Where firefighters come to talk training

The color of PPE

Hey all, we are looking at switching colors of our PPE from tan to black. There used to be a study through the Boston Fire Department that addressed the myth of black PPE being hotter than tan PPE. Does anyone have any studies or know of any studies out there that address this?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Michael Bricault (ret) on September 20, 2010 at 3:48pm

-To my knowledge no one has actually compiled a real study of this subject.
-It does stand to reason that black colored gear would become warmer IF the wearer were standing out in direct sunlight but how often will you be just standing around in the hot sun for prolonged periods of time during summer months.
-If the argument is that black gear will become warmer while being worn inside during a structural firefighting operation I would seriously doubt that.
-Contact Holly Craft at Morning Pride/Honeywell. She is a go to person for Morning Pride gear and has access to a ton of data and studies, including the quantitative study Albuquerque performed, regarding the Morning Pride bunker gear.

Permalink Reply by Mike France on September 20, 2010 at 6:09pm

I discussed this with Globe rep recentley and what they he told me there is no truth to the myth

Permalink Reply by Mike Walker on September 20, 2010 at 8:11pm

When we were looking at purchasing new gear the only thing that kept us from purchasing black gear was the material we wanted to use on the gear wasn't offered in black. That was a few years back. For the life of me, I can't remember the material's name. We wanted that material because is was the best on the market at the time.

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