Carna Bunker Gear, an up-and-coming training gear company owned and operated by active firefighters and veterans, is set to exhibit at FDIC International 2024.
Carna Bunker Gear, which received a patent for training-specific bunker gear, was founded in 2024 after more than a year of development. According to owner Ryan Conley, the company “stepped into a vacant marketplace.”
“No companies had any interest in manufacturing and selling uncertified bunker gear, so we decided to create our own, with the primary goal of helping firefighters have one more weapon in the battle against cancer,” according to Conley.
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The company’s primary goal is to help reduce cancer rates in firefighters, reducing the cumulative carcinogenic load by removing them from frontline gear during any kind of training that doesn’t involve thermal protection. A secondary consideration is helping to extend the performance life of frontline gear.
Carna Bunker Gear is intended for training only (not including burn training). The training gear comes clean from the factory with no intentionally added flame retardants (PBDEs, OPFRs) or polyfluorinated chemicals (PFAS, PFOS). It will never be exposed to carcinogens during emergency scene operations or live-burn training.
“Why train in gear that, when once exposed to carcinogens, will never fully be removed again, even after being cleaned?” Conley offered. “Yes, we must wear it for PPE, but to train in when thermal protection isnt neccessary? It’s an unnecessary risk.”
Alternately, Conley realizes that being unprepared and not proficient in gear is also a risk. Carna Bunker Gear looks and feels like normal gear and starts at a low price point, making it affordable and practical for fire departments.
According to Conley, use of training gear will save departments on gear repair costs and extend the usable life of frontline gear, helping to keep bunker gear on line for longer. Training in Carna Bunker Gear will in principle keep the frontline gear as pristine as possible. This would allow for performance to remain as close to factory specs as possible and protect the firefighter as intended. The ultimate goals are to increase fire training safety, minimize the risks posed by carcinogens to firefighters over the course of their career, and possibly even save firefighters’ lives.
They will be exhibiting at FDIC International 2024 at Lucas Oil Stadium 9242.
Learn more about them at https://carnabunker-gear.com/.
