Bunker gear What to Buy?

[kldugas412]

We "the Dept." are looking in to upgrading our bunker gear we have recently
perchased some Lion but is seems that is will not stand up to the test. Our last big purchase was some years back. It was Globe gear. I know they have had many advancements in gear desine and matirial used in construction.
What is the best bang for the buck??

K.Dugas
Asst. Chief
Duson Vol. Fire Dept
FF1 Haz Mat AW

[Frmboybuck]

We have Morning Pride gear and have been very pleased with it

[WMFF12]

Morning Pride... Hands down....

[Weruj1]

try doing a search ...also see this ongoing discussion http://forums.firehouse.com/showthread.php?t=84959

[Catch22]

Opinions are like, well, you know. We're running Morning Pride on my vollie dept. right now and we're pleased with it. At the same time we're going to look into switching to Globe if we get our grant this year. It's probably going to be a tough decision, but I don't think you can go wrong with either.

Just one spot of advice, to be stingy when it comes to equipment that is going to protect your guys. I can't stand those chiefs that say "It's all made out of the same stuff." That may be the case, but chiefs don't usually do hours of manual labor in the stuff, either. Comfort counts for something, too. Especially if you're on a long incident.

[dday05]

Just one spot of advice, to be stingy when it comes to equipment that is going to protect your guys. I can't stand those chiefs that say "It's all made out of the same stuff." That may be the case, but chiefs don't usually do hours of manual labor in the stuff, either. .

I agree with the chiefs usually don't do hours of manual labor in the stuff. I'm an Asst. Chief and I think most of the chiefs around our area don't even put their gear on so how can they have a decision in what their people wear? I try to keep all my people safe, and I believe if I'm going to go over to ff x and chew *** because they don't have their gear on or something missing I better have my stuff on, and on properly.

Anyways we used to use Morning Pride and ended up with a few bad sets of it so we switched to Jainsville and have had no problems with it. Where I work we wear Securitex and it is good gear also. Just remember they're your firefighters and I'd rather spend more money on them than anything.BE SAFE!!

[kldugas412]

Thanks for the info

I pride my self as a working Chief I have 12 Years in and make sure I work as hard as the lowest man on the fire line. I found out from a very wise Chief it is mutch better to lead by example. My guys would follow me thru the gates of hell and I would do the same for them.

Thanks very mutch for the info.
As said before it may be made with the same stuff. "But the ? of the day"

How is it put togeter and will it stay together?

[Catch22]

I don't think anyone took it wrong, but my remark about chiefs wasn't a slam to chiefs (I am one on the vollie side of things). Just more of a grudge I have with an attitude I've encountered in the past. I can't stand guys that skimp on safety equipment saying that comfort isn't a factor.

Construction of the gear is VERY important. Even if it's the same people that make the materials, some companies just slap it together, some companies take ergonomics into account. I don't like to waste money on non-essential items, but at the same time I want my guys (and myself) to be conforable and not have to worry about rips and tears at the seams.

[kldugas412]

That's how I see it if your not confertable you are just looking to tire your self out and be no help to any body.

As far as the Chief Bashing no harm no foul. I too have the safety of my guys at the top of the list. The last thing I want to do is explain to a loved one some one got hurt because of gear that failed.

[rfd599]

Take a hard look at both the Cairns Reaxtion and Globe G-Xtreme. Both of these garments are extremely comfortable and ergonomically designed. We are a Cairns Dealer in Illinois and have sold many sets of gear due to the comfort and flexibilty level of the gear.

Globe offers the G-Xtreme, which is also a great set of gear. This incorporates many of the design features of the Reaxtion Garment. Both sets of gear give you the ability to where the pants without suspenders, which greatly reduces stress and fatigue on your shoulders and back.

As a side note, I have a personal set of Reaxtion for demos and I wear the G-Xtreme on the job.

You can check them both out at www.globefiresuits.com.

rfd599
www.IllinoisFireStore.com

[FireMav]

I have morning pride with the heat channel knees. Hands down i won't go to another set of gear. Once you get them broke in then they are the best. Takes awhile to get broke in though. Everyone else in the department has Globe.

[joshball]

We have Globe G7, Morning Pride and the first sets of Globe Extreme are coming in.
I had Morning Pride till a couple weeks ago and now have the extreme.
You can move easier in it, it is lighter, and moves with you.
The comparable Morning Pride quoted to us was a couple hundred more.

[N2DFire]

We bought all new gear last year (Thank you AFG!) and it was down to Morning Pride & Globe (G-Extreme)
The Cairns Re-Action is pretty much the same as G-Extreme so you may want to look @ that as well.

We ended up w/ the Globe simply because of the fact that we were buying a lot of other equipment from the grant and the Chief & Treasurer didn't want to have to keep up with several bills from several companies so we "soul sourced" from one dealer.

From our testing I don't think your guys would be unhappy with any of those three but I'd let them try it out and decide for themselves to make sure.

[OlieCan]

G-Xtreme at my Dept. Havn't heard any complaints.

[FyredUp]

kldugas412...

Chief, if I may be so bold let me offer my take on buying turn-outs.

The real issue is not materials. Most manufacturers can get and use the same materials as the competitors. Not always but usually. The real issues are comfort, flexibilty, weight, and durability.

When my volly FD got new gear we sent letters to the dealers in our area with our basic spec and asked them to come in and do a presentation. We also asked for a demo set of gear to try out during a mobility and ergonomics test.

Some dealers complied...some failed to respond at all. We took this as a sign of future service and those that failed to respond were eliminated regardless of later correspondance or phone calls.

We made it clear whoever won the bid would be outfitting the entire department in a multi-year replacement program.

Like I have told others on here...Good luck because no matter what you decide someone will tell you you are an idiot.

FyredUp