suspenders?

[firfightir]

i am a new firefighter and noticed that some guys dont wear suspenders on their turnoutgear! what are the pros and cons to wearing them and not wearing them? im trying to figure out why they dont wear them. they have givin me some reasons but i was wondering what others thougth about this!

thanks!

[fireman4949]

Let's see here...

Wear them, pants stay up.:)

Don't wear them, pants fall down.:eek:

I personally hate having to cinch the waist adjustment tabs as tight as would be necessary to keep the pants up W/O them. When your bunkers get wet, you'll appreciate why we wear suspenders more than ever.

Mostly, it just boils down to personal preference.




Kevin:D

[jonnyirons2]

You should wear them regardless of girth. The reason for wearing them is many manufacturers have decided that they have become an integral part of the ensemble for firefighter removal. Try a RIT drill with a dummy with suspenders and without, when its ass' and elbows and guys are grabbing anything they can, you want those pants to stay on. I personally hate them, but I wear them cause of that.

[nyckftbl]

You should wear them regardless of girth. The reason for wearing them is many manufacturers have decided that they have become an integral part of the ensemble for firefighter removal. Try a RIT drill with a dummy with suspenders and without, when its ass' and elbows and guys are grabbing anything they can, you want those pants to stay on. I personally hate them, but I wear them cause of that.



My suspenders break constantly. There is no way in hell that they would hold up in a FF removal situation.

[FlyingRon]

What happened to this downed man's coat?

We were taught to grab em by the SCBA harness.

The one truth of suspenders I learned early on is to make sure they are not
between your legs prior to pulling up the pants.

[Bones42]

Not to pull them by the suspenders, but to help the pants stay on while you are dragging a guy across all the crap.

[nyckftbl]

Not to pull them by the suspenders, but to help the pants stay on while you are dragging a guy across all the crap.

Absolutely. But it shouldnt be implied that grabbing them will in any way assist in the removal.

[jonnyirons2]

The new Morning Pride suspenders we were issued at work were supposedly designed to be beefier due to our PSS system. We were told that the suspenders are now an integral part of the firefighter ensemble. It was also stated to us at a drill at the Rock that when removing a down member the pants staying on the member will make a big difference in his removal. Like I said before, when it is ass' and elbows and guys are grabbing six ways to Sunday, I want my pants to stay on, and not to complicate the situation. If they break tell someone about it and get new ones. I do not like them and they just put added strain on my shoulders from the weight they add, which is also supporting my flashlight SCBA Rope/hydra ram. But, like I said, I want to be out and alive than undressed and half alive or dead.

[nyckftbl]

The new Morning Pride suspenders we were issued at work were supposedly designed to be beefier due to our PSS system. We were told that the suspenders are now an integral part of the firefighter ensemble. It was also stated to us at a drill at the Rock that when removing a down member the pants staying on the member will make a big difference in his removal. Like I said before, when it is ass' and elbows and guys are grabbing six ways to Sunday, I want my pants to stay on, and not to complicate the situation. If they break tell someone about it and get new ones. I do not like them and they just put added strain on my shoulders from the weight they add, which is also supporting my flashlight SCBA Rope/hydra ram. But, like I said, I want to be out and alive than undressed and half alive or dead.

Absolutely, Im not disagreeing with why they should be worn. When someone is getting dragged head first, the boots and pants can easily come off. But I have personally sent my pants out 3 times for repairs for the suspender buttons, and its beyond frustrating at this point.

When I was at education day a few months ago, a LT said that many manufacturers demand the wearing of the strap, because when crawling or squatting, with the suspenders on, it helps keep the pants bundled up in our "sensitive" areas. Without suspenders, it tends to sag alittle bit, and the chances of burns are increased. Not sure how true that is, and Im not gonna be the one to test it. :D

[jonnyirons2]

Our gear (morning pride) although very popular does not hold up to the demands that we put on it. The job should provide each battalion with a repair kit that includes the ability to reattach buttons and sew with PBI thread. Waiting 6months to get things reattached is annoying. I put buttons on my harness straps, best thing I ever did!

[dmleblanc]

What happened to this downed man's coat?

.


...and as of next week, that coat will have a grab/drag handle installed on the back, just below the collar. Anybody seen this yet? New NFPA standard, I got a chance to see some this weekend at LSU.

[Bones42]

...waiting for my new coat to come...it's supposed to include this new harness/strap thingy. State Contract, no choice on my side.

[ChicagoFF]

...and as of next week, that coat will have a grab/drag handle installed on the back, just below the collar. Anybody seen this yet? New NFPA standard, I got a chance to see some this weekend at LSU.

We got 'em. They seem a little silly to me. If you are down the flap to get the strap is behind the tank and under your helmet and you have to reach in there with gloves on and grab a small tab from under a snapped flap and pull it out and then use this strap to pull the guy. You could do all that...... or just grab the guy by his tank. Could it be NFPA changed this standard and added this feature of dubious value to force people to buy more gear???? Nah, couldn't be that. I'm sure that they are so concerned for our safety that they added this out of concern for us, even though it seems pretty useless. :rolleyes:

[engine13A]

our new turnouts (Lion) have the option of suspenders or waist belt or both, our current ones pop alot of buttons and we have a box of them at the stations so we can fix them. The guys at my station with the new are split-the guys who like the waist belt they say it takes some weight off their shoulders, the ones with the suspenders say it holds the pants up better and some cant decide so they have both..they look a little confused to me.

[rawbff15]

i had that problem with my suspenders braking so i got leather suspender and i havnt had any problems since

[Dickey]

Leather suspenders work the best. I have a new pair of thick padded suspenders that I am liking a lot lately. My experience with breaking suspenders is that the stretchy-ness wears out and they break easy. Leather you don't have to worry about it. So far, these suspenders I have work great!
http://www.chiefsupply.com/Fire,Rescue/Turnouts/Suspenders/QRPSUSP
(not trying to endorse a particular distributor, just a pic to show what I'm talking about)

As far as the "deadman" handle, I think it's a great idea but it didn't come from a firefighter. I agree with ChicagoFF (once again!) the handle is between the SCBA tank and the helmet. Think about it. How is a FF's body position going to be if they are down. Chances are they will be face down or on their side because if the SCBA. The helmet will come down over the SCBA in most cases. If you can even get your hand in there with a glove on it surely would not be practical. Plus, the ones I saw on a couple different coats seemed kinda cheap. I don't know if the little bit of stitching they use would hold in a real situation anyway.

Grabbing the SCBA straps are much much easier and very quick.

[dmleblanc]

Grabbing the SCBA straps are much much easier and very quick.

I guess they're allowing for the fact that you may have to grab a guy who's not wearing an SCBA. I agree, the SCBA straps are quicker to grab, although there is always the possibility of pulling the SCBA off of the victim (we are taught to undo the waist strap and cinch it between the legs before pulling the victim, to prevent this).