By Todd Herring
Turnout gear decisions are product, operational, safety, budget and culture decisions. The right gear has to protect firefighters, but it also has to support the way a department actually works: the calls, the climate, the terrain, the body types, the staffing model and the expectations of the people wearing it. This is why gear evaluations often start with questions long before a department looks at any finished coat and pant combination.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department offers a useful example of how a large, multifaceted department can approach those questions. The department — which covers roughly 2,400 square miles, with multiple terrains, weather patterns and operational demands — helped evaluate and field-test turnout gear, sharing feedback focused on their ability to manage heat, fatigue and movement on the fireground. Through this process, the department identified a series of key questions any department should consider when selecting new gear.
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What does protection mean here?
Protection is the baseline. Turnout gear must meet applicable NFPA standards and provide the expected thermal, physical and moisture protection. But departments also have to think about protection in a broader operational sense. If firefighters are overheating too quickly, tiring too early or struggling with mobility, those issues can affect performance and safety.
For L.A. County, breathability and heat stress were central concerns. The department’s firefighters work across a wide range of environments, and the ability to remove heat from the body was identified as a priority. That made it essential to evaluate protection and heat release as part of the same garment system.
Where are firefighters losing time, energy or range of motion?
Gear should always be evaluated in motion. A coat-and-pant pairing that seems acceptable while standing still can feel very different once a firefighter is operating under heat, weight and stress.
In the L.A. County discussion, firefighters focused on the details that affect performance in the field: donning speed, reduced binding through the shoulders, better movement and less fatigue as heat builds. Those may sound like small gains, but on the fireground, a few seconds, a freer reach or one more minute of usable work capacity can be consequential.
Departments should ask firefighters where current gear slows them down:
- Is it too stiff through the upper body?
- Too bulky through the torso?
- Difficult to don quickly?
- Does it limit crouching, crawling, climbing or overhead work?
- Do crews feel spent sooner than expected?
The answers can shape a broad gear specification into a practical performance checklist.
How will we evaluate comfort without confusing it with preference?
Comfort may sound subjective but has practical consequences in turnout gear, all of which affect how long firefighters are able to work effectively. A useful evaluation should capture firefighter feedback, then organize it around performance factors the department can compare.
Departments can ask crews to assess donning, fit across body types, mobility, heat buildup, perceived fatigue, range of motion and overall confidence in the gear. L.A. County firefighters evaluated gear in live-fire conditions and spoke to the details they could feel — the process of gearing up, moving their shoulders and the impact of heat release features. The goal is to separate preference from performance by looking for patterns across firefighters, roles and scenarios.
Are we testing gear in the conditions our firefighters actually face?
For L.A. County, broad geography and high operational variety made field testing essential. Other departments may need to focus their evaluations on heat and humidity, long-duration incidents, cold-weather performance, frequent EMS crossover, tight interior spaces, rapid turnout times or the realities of mutual aid.
A strong evaluation process should include structured wear trials, live training when appropriate and documented firefighter feedback. It should also involve the people responsible for training, safety, purchasing, maintenance and life-cycle management, because gear performance does not end after selection. It has to hold up across use, care, inspection and replacement planning.
What innovations are we willing to consider, and how will we validate them?
New features can create skepticism, especially when they challenge long-held assumptions about turnout gear. Ventilation is a good example. Firefighters may reasonably ask how a garment can release heat while still helping keep hazards out. That skepticism can strengthen the evaluation process by pushing the department to examine construction, standards compliance, testing data and field performance before drawing conclusions.
In the L.A. County example, ventilation was informed by body mapping and focused on strategic high-heat areas, including under the arms and the inner thigh area, where the body needs to release heat during hard work. That user-driven evaluation helped inform gear feedback related to protection, breathability and mobility.
The broader lesson is that departments should ask what problem any new feature is designed to solve, how it works, what assumptions it challenges and how it has been validated in conditions that reflect the job.
Do our firefighters trust the gear?
Trust comes from understanding why gear was selected and how it was proven. Departments will weigh priorities differently, but stronger questions and a clearer evaluation process help turn those priorities into better decisions.
So, before the next purchase, ask what your firefighters need most:
- Is the current gear supporting the job?
- Is heat, mobility, fit or fatigue a problem?
- Are there new features that can help firefighters work safer and concentrate on the task at hand?
The strongest evaluations start at the fireground and work backward: understanding the conditions, listening to the ones wearing the gear and choosing what helps them perform at their best.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Todd Herring is vice president of product innovation and strategy at Fire-Dex, focusing on firefighter PPE. With more than two decades of experience in protective textiles, Herring is dedicated to advancing gear that enhances firefighter safety, performance and comfort.
