DRIFIRE Prime vs. Oakley CarbonX, and the Winner Is….

Oakley CarbonX vs. DRIFIRE Prime Undergarments for the racing industry firefighter:

Comfort, easy to aggressively work in, makeup of the material, and much much more. As a Firefighter/EMT in the racing industry I can be in a SFI rated fire suit for up to 16 hours a day, 3-4 days per week, and in a myriad of weather ranging from cold, wind, occasional snow, especially rain, and yes extreme heat and humidity. A lot of my “brothers and sisters” in this industry know exactly what I’m referring to, and comfort related to safety is one of the hardest things to achieve. Initially, when I got started in the industry I did what many us do… I’d come in to work, get my gear, and throw it on right over top of a pair of athletic shorts and a t-shirt (more than likely made of synthetic material); but I was comfortable and cool as possible while the weather was 90 degrees Fahrenheit and humidity of what seemed like 1000, this was before I knew better and things in the industry changed.

April 24^th, 2015, Pit Road, Richmond International Raceway; a fire on pit road caused 3 racing team members to be burned, 2 were sent to the hospital for treatment. This fire caused NASCAR Officials to make a dramatic change to standards involving safety apparel. Initially fire resistant undergarments were recommended for use; after that incident, ANY Pit Road Team Member with even the potential of crossing the pit road wall MUST wear SFI rated fire resistant underwear from head to toe. This includes socks, long underwear, long sleeve shirt, a fire hood that covers the mouth and nose, fire resistant gloves, and even fire resistant shoes; and all that underneath their SFI rated fire suit and a helmet when going over the wall. But these standards only apply to NASCAR Officials and Race team members… I decided to take this event and make myself more safe; I purchased a set of Oakley CarbonX Underwear for Military and Firefighters.

The Oakley CarbonX Underwear, long sleeve shirt and long pants, were much safer than the average athletic apparel that I used to wear underneath my fire suit; and even though I was wearing long FR underwear, I still felt just as comfortable as before. An important note is that, these undergarments, although missing the SFI Rated Tag, are made of the exact same 100% CarbonX material, these items were simply not SFI tested and are marketed as “for military and firefighters”. I decided to take them through the paces; I wore them during trainings, weekend track rentals, 3 days straight of actual racing, and even underneath a “class B” uniform. The weather ranged from cold wind during May hands on training, to those hot muggy days mentioned earlier, and even a road course race that started warm and muggy but ended up cool and very wet. So, what was the upside of Oakley CarbonX? I was already more safe wearing full body fire resistant coverage, it is cool and breathable; so, contrary to the thought of long underwear, I didn’t overheat, and it was comfortable underneath my fire suit or uniform; and during the road course race mentioned, I stayed dry and warm. With the intensive work on Pit Road or On Track Fire, they held up considerably well. I could move easily, cross the wall, perform fire suppression and even perform extrication just as easily as if I was wearing athletic apparel. But there is always a downside to everything… The flat seams and the stitching seem to fray quite a bit and are already showing issues in the make. The other issues that I’ve noticed are that there isn’t much stretch in the material and therefore don’t provide any compression to the skin. Also, once your 16 hour day is complete and you change out of your gear; there is a lot of “residue” and lint left behind on the skin. After you get them hung up to dry, you notice that the odor and sweat that has accumulated all day, is by and far still there and you almost don’t want to put it back on the next day…even when you know It will keep you safe. So, after all of that, at the end of the season I started looking for an alternative; but did I want to simply invest in a second pair of CarbonX or did I want something else? I found DRIFIRE Prime.

DRIFIRE Prime is used by drivers, race teams and rescue staff alike. It is the official FR undergarment of the Holmatro Rescue Team, this team travels and provides fire and medical coverage for the Indy Car Racing Series. And, the same product is now being marketed to the military. This was one of the biggest attractions to the product, it was initially designed for and in use by the racing industry. DRIFIRE Prime is SFI 3.3 and NFPA 70E Rated, has moisture wicking Drirelease technology, is breathable, odor resistant, has flat lock and no rub seams, made of flexible 4 way stretch material, and DRIFIRE is a self-extinguishing, no drip and no melt material. I contacted DRIFIRE and purchased a set of long undergarments, Shirt and Pants; then put them through the same paces as Oakley. Immediately I was hooked; I tested them in training, under my uniform and weekend events. The undergarments were much more comfortable, and they were noticeably more breathable and cooler underneath my fire gear. Once I was done wearing them after over 12 hours, I could barely notice that they were worn. The odor retained was much less, there was NO residue or lint left on my skin, and there was no fraying or decay on the seams. And I was ready to hang them up and put them on for the next 12 hour day. On day 2, they felt as if I hadn’t even worn them for an entire work day before. With aggressive use in extrication training on race vehicles, live fire exercises, and even tear down of the training setups; the undergarments held up amazingly. They had the same stretch, compression, and comfort; almost no odor retention and I still felt as if I could put them on for another day of use. DRIFIRE Prime instantly became my front-line undergarments.

So, Oakley vs. DRIFIRE Prime… It is an obvious choice. More comfortable, breathable, easy to work in, and safety proven over time by the racing industry and military alike. Although any FR undergarments are safer than the athletic apparel that I wore when I started out; DRIFIRE Prime beats out Nomex or Oakley CarbonX for any day or any incident, on or off track.