Flame Resistance
Massif's FR Line
Until recently, creating a flame-resistant fabric or garment meant decreasing comfort and reducing critical performance characteristics such as breathability, stretch, and wicking. Massif began with the radical concept that protective flame-resistant gear can perform as well as the best outdoor clothing on the market. Since 1999, Massif has invested tens of millions of dollars and tens of thousands of person-hours engineering a new generation of performance FR fabrics that provide protection for people who take on the world's most dangerous jobs.
Most fabrics are made of combustible materials (such as cotton, nylon, and polyester) and will ignite when exposed to a flame. A flame hazard may be short-lived, but if your clothes catch on fire, the potential for burn injuries is exacerbated. Thus, the most important defining characteristic of an FR fabric is that it doesn't support combustion – meaning that, at least, it won't add to a burn injury; and, in many cases, will protect the user from getting burned by creating a thermal barrier between a flame hazard and the skin.
All of our flame resistant product have the following symbol on the care label:
In the video below, SFC Sarah Walker gives a first hand account of being in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan and how the Massif ACS protected her from serious burn injury.
When you wear a Massif FR garment, you can trust that it will provide you with a proven combination of flame resistance, performance and comfort. The performance and comfort will be obvious. And hopefully, you'll never have an opportunity to learn about the quality of our flame resistance from a real world experience. But if you do, you'll be glad you invested in a quality product.
"No-Melt/No-Drip" is Not Good Enough.
Many manufacturers advertise their products as "No Melt - No Drip" and imply that these garments are flame resistant. Be cautious of this type of labeling. It's true that when exposed to flame and heat, garments labeled as only "No Melt – No Drip" won't melt and fuse to your skin like garments made from conventional synthetic fibers. However, they will likely support combustion over a level deemed acceptable by international guidelines defining the level of performance for a garment labeled Flame Resistant. This greatly limits the level of burn protection these garments provide in a flash fire scenario.
The FR technologies used in Massif products provide a much higher degree of flame resistance. All of our FR fabrics meet stringent standards for Vertical Flame Resistance, meaning that when a Massif garment is labeled "FR," it provides true Flame Resistant protection.
