I picked up a medium long sized firemans’ coat and 38x32 pants outfit in a second hand store this evening. It’s in near perfect condition and apparently has seen very little use. It’s the real deal with the big metal catch buckle clasps on the coat, wide reflective piping all around, and is heavily insulated. The suit and pants together have to weigh close to 30 lbs. The heavy duty construction is amazing, it feels practically bulletproof.
This may be a silly question, but is it OK for me to sell this uniform on Ebay? It doesn’t have any Firehouse ID tags attached so I’m assuming it’s OK, but if anybody put it on you’d pretty much assume they were a fireman.
Make sure you’re ready to answer a ton of inquiries, and go into painstaking detail when the item is described and listed on eBay.
Some manufacturers have had trouble with failure of thermal barriers/vapor barriers/outer shells, and you may have an item not worthy of use in suppression. Check the label inside the coat or liner flap for data that us hoseheads will want to know.
When selling surplus stuff for my fire company, my inbox was filled with daily questions, and I thought I’d done a good job of describing products.
I looked at some new turnout gear and jacket + pant outfits and they look to run around $ 1000 + for a set Some of the more expensive sets use newer and more exotic materials. I’m beginning to think this gear I’ve got is at least a few years old (even if unused) given the cotton+wool insulation and non-exotic materials.
This is more of a general, but related, question. I thought the outer shells were typically Nomex or a combination of Kevlar, Nomex, and/or another flame resistant material. The cotton would seem to offer little flame reisistance. Is the cotton treated? Wouldn’t it have to be re-treated after a soaking?
I looked for a cite, but I couldn’t find a list of approved materials for turnout gear. However, I’ve never seen anything for sale that wasn’t Nomex, PBI, or something similar. This leads me to believe there aren’t any other approved materials. I believe treated cotton can be used for wildland firefighting, but I sure wouldn’t want to use it.
Nomex turnout gear is still used plenty of places (that’s what I have), because PBI and other fancier materials are more expensive.
It’s legal, although if I were you, I would make sure that you made no guarantees, implied or expressed, as to its’ fitness for use in fires. In fact, I would go further, and say that you do NOT make any guarantees to the gears’ fitness for use.
Having looked at your eBay link, I have to wonder if it is not structural gear, but wildland gear, which I’ve seen in green, although yellow was the color when I did forestry suppression.
If people have questions, you may refer them to NFPA 1971 Standard on Protective Ensemble for Structural Fire Fighting and NFPA 1977 Standard on Protective Clothing and Equipment for Wildland Fire Fighting. Both describe materials, methods of assembly, and certification by third parties of suitability for intended task.
FWIW, St. Urho PBI isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. UV exposure causes changes in the color and resistance of the outer shell. My department did an evaluation, and stayed with the tried and true Nomex shell, putting our money into improvements in the thermal/vapor barrier.
Could be, why would it be insulated though. I still do some wildland firefighting, and I’ve never seen anything like it. Depending on the agency we had green nomex or tan kevlar uninsulated pants. With yellow shirts, of course. Could be from another country, too. That just occurred to me.
Thanks, that’s good to know. The kevlar wildland pants are pretty damn nice, anyway.