Black Gear

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Permalink Reply by Michael Bricault (ret) on September 17, 2011 at 2:32pm

-There really is no appreciable difference in wearing black gear verses the more popular "gold" color.

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Permalink Reply by Bobby Halton on September 17, 2011 at 4:24pm

Darin

I have worn both in gold in Albuquerque with Mike and black in Texas and I perfered the black. The black has a little visibility advantage due to the contrast of the black and the reflective strips. Also the guys tend to keep black gear clean. Nothing scientific here but I like the black gear.

Bobby

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Permalink Reply by Shareef Abdu Nur on September 18, 2011 at 7:37pm

We wear black gear at one of my departments and we wear yellow gear at my other department and for me personally there is no considerable difference in heat.  The reasoning behind the black gear for us is that it shows heat damage alot sooner than other colors of gear therefore making us aware of when it needs to be inspected and/or replaced.

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Permalink Reply by Jeff Schwering on September 19, 2011 at 10:26am

Darin, I have worn everything from cotton duck to yellow, gold and black. We are currently in black gear and have been and will be in the future.If you are turned out in all your gear in 90 degrees, you will be hot Brother! Black gear has become prefered by many departments in my county. The gear we are in has stood up to everything we throw at it. To echo Chief Halton, nothing scientific, I'm staying with my Black Gear.

 

Be safe

Jeff

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Permalink Reply by David Topczynski on September 19, 2011 at 4:32pm

I have worn both black sets and tan sets of structural fire gear in southern VA and have not experienced any difference between the two. Structural gear in the summer is hot no matter the color.

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Permalink Reply by M. Daniel Hardman on October 4, 2011 at 11:31am

I have worn white, tan and black over the years. I call bull on those who say there is no difference. Black gear in full sun- say working an MVA- is noticeably hotter. I suspect that those that say otherwise have a personal bias to the look.

Is that reason to not chose black? For me no. I prefer the black gear for a number of reasons, despite the fact that in some conditions it can crank up the thermostat...

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Donnelly on October 19, 2011 at 12:41pm

I have worn tan and black gear. 

Black gear: Feels hotter in the summer. Shows heat damage. Looks clean but is it?

Tan gear: still hot in summer, Looks dirty even after being cleaned

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