How many square feet of material(the fabric part) is in a diver's scuba suit.?

Question

I need a measurement of how many square foot of fabric material is required to cover a person from basically head to toe, so the closest Reference I could think of would be a diver's scuba suit. I know, it is a very random question and most of the people who read it will be wondering what is the point of the question. The point of the question doesn't matter, the answer does. So please help me out, all you masters of completely random questions, and please no stupid answers. Also please don't answer my question with another question bcuz it's annoying.

Answer 1

You might get a reasonably accurate answer by looking at sewing patterns for a jumpsuit. That would provide a maximum estimate, since the pattern pieces are cut from the given yards of fabric. There would be some waste of course. You would have to deal with the conversion between the fabric width and length into the square feet that you want.



The general information about body surface area is given in this Wikipedia article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_surface_area



and the averages are:

Average BSA values (in square meters)

Neonate (Newborn) 0.25 m²

Child 2 years 0.5 m²

Child 9 years 1.07 m²

Child 10 years 1.14 m²

Child 12-13 years 1.33 m²

For men 1.9 m²

For women 1.6 m²



If you convert 1.9 square meters to square feet, you get about 20.5 square feet for the "average" male body surface area. You would obviously need more in order to allow for seams and waste.



See this pattern (style E):

http://mccallpattern.mccall.com/m6251-products-13315.php?page_id=907&search_control=display&list=search



This needs 4 7/8 yards for 45" wide fabric, or 3 1/2 yards of 60" fabric for the largest size.