INDIANAPOLIS — It’s been an ongoing battle for structural firefighting glove manufacturers: how to add more dexterity without compromising protection. Firefighters are hoping they win that battle.
Gore, which makes protective barriers for PPE such as the waterproof Gore-Tex, introduced a thermal liner at FDIC for structural gloves. Various glove manufacturers will buy the liners from Gore when making their gloves — the liners cannot be bought separately.
The company used a 3-D molding technology to form the liner and bond the moisture barrier to it. Both, it says, reduce the size of the liner and improve dexterity.
And when you try on both the new Crosstech liner and an old liner, there is greater range of movement. Part of this is because the new liners didn’t require seams to construct the fingers. This makes for less bunching where the fingers connect to the palm.
Gore says this new-found dexterity does not come at the cost of protection or durability. The battle for full dexterity may never be won, but the frontline is certainly moving.