130  are shown as loops or straps affixed to garment  110  using box-type stitches. In other examples, attachment features  130  have a different configuration such as a sleeve, pouch, pocket, or the like, and are attached using a different type of stitching or a different attachment means such as adhesives, snaps, ties, and the like. Optionally, garment  110  includes further monitoring and/or communication devices in addition to dosimeters, such as body temperature monitoring devices, radios, pulse rate monitors, and the like. 
         [0036]    In one embodiment of the disclosed technology, garment  110  is constructed such that one or more closures (zippers, adhesives, etc.) are designed to open, rip, or tear when a force above a predetermined threshold is applied. Such “tear-open” garments are designed so as to allow for easy removal of a garment when it is no longer needed. Tear-open garments allow workers to quickly, safely, and easily remove a garment at the end of a shift, for example. Attachment features  130  are optionally positioned so as to allow a wearer to grasp one or more of them and strong enough such that pulling on the attachment features  130  causes the tear-open closures to at least begin to open, thereby allowing the worker to quickly, safely, and easily remove the garment  110 . Alternatively, a garment  110  according to another embodiment of the disclosed technology will open at the closure means  150  when sufficient force is applied by the wearer to the attachment features  130 , thereby allowing the wearer to remove the garment  110 . 
         [0037]    Portions of garment  110  likely to experience wear such as the knees and elbows may include reinforced portions  140 ,  145  to preclude seepage or bleed-through of contamination in the event the wearer leans or kneels in contaminated environments. Reinforced portions  140 ,  145  may be made from the same material as garment  110  or from a different, stronger material. Optionally, garment  110  may be made from two or more layer of material. Reinforced portions  140 ,  145  may be attached to the interior or exterior surface of garment  110  and may be attached using adhesives, stitching, or any other suitable attachment method. Garment  110  may also include one or more pockets  135  located about the garment as desired. 
         [0038]      FIG. 7  shows an alternative embodiment of a garment  160 . Garment  160  is a smock or apron having two sleeves  175  and an open bottom portion  176  that extends down the wearer&#39;s torso. Garment  160  is closed using a closure means  165  (shown in this particular example as snaps). In other examples, closure means  165  may take the form of a zipper, buttons, adhesive strips, or any other suitable closure means. Garment  160  further includes two pockets  180  located near bottom portion  176 , although other embodiments may include more or fewer pockets located at different points about garment  160 . 
         [0039]    Continuing with the embodiment shown in  FIG. 7 , garment  160  further includes at least one attachment feature  170 . In this particular example, garment  160  includes two attachment features  170  located near the garment shoulders and one attachment feature  170  located on a sleeve. Other embodiments include a greater or lesser number of attachment features positioned at other locations on the garment such as the arms, wrists, or waist area as desired. Attachment features  170  are shown as loops or straps affixed to garment  160  using box-type stitches. In other examples, attachment features  170  have a different configuration such as a sleeve, pouch, pocket, or the like, and are attached using a different type of stitching or a different attachment means such as adhesives, snaps, ties, and the like. Optionally, garment  160  includes further monitoring and/or communication devices in addition to dosimeters such as body temperature monitoring devices, radios, pulse rate monitors, and the like. 
         [0040]    Turning to the embodiment shown in  FIG. 9 , garment  200  generally has a hood that closes snugly around a full face respirator or air mask, thereby reducing the necessity for additional tape or material for covering the neck, and reducing the risk of breach of the integrity of the seal around the neck area from external radiological, environmental or other contaminants. Garment  200  comprises an improved hood and closure system. In this garment  200 , hood  210  is either made of contiguous nonwoven fabric with body  220  or stitched to body  220  from one or more cut panels of the same or different nonwoven fabrics. (Other assembly techniques will occur to those skilled in the art.) Hood  210  and body  220  include an opening at the front of the suit  200  that is shown closed by zipper  230  or other closure device. In some embodiments, including for example the embodiment shown in  FIG. 8 , zipper  230  is covered by flap  240  over all or part of its length. 
         [0041]    The loose edge  245  of flap  240  in some embodiments is secured to body  220  and hood  210  by a two-part closure device  247 , which might be one-time-closable, reopenable, and/or repositionable closure device. In some embodiments, two-part closure device  247  is adhesive-based, such as a peel-and-stick adhesive strip, where adhesive is on either the flap  240  or the body  220 /hood  210 , and the other (the body  220 /hood  210  or the flap  240 , respectively) includes a landing zone to which the adhesive adheres well. In other embodiments, two-part closure device  247  is a hook-and-loop closure, with a region of hook material on the flap  240  and a region of loop material on body  220 /hood  210 . Other alternative two-part closure devices include buttons, slide closures, snaps, adhesive tape strips, and the like. 
         [0042]    In use, the wearer of suit  200  typically dons a respirator or air mask, then suit  200 . After she puts her legs and arms in the legs  260  and arms  270  of suit  200 , she puts the hood  210  over her head and closes zipper  230  up to edge  213  of face opening  215 . She closes flap  240 , securing flap  240  to the hood  210  and body  220  using two-part closure device  247 . In the illustrated embodiment, the extra fabric around the neck area and under the chin relative to other embodiments and suits, in combination with elastic embedded in the hood edge  213 , allows the edge  213  of the hood  210  to fully surround the perimeter of the respirator without the need to seal the edge  213  to the respirator by mechanical or adhesive means to produce an occlusive seal. In other embodiments, tape or other means are used to secure edge  213  to the mask or respirator. In some embodiments, there is elastic around edge  213  that has a stretched (vertical), or open, diameter and a contracted, or closed, diameter that fits around a face mask or respirator. In some embodiments, the open diameter of face opening  215  is less than about 15 inches. In preferred embodiments, the open diameter is less than about 10 inches, while in more preferred embodiments, the closed diameter is less than about 7 inches. 
         [0043]    To remove garment  200 , the wearer opens at least the top of two-part closure device  247  and pulls doffing loops  250 . In some embodiments, this begins to open zipper  230 , and the wearer opens it the rest of the way, while in other embodiments zipper  230  is manually opened without the assistance of doffing loops  250 . In some embodiments, the wearer pulls on a doffing loop  275  to remove her arm from each sleeve, including pulling her hand through the elastic band  273  at each wrist. The wearer preferably removes all of garment  200  using the “inside-out” method, containing all “outside” surfaces of the garment  200  that had been exposed to actual or potential contamination within the inside-out garment  200  and disposing of it appropriately. 
         [0044]    In yet another embodiment, the neck flap is extended and includes an extra closure device, while the hood bears additional doffing loops as illustrated in  FIG. 10  as garment  300 . Garment  300  includes zipper  330 , flap  340 , two-part closure strip  347  that holds loose edge  345  close to the body, and doffing loops  350  on either side of the chest near the shoulders, all as discussed in corresponding terms above. Garment  300  also includes an extra portion  380  of flap  340  adjacent to or near the bottom of face opening  315  along hood edge  313 . On the body side of extra portion  380  is a patch of hook fabric  385  that mates with target zone  390 , which is a patch of loop fabric that holds extra portion  380  in a closed position, but allows the extra portion  380  of flap  340  to be reopened when desired. In alternative embodiments, different two-part closure devices are used with one part on the back of extra portion  380  in the other on the front portion of the bottom of hood  310 . Doffing loops  355  on either side of hood  310  give the user additional grasping points for removing the hood  310  and opening the top of zipper  330  while keeping (potentially) contaminated gloves away from the exposed neck. 
         [0045]    In still another embodiment, shown in  FIG. 11  as garment  400 , flap  480  has a grasping tab  487  that extends beyond two-part closure device portion  485  to provide an unattached point at which the wearer can grasp the flap  480  and pull it open to begin doffing the garment  400 . In alternative embodiments, grasping tab  487  takes the form of a strap, cord, or “tail” of any of a variety of shapes and materials, as will occur to those skilled in the art in view of the present disclosure. On garment  400 , closure device portion  485  mates with landing area  490 , as discussed above in relation to garment  300  and  FIG. 9 . On garment  400 , however, landing area  490  is vertically wide enough and extends far enough around edge  413  of face opening  415  to make face opening  415  adjustable for different-sized masks, respirators, and other equipment. The adjustment of this sizing is facilitated in this embodiment by the repositionable character of two-part closure device  485 / 490 . 
         [0046]    It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the features of each illustrated embodiment can be mixed and matched, tweaked and adapted as needed or desired. Particular embodiments may or may not include, for example, features corresponding to double-folded and hemmed edges or bound seam  12 ; stitch density of 10-12 SPI; hand-engaging loops  30 ; integrated hand or foot coverings; reinforced elbows and knees; attachment features  130 ; tear-away seams; zipper  230 ; doffing loops  250 ,  275 , or  355 ; two-part closure devices  247 ,  385 / 390 , or  485 / 490 ; limited or broad landing areas  390  and  490 ; elastic cuffs  263 ,  273 ; and grasping tab  487 . The flap that covers the neck may be short as illustrated on garment  400 , or may be long as illustrated in garment  200 . 
         [0047]    While the disclosed technology has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character. It is understood that the embodiments have been shown and described in the foregoing specification in satisfaction of the best mode and enablement requirements. It is also understood that one of ordinary skill in the art could readily make a near infinite number of insubstantial changes and modifications to the above-described embodiments, and that it would be impractical to attempt to describe all such variations in the present specification. Accordingly, it is understood that all changes and modifications that come within the spirit of the disclosed technology are desired to be protected.