Overalls

[KayBee]

Clare hope you enjoyed your first experience in the orange.

Wearing badges on overalls is up to to the individual's preference. Some people wear grade badges and others club badges - me neither, only my metal name/grade badge but my overalls are covered with printed sponsored adverts.

[DarrellB]

Sewing badges onto flame retardent overalls seems to defeat their purpose, unless the badges are also flame retardent.

As does wearing overalls that are so covered in dirt and oil that one spark would send the owner up in a ball of flames.

Overalls aren't cheap so it is worth looking after them carefully.

At a fire training session at Farnborough many years ago the instructor asked us to remove any metal badges from our overalls as they had a chance of getting extremely hot during the exercises.

[Stuart Hill]

Very true Darrell but if you are close enough for long enough that your badges heat up, let's face........YOU'RE TOO CLOSE !!! Whilst we all know that these wonderful probans will stop a speeding bullet, give the wearer super-human speed and strength not to mention stop a wayward car dead in it's tracks, let's not forget that they never have been or will be FIREPROOF !!! Use your extinguishers correctly and you should never be in that sort of situation. If you ever are, either you or a team mate has screwed-up!! Safe First, Hero Second.

[DarrellB]

The point I was making about the overalls is that their main purpose to offer a layer of protection.

There is always the possibility of being caught in a flash fire though Stu is right about not being too close and using the extinguisher as the first line of defence.

One point I get from observing fire training sessions is that many tend to charge right up to the seat of the fire and do not use the bottles from a safe distance and working in to the fire.

[Claire]

I take on board what you are both saying, I only plan to have my club badges on my overalls and nothing more so I should be ok. I hopefully won't come across too many burning cars this season and if I do I will let the more experiennced marshals get in there first. I really enjoyed my first marshaling meeting and can't wait for my next meeting at Snetterton on 7th April.

[Stuart Hill]

Darrell's last paragraph highlights a problem I've noticed creeping into Training Days. When I first attended a Donington Fire session in 1987, ALL trainees needing Fire signatures had an instructor as a buddy to guide & protect them. Too close: you wre pulled back...Too far away: pushed further in. Having attended many sessions since, both as refreshers for me or as instructors assistant/fire cover, it seems that this system is no longer adopted (certainly here in the Midlands). I don't know if it is through neglect or lack of instructors. I would love your comments on training sessions at other venues as I intend to become more involved in the practical side of training. I've taken classroom sessions at Speed/Hillclimb Training but never yet been in charge for a fire session. Any other ideas from anyone??? Things to add? Things to drop??

[pinki]

I attended a slightly different fire training this year that was organised by Octagon. They bought in a training team from the Kent Fire Brigade, 3 blokes with around 50 years experience between them. They had never trained marshals before so the experience was new to them. The cars we used were driven to the fire ground and parked up, still had the glass, petrol tanks, batteries, seats etc. They even had the keys in the ignition. I personally felt we learnt more from that training day than any other I have attended. They had a different approach to tackling the fires which certainly gave us 'food for thought'.

[FirePutterOuter]

Originally posted by Claire
Now I own a smart new pair of Proban overalls I wish to customise them.

Just don't get too attached to your overalls, it only takes a snag on the armco for the bum to fall out, and if you get involved in a messy incident they can all too easily get wrecked.

I once bought and wrecked a pair in a day following an incident with a eurocar that involved a car with windscreen that had been replaced that morning -mmm winscreen sealent makes such a lovely pattern on your overalls!!
I will say though the driver involved was a rare one - he offered to replace them

[Claire]

They have survived the 2 meetings I have attended so far and I have decided to leave them as they are, they still look very new but I am sure after a couple more outings the glare will wear off!!

[EvilPumpkin]

LOL - everyone wants to get the "shine" off their ovies and then once it's gone everyone laments how scruffy they look

[pinki]

I've got four pairs now, depending on the meeting depends on what ones I wear. They shouldn't get dirty this season though unless I'm a bit careless with the pen

[Stephen Green]

Yep, I've got a brand new pair as well, all bright and orangy but they have my name and blood group embroidered on them. Very poncy!

All I need now is for my g/f to sew the badges on!!! Hey EPW how are you with a needle and thread?

[KayBee]

Stephen! were you a Boy Scout and learn how to wield a needle and thread?

With regard to new overalls it is surprising how quickly they fade. Yesterday, in the gap between races, some of us were comparing the varying shades of orange of our overalls - especially by looking under the knee pocket flap.

[Dave Brand]

Originally posted by KayBee
Yesterday, in the gap between races, some of us were comparing the varying shades of orange of our overalls - especially by looking under the knee pocket flap.

Oh, what an interesting life those flaggies lead.....

Warwick Bridge must be a really boring post!

[Stephen Green]

And what's a knee pocket patch?

Boy Scout, me??? Never!

[andrew_powell98]

After reading this and seeing my overalls are not getting any cleaner no matter how many times they are washed, but the tip of the iceberg came when some 2 XR2's decided they did not like the flag post at old hall a gave me a little fright. So next meeting a clean bright orange pair will be warn agin.

[EvilPumpkin]

Originally posted by Stephen Green
Yep, I've got a brand new pair as well, all bright and orangy but they have my name and blood group embroidered on them. Very poncy!

All I need now is for my g/f to sew the badges on!!! Hey EPW how are you with a needle and thread?

LOL - **** - Grant does all the sewing! That's why he has patches on his ovies and I have none at all!

[KayBee]

So Andy it was your fault all those XR2s not making it past the first corner - twice.

Stephen I said knee flap (covering A5 size pocket just below the right knee), which is on the Oulton designed ovies, EPW and Andy will know what I mean, (see the link on themarshalsclub site where the manufacturers are advertised).

[Stephen Green]

righty ho...thanks dear

[Dave Brand]

Originally posted by andrew_powell98
but the tip of the iceberg came when some 2 XR2's decided they did not like the flag post at old hall a gave me a little fright

The first thing we saw at Lodge for the first two starts was the red flag......the XR2's are back!

[andrew_powell98]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by KayBee
[B]So Andy it was your fault all those XR2s not making it past the first corner - twice.

It is not fault that some Fiestas just find me attractive
I am still finding bits of windscreen.

[EvilPumpkin]

Originally posted by andrew_powell98
It is not fault that some Fiestas just find me attractive
I am still finding bits of windscreen.

Um....where?

[wiggles]

I'm marshalling for the first time this coming weekend (5/5/02) at the AMOC meeting, Brands Hatch.

I've been trawling the shops to find a decent set of overalls/boiler suit that will provide my clothes some protection against muck and mud but am very concious of 'flag clashing'.

The closest I can find is boiler suit, £20 that is a very dark red/purple. Does anyone think this might be a problem?

Would it just be better to buy the orange proban overalls straight away?

(Sorry don't have a piccy)

Cheers for any help,

James

[EvilPumpkin]

James, I would suggest contacting the Chief Marshal or Recruitment Office for the Brands marshals and see if they keep any spare overalls for people marshalling for the first time - a lot of clubs do.

If not, colours to avoid are:
Blue (bright blue - navy is probably ok)
Yellow
Red
White
Green (again bright green - sludge green you can probably get away with!)

If you ARE going to wear dark colours, please ensure you pick up a hi-vis vest to go over them - just to be on the safe side.

Also, make sure you have rain gear with you.

Whilst is is always a good idea to have your Probans, they're an expensive outlay. Most clubs suggest that you try out at least one meeting before buying them - but I guess it's only going to cost about £40 more than you're paying out now, so it may be an option for you.

Hope you have a great first day's marshalling. Be a good boy for your IO and stay safe!

[Dave Brand]

Originally posted by wiggles
The closest I can find is boiler suit, £20 that is a very dark red/purple. Does anyone think this might be a problem?

Would it just be better to buy the orange proban overalls straight away?

I'd go straight for the orange Probans, for two reasons: firstly, you will avoid colour clashes, both with flags & with other groups, such as the rescue units, who tend to have their own, &, secondly, Proban is a flame retardant, which protects you in the, admittedly unlikely, event that you should be caught in a vehicle fire.

EPW's suggestion of seeing if you can borrow overalls is a good idea - I would think that it should be possible at Brands.