Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for Wildland Firefighters
What wildland firefighters wear/PPE
PPE (also known as Personal Protective Equipment) is what we wear on the fireline or doing project work. Most of it is issued to you when you start work. You will have to buy to buy your own fire boots, socks, a belt, undergarments, and personal sunglasses.
It includes:
8-inch high leather or approved fire resistant boots (boot types and brands are a hot topic, read more on the WILDLAND FIRE BOOTS resource page)
Socks. I wear these Danner tall lightweight merino wool hiking socks, but other people love thick wool socks or one thin pair of sock liners under another pair (Here’s tons of options)
Nomex pants (also called “greens” because of the common color). Nomex is a brand name synthetic textile that is tough and heat and flame resistant up to about 500 degrees
A belt is nice, but not required. I bought this Bison Designs Belt my first year and used it until my friend made me one like this. Both kinds of web belts are indestructible. Some people wear leather belts so that’s an option
Cotton or merino wool short or long sleeve t-shirt (I love Duckworth wool shirts and here are more men’s options and women’s options). Synthetic materials like polyester and lycra can melt onto your skin and cause very bad burns if those types of shirts catch fire
Guys on my crews love Duluth Trading underwear. There’s a million types of cotton and merino underwear options
For the ladies, I wear merino wool sports bras (these are the ones I wear. Branwyn bras are awesome and totally worth the money!) or cotton sports bras (with as little elastane or lycra in the blend) are good too and cotton underwear (black is always a good choice because any other color is going to look so gnarly after awhile) and I love cheeky or hipster styles and these boyshorts)
I have a resource page devoted to my favorite women’s gear HERE
Nomex button-down shirt (also known as a “yellow” because of the common color)
Leather gloves (I keep them together with an s-carabiner on my pack so they aren’t easily lost)
Eye protection (sunglasses and clear safety glasses). I love Goodr brand’s Circle G and Sunski Tera sunglasses. They fit my small head, don’t slip down, are flexible, polarized and $25ish each (Circle Gs) $98 (Teras, which is worth it for fire and winter backcountry skiing) and they both hold up super well.
You’ll be issued some sort of clear safety glasses
Hard hat with chin strap (used when around helicopters or strong wind) and shroud (to protect your face and neck from heat and flames)
Ear protection (ear plugs) if you are running a chainsaw or around one or other machinery
I was really worried at first about wearing two shirts, long pants, and hiking in leather boots instead of the tank top, shorts, and trail running shoes I would prefer to hike long distances in.
I get really hot, but honestly being covered from the sun makes a huge difference and the Nomex clothing is really soft and a little oversized which provides for pretty good airflow.
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