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Under Armour
Has anyone had issues with Under Armour and structure fires. I had a friend of mine tell me not to wear it, as it could melt. Anyone heard of this. I have guys that want to wear it.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mike Vance on
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although it helps to keep you cool, anything with polyester in it will melt under the conditions that we work in. A fellow firefighter at my department received minor burns due to this. Hope you can talk them out of it. Stay Safe
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Permalink Reply by Paul Dudan on
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We have never had problems but under armor and all synthetic fibers will melt under extreame heat.At the begining of the War on Terror/Iraqi Freedom Campaigns the US Military had to outlaw under armor and similar materials for soilders while outside of bases.This was because if caught up in an IED the fibers were melting and fusing with the skin making recovery more painful.
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Permalink Reply by Fireyladd - Retired Chief Sharp on
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Better to stick to cotton sweet nothing Michael. I like the under Armour and wear it when not working but would rather wear cotton or FR cotton under my uniform.
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Permalink Reply by Jonathan on
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I've heard people make the comment that if it gets to hot, it'll have the effects of shrink wrap. I personally never wear it to fires. Although if you think about it, your bunker gear will keep your body from reaching temperatures that would be anywhere near that hot in theory. But what works out on paper doesn't always work in the field. Anyone with real life experiences on this would be great.
-Logue
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Permalink Reply by Lt. Dan (1508) on
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You have time to put under armor on before responding? I am generally wearing whatever I wore to bed.
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Permalink Reply by Oldman on
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I find it works well under dress uniforms, especially if standing outside on details or parades. As far as wearing it in fires, I haven't been able to find an actual study done to test at what temperature it starts degrading.
Common sense says that any polyester will melt under high temp conditions. Common sense tells us that we are likely to find extreme temps in fires. I can see in a military combat situation where it would not be advisable, but our troops aren't usually going to be wearing bunker gear on the battlefield.
Even the best bunker gear on the market will only protect you from extreme temps for a short period of time. I would think that if one is in such an extreme fire condition where we are getting burned inside our gear, then yes, the Under Armour would be melting. At the same time, if we are getting burned with our gear on... we probably shouldn't be in there in the first place.
But until I can come across verifiable test data, I won't advocate it's use, and we (my department)doesn't allow it's use except as described above. Error on the side of safety.
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Permalink Reply by Michael C. Harrison on
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if it gets hot enough to melt the shirt you are wearing......you have a lot more problems to worry about
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Permalink Reply by Michael Rocke on
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Everything said here has been my basic opinion as well. The guys want a moisture whicking undergarment to wear. I told them to look into Dryfire, as it is marketed for firefighters and is made of a different material than Under Armour.
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Permalink Reply by Rob Young on
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I don't think they would let some of us respond to fires in just what we wear to bed...
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Permalink Reply by Ryan Angel on
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It will melt to ur skin and stay there it is very painful i have seen it happen.
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Yes, items such as Dryfire are a different material than the poly in Under Armour, and are probably better suited for use. I had a distributor for such garments advise that they would use caution with "FR" rated wear. Contrary to what the advertisers state, "FR" rated garment resistance may be weakened by repeated laundering. Some start to lose their "resistive" properties in as little as 10 washings, similar to Nomex.
I personally am staying with 100% cotton until more data is obtained. $35-$50 is a lot to pay for a shirt which may be no better than cotton after repeated washing. Just my opinion.
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