Permalink Reply by Tom on March 3, 2009 at 10:10am
well my dept has scotts i guess the thing to look at is what does the depts you work with have? i know no one want to think about having to go in to get a fellow ff out. but when it comes to packs that is some thing you have to look at not to sure that scott and msa can work together for buddie breatting so hope that i could help
I use scott's at work and msa for firefighting. I will say this msa is a lot better to me. It's lighter, harder to spead air born pathogens and tougher. For bunker gear g-xtreme is what I have which is globe.
the globe boots are deffinately comfortable.. i liked them so much, i bought a pair of their 9" EMS boots with zipper sides.. when it comes to comfort,, you cant beat globe, and they are my 3rd pair of leather boots, and so far they have exceeded my expectations...
for the turnout gear we have the G-Extreme gear.. i have to agree, it is lighter and more comfortable, plus my gear was tailored to fit me properly since im an above average person in height.. i cant say enough about the comfort of it..
as for helmets, the bullards are a heavy helmet.. i like the light and smooth helmets... after all, the more weight u have, the more u will tire out faster..
as for airpacks, we have the MSA'S with the heads up display for air in the mask.. we switched over from scott 10+ years ago... we have never had any problems with our air packs.. we keep them up to date with the testing and and keep them very clean as well after each use...
We have used MSA for years. We received a grant and will be testing Scott and MSA. I prefer the Scott due to all of the weight being on your lower back vs. your shoulders. The MSA's are tough on your shoulders.
My department currently is using Scott and they are starting to break down, we've had two regulators go bad in the last month. We also are in the process of switching to Morning Pride, the service we get from our dealer and fit is really nice, on top of that if there are any malfunctions or say if your knee pads go bad, send it in and they will fix it for you.
At one of my departments we use Morning Pride gear and at the other we wear FireDex. There is no comparison! Morning Pride is by far the best gear I have ever worn my enitre career. As far as SCBA, we use Scott at both departments and without a 2nd thought, Scott is the way to go for us. I have used MSA, Scott, and Survivair. All brands have their limitations, but as far us "user friendliness" Scott has my vote. Whatever brand your FD chooses, please learn it's limitations and uses like the back of your hand.
our dept uses globe g xtreme and its really nice gear it not to heavy as far as air packs i would have to go with scott unfortunately our dept uses cairns but my old dept uses scott and i like them a lot better but as far as the gear i would defiantly recommend globe