# Area Needed for a Coat **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [March 25, 2009, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-needed-for-a-coat/490757 "2009-03-25T17:03:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-needed-for-a-coat/490757/1 "2009-03-25T17:03:19Z")
I noticed that Cecil’s column on [whether a coat could be made from the skin of a single person](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/72/how-many-square-feet-of-skin-are-on-the-human-body) that he failed to mention the minimum requirements for a coat. Knowing that a Japanese hanten is a very simple design for a coat with nice rectangular shapes, I looked up a pattern for it and ran the numbers. (Information from [this page](http://www.johnmarshall.to/5-WK-hanten.html).) In total there are five sections of cloth, assuming that I am reading things correctly. These measure: 2 X 42" X 17" 2 X 84" X 17" 1 X 8.5" X 101" In square inches, this is 2X 714"[sup]2[/sup], 2 X 1428"[sup]2[/sup], and 731"[sup]2[/sup], for a total area of 5015"[sup]2[/sup]. In square feet that’s approximately 35’[sup]2[/sup]. So indeed, with only 14-18’[sup]2[/sup], a single average sized human will be insufficient. ---
**Author:** ![Damp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Damp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damp)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2009, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/area-needed-for-a-coat/490757/2 "2009-03-27T04:22:55Z")
lol that’s amusingly unsettling.