Staying cool under pressure. A new fabric offers lightweight protection for firefighters: Fid-Bau Portal

Staying cool under pressure. A new fabric offers lightweight protection for firefighters

Short notice given only substantially as follows: Ashburn Hill Corporation, based in South Carolina, USA, has developed Tecgen Xtreme to offer lighter, cooler nonstructural turnout gear that gives ultimate performance and protection for firefighters. The company says that traditional turnout gear is hot, heavy and uncomfortable, and says that nearly 80% of responses do not actually require full turnout gear. Tecgen Xtreme was designed to offer over three times the Total Heat Loss (THL) of heavy and hot turnout gear, allowing the body to remain cooler and thus decreasing the likelihood of heat stress, the main killer of firefighters. According to the company, the new design protects like much heavier gear and delivers UL certified, lightweight single layer protection at a fraction of the cost of traditional gear. In recent testing for THL, which measures fabric's ability to remove heat from the body, the company said Tecgen Xtreme fabric had over 300% more capability compared with traditional turnout gear. Similarly, when tested for Thermal Protective Performance (TPP), it delivered 56% more protection than the leading single layer products available. When combined with a Tecgen braned baselayer, the TPP rating is reported to exceed 40 - higher than some heavy turnout gear. Ashburn Hill Corp says that the inherent fire protection is wash-resistant, cut-resistant and resists UV light degradation, unlike bunker gear. Tecgen Xtreme is made using the patented, high density, bi-regional Tecgen fibre with its carbonaceous shell which absorbs heat, while the inside region of the fibre allows for a cool, comfortable garment. When it comes to protection from radiant heat, electric arc fires and flash fires, Tecgen Xtreme non-structural turnout gear made with Tecgen fibre consistently performs above the competition.