wet vs dry suit

[Rick Kirchner]

One of the great thing about this USMC science job is the great conferences I get to go to a couple of times a year. This week I'm in Raleigh visiting UNC, NC State, Duke, and a bunch of companies in Research Triangle.

Today I spent an hour or so with the textile research guys at NC State - they are the guys that test new materials for the military, firefighters, and some racing applications. They have a really cool set of test cells with propane flamethrowers that roast instrumented dummies.

So I asked them to settle a long time debate on this site - if a wet suit compromised it's safety - and the answer from multiple researchers and the techs that ran the chamber was a resounding YES. I was advised to stay as dry as possible but what really surprised me was the need to immediately get out of any suit you've been in a fire in.

turns out that the hot exterior of the suit will continue to transmit heat (albeit somewhat slowly) to the inside of the suit. Even flexing elbows and knees will bring hot material closer to the skin and give you significant burns on those areas. The outside of the suit could be several hundred degrees - so corner workers need to be careful.

So you either need to be doused with water to cool off the suit or get out of it and the helmet as soon as you are away from the fire. they indicated it was just a matter of several seconds before you start to get burned.

Four seconds in a single layer coverall (like a flight suit) will result in 2nd and 3rd degree burns over about 30% of your body.

Those shelters that wildland fire fighters carry? they're just body bags. In about 10 seconds they burn completely through - not that it matters because the air inside is so hot that lung damage is pretty inevitable.

[BeerBudgetRacing]

How do I "NOT LIKE" a post

Good info Rick.

My daughter commented to me one time that I seem to get out of my car in a "panic".
I told her there was no sense in doing it any other way. Every time I get out I'm practicing for that time I'll need to get out quickly....

So practice getting out of the suit quickly too.

[TimH]

My understanding was that if you're wearing Nomex (as opposed, say, to PBI or straight CarbonX) the material will shrink and turn so brittle on fire that it should be a simple matter to rip it right off. That doesn't keep you from getting poached by wet heat that isn't flame, though.