Types of Preventive Clothing and Their Uses or Applications Part-10

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Mitten:
A mitten is a type of protective clothing used to cover the hand. The word is usually used in its plural form (“mittens”), since most of the time a pair is used as opposed to a single mitten. Mittens are similar to gloves, in that they cover the hand and help to keep it warm in cold weather. However, while gloves have coverings for four fingers and a thumb, mittens only have a covering for all of the fingers, and for the thumb.

Figure 64: “Baby Mitten”

Figure 65: “Kitchen Mitten”

Figure 66: “Knit Mitten”

Bulletproof Vest:
A bulletproof vest, ballistic vest or bullet-resistant vest is an item of personal armor that helps absorb the impact from firearm-fired projectiles and shrapnel from explosions, and is worn on the torso. Soft vests are made from many layers of woven or laminated fibers and can be capable of protecting the wearer from small-caliber handgun and shotgun projectiles, and small fragments from explosives such as hand grenades.

Metal or ceramic plates can be used with a soft vest, providing additional protection from rifle rounds, and metallic components or tightly woven fiber layers can give soft armor resistance to stab and slash attacks from knives and similar close-quarter weapons. Soft vests are commonly worn by police forces, private citizens who are at risk of being shot (e.g., national leaders), security guards, and bodyguards, whereas hard-plate reinforced vests are mainly worn by combat soldiers, police tactical units, and hostage rescue teams.

Modern body armor may combine a ballistic vest with other items of protective clothing, such as a combat helmet. Vests intended for police and military use may also include ballistic shoulder and side protection armor components, and bomb disposal officers wear heavy armor and helmets with face visors and spine protection.

Figure 67: “The Improved Outer Tactical Vest (IOTV), here in Universal Camouflage Pattern, is issued to U.S. Army soldiers”

Flak Jacket:
A flak jacket or flak vest is a form of body armor designed to provide protection from case fragments (“frag”) from high explosive weaponry, such as anti-aircraft artillery (“flak” a German contraction for Flugzeugabwehrkanone), grenades, some round shot used in shotguns and land mines and other lower-velocity projectiles. It is not designed to protect against bullets fired from small-arms such as rifles or handguns. However, certain flak jackets are able to sustain certain gunshots, dependent on the armor, the gun, and the distance that the bullet has travelled.

The term “flak jacket” is often colloquially applied to newer body armor featuring protection against small arms projectiles, but the original usage predated the existence of functional bulletproof vests and the two are not interchangeable in performance.

Figure 68: “Flak Jacket for Urban Combat Unit”

 Fire Proximity Suit:
A fire proximity suit (also, silvers or silver bunker suit) is a suit designed to protect a firefighter from high temperatures, especially near fires of extreme temperature such as aircraft fires.

Fire proximity suits first appeared during the 1930s, and were originally made of asbestos fabric (hence also known as the asbestos suit). Today they are manufactured from vacuum-deposited aluminized materials that reflect the high radiant loads produced by the fire.

There are three basic types of these aluminized suits:

• Approach suit—used for work in the general area of high temperatures such as steel mills and smelting facilities. (Ambient heat protection up to ~200 °F (93 °C).)

• Proximity suit—used for aircraft rescue and fire fighting (AR-FF) and, in more heavily insulated versions, for kiln work requiring entry into the heated kiln. (Kiln suit ambient protection ~2,000 °F (1,093 °C) and proximity ambient protection~ 500 °F (260 °C))

• Entry suit—used for entry into extreme heat and situations requiring protection from total flame engulfment. Most commonly made of Zetex or Vermiculite and not aluminized. (Entry suit ambient protection ~2,000 °F (1,093 °C)) for short duration and prolonged radiant heat up to 1,500 °F (816 °C).

Figure 69: “Firefighters training at a U.S. Air Force base in fire proximity suits”

Bunker Gear:
Bunker gear or turnout gear are terms used by many firefighters to refer to their system of outer protective clothing. “Bunker gear” and “turnout gear” can refer, depending on the context, to just the trousers, boots and jacket, or to the entire combination of personal protective equipment and personal protective clothing. The terms are derived from the fact that the trousers and boots are traditionally kept by the firefighter’s bunk at the fire station to be readily available for use. This clothing is usually referred to as “fire kit” in the UK and Ireland. In Hong Kong, it is referred to as incident gear.

Figure 70: “Fire fighters wearing Bunker Suits as a part of Bunker Gear”

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