Anything that will melt to your skin before you can egress a burning vehicle is frowned upon.:nono:
All the high speed moisture wicking undergarments that we wear stateside are a one way ticket to severe and highly septic burns if you get hit with an IED and set on fire. It takes a lot less time than you think for the over flash to melt your undies.
I had heard about the moisture wicking stuff such as Under Armour being a problem before but never thought about the Mechanix Gloves in the same sense.
Yeah, I got issued Drifire undershirts and briefs. Moisture wicking AND fire resistant, only $40 a t shirt.
As an helo gunner all of our clothing is nomex that is made by Massif or Drifire. Our gloves are Massif or Oakley which is nomex as well. I had to pick up more than a few people from convoys that struck IED’s. A few poor souls did wear gear that burned to their skin because they chose not to wear approved nomex based gear. I know of 3 that died due to this.
My entire unit wears the BH Serpa holster for our M9’s on our chest. This allows easier access to the weapon in time of need like using the helo hoist with one hand and then drawing out the M9 to protect yourself with your free hand hand for example.
Anyone that serves takes a risk but a even bigger unnecessary risk for wearing gear that isn’t approved.
I’ve got a couple scars on my hands from gloves that melted to them (non combat related). Stupid move to wear non-FR gear.
This pile of feces is made a few miles down the road from me. I wouldn’t take one if it were free.