Pro Tech 8 Gloves

[lilyogi]

The following is my opinion and what I heard my fellow firefighters say....

We were recently issued new firefighting gloves at work, they are the new Pro Tech 8 Gloves. When I first got them I was pretty sceptical of how they would be in fire situations. I refused to switch to them until someone from our dept used them and see how they would be. Well, yesterday we spent the afternoon in the burn tower doing some training. Our whole shift tried out these new gloves. Well we learned really fast that they do not keep your hands protected from the heat as well as our other gloves. We were feeling the heat way before we did through our hoods. When I grabbed a metal handle to open the window i had to quickly let go as the heat came right through the glove. The things we did to try these gloves out were the same things that we normally would do with our other gloves and not feel the heat.

Has anyone else tried these gloves? What do you think of them? Their dexerity is great, can't beat it but as far as wearing in fire conditions, I will not be wearing them. Please give me your input. Thanks

[Eng34FF]

There are several other threads discussing these glove. I have a pair, but have only used them in 1 fire. To date, I have not had any issues with them and have not seen any complaints on other threads.

[rfd599]

Yogi:

I am using a pair of these as my primary gloves. So far, I have no complaints....but I have only used them at one fire and some training. I am curious how they are going to hold up over time.

In regards to the heat issue, customers have purchased between 500-750 pr in the last four months, including FF's in Chicago, New York City, Rockford, Aurora, Oak Lawn, etc.... and we have only received one complaint from a FF involved in a ceiling collapse. His complaint was not due to feeling heat, but that the glove charred and stitching weakened after the incident.

Again, I am not defending them, just reporting what we have found so far. Personally, I would like to see the palm with a little thicker leather and the top of the hand to have some thicker cloth reinforcement. This is the initial design, and I believe Tech Trade will take criticism with an open mind and hopefully apply it to future designs of the glove.

Stay safe Darin and give me a call with any questions!

rfd599
www.IllinoisFireStore.com

[Riv3404]

We are actually testing these gloves out to see if we want to purchase them for the entire department. So far they are pretty nice, but I haven't got to use them in a fire yet and I am anxiously awaiting to use them.

[ff118pfd]

I have had them for a few months and I like them. Wore them in one house fire and some (hot) burn tower training and so far so good. Of course being a volli, i don't use them every day.

[Fdlt29]

We recently (as in today) put a few of these gloves (Protech8) in service to see how well they work. We are also going to use some Chiba Flame Fighters. We are a small FD ( approx 40) and are looking for some new gloves. Any comments would be greatly appreciated. ( My apologies for any redundancy in multiple threads, just trying to get good coverage.)

[kmyrs97]

I have been using them for about a year I got them at FDIC before they were approved by the NFPA. The one complaint I have is that you can feel the heat really quick but I never have been burnt , on the flip side your dexterity is very good, I think that is very important.

[bacfire]

I bought a pair and used them in several good fires. I had a pretty high opinion of them, and posted their praises on the forum. However, I was stowing my gear at the end of a shift and noticed that the leather along the little finger had burned away.

I didn't notice it when it happened and didn't remember any unusual exposure to heat or flame, but the *very* thin leather on the finger was charred and crumbling away from an area about 1/2" wide and 3" long. I guess it says something for the glove that I didn't feel the heat, but in my years of firefighting in conditions much worse than the one in question, I've never destroyed a nearly new glove.

I sent the glove and pics back to TechTrade for evaluation. They claim they never got the glove, but they review the pics and gave me a line about the extensive testing process they use and their great track record. Said that they would replace it, but that it would be pointless since I wasn't happy with the construction. I like the product overall, but I feel the leather portions need to be much thicker for any serious firefighting durability. TechTrade says they have no plans to change anything about the gloves.

FWIW, at FDIC they had a large bag full of damaged gloves that had been returned to them.


Barry

[bacfire]

If you're looking for personal gloves, take a look at the new American Firewear kangaroo model that will be on the market in a month or so. I can't remember the model name, but Total Fire Group had them for demo at FDIC and they were really nice. I think the price was going to be in the $75-85 range, so they might be a little expensive for most departments to issue. I think they're well worth it though. I'll be ordering a pair.

Barry

[lilyogi]

I wore my protech 8 gloves again during training and still don't care for them. I do like the dexterity but I could feel the heat sooner than I feel I should and they are a pain to put back on after they are wet. I will stick to my firemate gloves, i really like them!

[GFPD2005]

I saw alot of guys wearing them at the FDIC hot evolutions. Lots of opinions about them good and bad.

I have had them for a few months and I think it is a trade-off. You are going to have more dexterity and less protection from heat.

I think the biggest downfall for these will be the long term durability. After putting them in the washing machine, I believe they are going to fall apart after 10-15 washes.

I dont trust these 100% so I always have a pair of Shelby's close by.

[giweff]

I have a pair and i love them they get wet like any other gloves i have ever worn. The only time my hands have ever been warm is during training burns never during a real fire. So i would recommend them to anybody.

[npfd801]

I'm happy with them so far. We had a fire recently where a couple of guys burned their ears under their hoods (and we wear pretty high TPP rating hoods), with no problems on their hands due to the new gloves. I've only had one set go out of service

Speaking with the TechTrade guys at FDIC they will be bringing out a new glove with higher TPP ratings. Perhaps this will be a nice step up for those guys who aren't satisfied with the current offering.

[jonnyirons2]

If you ever cut apart a pair of anything that American Fire Group makes you will be very surprised at the construction. In fact you would in most cases be better off with a regular pair of leather gloves as you would save money to use on alcohol to kill the pain from the burns! The difference between the Pro-tech's and ANY other glove is obvious. If you say you feel heat while in a training burn its all in your head, why do I say that? Cause when the Sh$t's on you dont think about your hands, and they will most likely be on the pipe, or on the floor searching for victims, NOT at chest level or worse above your head cause you want to TEST your new gloves. Mine have been in some pretty hairy situations and I never felt heat, and we all know fires burn hotter in NYC ;-) I will never wear fire guard commanders again, the fact that the City even considers a glove that is basically leather with a thin vapor barrier is an insult to my intelligence and the Men and Woman that I work with. So if you have second guesses about your pro-tech's do your Brother a favor and give them away, or better yet send em to me! I could always use another pair!

Stay Safe

[bacfire]

bag of gloves

I received an email from Mr Shapiro of TechTrade regarding my previous comment about the bag of damaged gloves I saw at FDIC. He explains that I only saw 3-4 pair of gloves returned at the show. The rest were brought to the show for demo purposes:

"-You did in fact see more than 3 used pairs at our booth. I carry several used pairs to all our trade shows including FDIC to demonstrate wear and performance for our customers. You can view them at our next show in
Baltimore (July), Atlanta (August) or Orlando (Oct). (You can check our web-site for show details.)
These pairs I show are as follows:

1) Pair from Ladder 45 FDNY with 350-400 hours of use.
2) Pair from firefighter Gregory Bennet, New Jersey. He dripped a burning road flare (they burn around 1,000F minimum) on his gloves. The outer layer only was burned. His hands were safe.
3) Pair from REDS Team N.C. One of our very original prototype production gloves with 96 hours of live burns and 6 washings.
4) One pair with 10 washings.

-Of the 3 returned pairs you saw, one was from April 2006 which was prior to our NFPA certification. I could have packed these pairs away or thrown them in the garbage but I kept them to file a report for our archives upon my return to NY. We didn't feel the need to hide them from our booth visitors."

TechTrade will be marketing a new model, the Titan, in the summer. I looked at them briefly at FDIC (there was a big crowd at the booth and I was trying to talk to someone about my problem), but didn't like the long cuff design. The Titan did seem to have a heavier design and thicker materials than the Pro-tech 8. Mr Shapiro writes that they will be available with a short cuff, so I may try them out once I have a chance to look at them more closely.


Barry