The present invention relates generally to protective clothing for firefighters and, more particularly, to a combination boot and turnout pant wherein the pant legs are removably secured to a pair of boots to provide a substantially watertight seal yet permit the boots to be readily removed from the pant.
Firefighting is very physically demanding work which must be performed under stressful conditions even in the best of circumstances. It is essential for firefighters to wear clothing which protects them from the hazards of the fire environment, while still providing comfort and preventing unnecessary distraction from their work. Firefighter apparel most often consists of a longsleeved turnout coat, protective gloves, full length turnout pant, and boots. When firefighters respond to a call, they normally pull on turnout pant and then put on boots which extend up into the pant. Alternatively, the pant legs may be provided with large enough openings such that booted feet can pass through the pant legs.
Ideally, it would be better to have the boots secured to the pant such that firefighters can simply slip off their current footwear and climb into the turnout pant and attached boots. However, there are problems associated with permanently attaching the boots to the pant. These problems include, cleaning the boots and pant on a periodic basis and the effective destruction of the pant whenever a boot is damaged or vice versa.
Although the pant and boots of prior art turnout apparel provide excellent protection when firefighters are standing upright on a dry surface, many duties of a firefighter require stepping or kneeling in standing water. These duties invariably result in water entering one or both boots and/or the pant thermal layer. Besides being uncomfortable, a wet pant thermal layer or boot full of water is an unnecessary distraction which prevents firefighters from fully concentrating on their work. Even the moisture barrier of prior art turnout pant cannot prevent water from inching up the thermal layer once it becomes wet. A wet thermal layer takes a long time to dry and, more importantly, has lower thermal protection for the firefighter than a dry thermal layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,879,769 discloses a vertically extending strap and fastener attachment means for attaching firefighters trousers to their boots to prevent the trouser cuffs from riding up and lodging at the upper edge of the boots. However, the strap and fastener attachment of this patent does not provide a moisture proof barrier which will keep the inside layers of the trousers and/or the boots dry when a firefighter is wading or crawling through water.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved combination turnout pant and associated boots which provide a substantially watertight seal between the pant and the boots to substantially reduce the intrusion of water into the boots and into a pant thermal layer, yet permit removal of the boots from the pant for periodic cleaning and for replacement or repair of a damaged boot or pant, thereby providing advances in the art and, more importantly, better protection for firefighters.