It’s obvious that you need thermal protection, but you also need to be protected from liquids and keep heat stress to a minimum. Testing has shown that our protective barriers remained thermally stable after heat exposure, which allowed them to maintain a high level of breathability, and liquid penetration protection over the long term.
Highest Breathability
The choice of protective barrier in your turnout gear has the most impact on breathability — more than any combined choice of outer shell and thermal barrier. If your body’s heat cannot escape from your gear, you run the risk of elevated heart rate, raised body core temperature, and accelerated dehydration, potentially leading to impaired decision-making and heat exhaustion events. A recent study confirmed that GORE® protective barriers deliver the highest breathability, significantly outperforming the competition in the broader conditions you encounter when responding to a call. And they continue to deliver consistent breathability even after exposure to high heat.
Durable Protection from Liquids
In today’s world, you face an increased risk of exposure to blood-borne pathogens. It’s important, then, to make sure that your turnout gear protects you from these hazards. Our line of products protects you from water, blood, body fluids, and common chemicals for the life-cycle of the garment, exceeding the requirements specified in NFPA 1971. We have put our protective barriers through more than five times the number of wash cycles required by NFPA, and they showed no leaks, tears, or deterioration in protection.
Gore Warranty Programs
We take pride in providing innovative products, leading technologies, and unparalleled service to the fire industry. GORE® CROSSTECH® moisture barriers, GORE® RT7100 moisture barriers, and GORE® PARALLON™ liner systems are now covered under an expanded program as a result of their exceptional field performance. Not only does this warranty program apply to new purchases, but it is retroactive from the original date of manufacture for moisture barriers already in the market.
Having turnout gear that withstands the conditions in which you work depends on the quality of the fabrics’ construction and the manufacturing process of the garment. For more than 35 years, W. L. Gore & Associates has been a pioneer in developing high-performance barrier fabrics for first responder and military applications. At Gore, we work closely with our licensed manufacturers during initial gear design, rigorous laboratory and field testing, and final product performance — all to ensure that you can be confident your turnout gear does what we say it will do.
WARNING: No products, including garments, footwear, and gloves, protect completely, even when new; their protective performance will decline with wear, tear, abrasion, and other damage associated with use.