Knit & Play with Fire: Finding the Perfect...

No, not the perfect man or woman. That is impossible but I have heard that you can find a pretty good almost perfect one sometimes.

No, I am talking about the perfect fire glove. See you need a certain type of glove to work in hot environments like fire. Gloves have to meet certain standards. And while all fire gloves do meet these standards, there is one slight problem with them. Like all fire gear, they are designed for men and cut down to fit a woman. That means turn out gear, boots, hoods, and why yes, gloves. I an live with my hood although I may end up buying one of the purple ones but you will never see me in one of the striped ones. I can live with my sleeves on my jacket being a little bit long (think finger tip length.) I can fix my boots by keeping a thicker pair of socks tucked inside to wear with them. My pants actually fit. But I can't seem to find a pair of fire gloves that fit my hand and will stay on.

Now even regular gloves for me can be fun trying to find. But that is because my hand is about average for a woman's and gloves tend to sell out fast. But fire gloves are a whole different story. See I was issued a pair of extra small gloves by the county when I got the rest of my gear. The only problem was that they feel off my hand when I went to move my hands. Okay, let me go out and buy another pair.

I went to a fire equipment dealer in the DC area and bought a pair of fire gloves and a pair of extrication gloves. Now the extrication gloves are nice and fit perfect even though they are an extra extra small. But they are bright red. But they can not be worn in a fire environment. They are strictly for rescue. I bought a pair of what were labeled extra smalls fire gloves. They managed to stay on better than my first pair. Although they too will fall off if I shake my hand too hard.

So I borrowed a pair from another female fire fighter who has the same hand size as me. Hers were a perfect fit and didn't come off to easily. I called the place where I had bought the first pair since they carry that manufacturer. I ordered 2 pairs of gloves. I got them yesterday and they sent me the wrong ones!!!!!

They swear these are the ones I ordered. But I know they are not because the label even says a different model number. They do fit it is just that the wristlet on them bunches up over the nomex finger protection. Too bad I can't just knit a pair.

So yesterday afternoon, I checked out the manufacturer's website and found another dealer up in Pennsylvania. He didn't have the particular model in stock that I wanted. But we talked for a bit and discussed the particular brand and model of my turnout gear. He suggested a different glove by the same manufacturer that will work with my long sleeves and doesn't have the knitted wristlet. He didn't have any extra smalls in stock but he ordered them for me. He is going to give me a call when they come in. He will ship them to me and let me try them before I have to pay for them. So hopefully I will have a pair of new gloves that will work by the end of next week.

But I am planning on attending the 2 fire expos that are coming up in the next several months to look for gloves and hoods. If you think yarn addicts are bad at fiber festivals, fire fighters are worse. Their toys cost more than ours for starters. And one nice thing about being a female in the fire service is that you are surrounded by men at these expos.

And now for some knitting progress. I am going to show off a new photo of my socks but they really don't look that different from the last photo other than they are longer. But they do have a new name - The Chocolate Socks. Some one in my fire class started calling them that and the name has stuck. They really do look like socks made out of chocolate.

I need to make sure that I work on my Must Have tonight. I will be in a seminar all weekend about Emergency Response to Terrorism: Operations. So I am planning on taking my socks and my Clapotis with me. I am hoping that I will be able to work on them during the seminar. This will be my first seminar at the operations level so I am not sure. And I do need to pay attention. Although there are many people who have discounted the fact that there have been no more attacks on US soul, we have to keep in mind that the are domestic terrorists. according to the FBI's latest definition of terrorism PETA can be considered a domestic terrorist group. Plus, my department is close enough to the DC area that we can be called down there if there is a need. I know of a another fire company whose old engine was called down to the Pentagon on September 11.

And just a friendly fire safety tip, if you have a chimney in your house, please get it cleaned out. You really do not want to see big trucks with lots of lights, horns, and hoses at your house!