Brian O’Shea ends up ‘down on his uppers’ with CBRN footwear.
Boots on the Ground T
here is, no doubt, a ‘CDI’ – to use one of La Johnson’s phrases, a ‘Chicks Dig It’ [see CBRNe World Winter 2009, Ed.] – scale with PPE. At the very top you have the respirator: the only member of the PPE family with accessories. You might be able to get a Chameleon ‘bracelet’ (produced by Morphix Ed.) but that is nowhere near as cool as the mirrored shades for you M53. At the other end of the spectrum, in an inverse proportion to real life, are the boots and gloves. There are all sorts of exciting bedroom activities to be done with a respirator, but the boots and gloves… that’s just gardening wear [But what gardening wear! Mrs Winfield
swears by her Rex Gummitech gloves for pulling up thistles! Ed.]
Indeed, of the two, the gloves are probably further up the CDI scale than the lowly boot. It only takes a few tactile slips when carrying a ‘casualty’ in Level A for you to be told, in no uncertain terms, what will happen to you if they are dropped again! There is no doubt that the Hazmat techs are more used to this problem that the CBRN responder. For years, the glove was an integral part of the suit, and it required only the smallest amount of moisture – and all that sweat can only follow gravity – to watch things blamelessly slip from your grasp, leaving hand inside suit, and item all over the floor. Recent developments in Level A have seen this improve. Many of the new generation suits now have a bayonet fitting for the glove, which stops the flow of sweat and clamps the hand at the wrist. CBRN responders have, for many years, put up with the traditional butyl gloves that are hot and
uncomfortable, but not attached to the suit. Much like the Level A gloves, these have not
changed in many years, though
improvements are being made. Airboss Defence have put some greater emphasis on fit and tactility, which in the modern, computerised environment is essential. Indeed, they are leading the pack in terms of traditional CBRN gloves. The fact that they have ambidextrous gloves is a big advantage, both in terms of pulling them on in a hurry and replacing a glove. Also, the fact the they are butyl-moulded, rather than dipped, provides a number of improvements in product life and protection. The highest scoring glove on the CDI would appear to be the Warwick Mills Turtleskin glove, that was part-funded by TSWG (Technical Support Working Group) as part of their CBRN portfolio. One of the major concerns with all gloves is the puncture side of it. Neither military nor civilians can guarantee that their mission in the hotzone will not involve them handling, either voluntarily or otherwise, some form of sharp object that may pose a challenge to the integrity of the glove. Previously, manufacturers have balanced this by having some form of carbon glove with a form of membrane over it to stop liquid ingress. But as manufacturers of butyl gloves point out, they come with limited launderability and are often more expensive (as opposed to butyl). Warwick Mills gloves come from a different sector entirely, having been part-designed for those individuals that have to deal with what are popularly called ‘sharps’. These are usually puncture hazards with some form of biological threat added to them, e.g., searching drug dealers and addicts or dealing with medical waste. The medical glove for example is only 0.5mm thick, but will provide both blade and puncture protection, while the ‘hazmat’ glove comes with a water resistant shell and has four layers of
©Bluecher
aramid, giving maximum blade and puncture resistance. Unfortunately, the glove has little
www.cbrneworld.com CBRNe South America 2012, 13-14 March, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. More information on
www.icbrnevents.com
February 2012 CBRNe WORLD
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