Choosing marshal clothing

[mwclarkson]

Hi everyone,

Had my first taste of marshalling at the BRSCC / TCR weekend at Croft and had a great time.

Getting my MSA paperwork done and I'm trying to figure out the best way of sorting clothing out on a budget.

There are the AWS overalls at £65 + VAT (I know you get a discount with BMMC membership but after paying for the membership it's still going to be north of £50 total). Seeing what others were wearing I think I'd need to add an orange waterproof jacket and trousers too, surely getting me into 3 figures before upgrading my walking boots.

eBay has loads of orange overalls at around the £15-20 mark, including FR labelling, and with enough layers under I wonder if this would be OK (I managed to feel safe with jeans, t-shirt and a decent 3-in-1 fleece/waterproof jacket under a tabbard at the weekend).

Somewhere in between in price are the Dickies everyday style overalls - though again they seem to have various upgraded versions.

If you were buying fresh gear from scratch today, what would you go for?

I know to use layers and I have thermal long johns, 4 different types of socks and various thicknesses of jumpers (year round biker for several years), it's just the particular flavour of orange I'm struggling to decide on.

[Joemurray93]

As a recent recruit myself, id say save the money and get a good set of Proban fireproof overalls. If you buy a cheap set now you'll only want a better set soon enough.

You'd probably be best doing the remainder of this season in 'normal clothes' and a tabbard. If you're looking to save as much as possible, wait until the start of next year and join the BMMC, then get the overall discount. saves paying the £20 for the rest of this year. Jeans etc should be fine for now, as a trainee we dont tend to get too close to fires!

I spent £30 on waterproof jacket and trousers from screwfix as i needed them last minute (dont really have any weatherproof gear other than that), but i imagine you could do much better than that on ebay.


Hope this may be of some help, and if you have any other questions, as a new marshal myself, id be happy to try to answer any questions you might consider silly (like i had!)


Joe

[mwclarkson]

Thanks, that's really useful advice. In the meantime I have loads of stuff to keep me warm which is, frankly, still my priority. Gives me a chance to watch for second hand bargains on eBay and saves paying BMMC for effectively 1 month's membership.

[Stuart H]

Tried AWS at all? Cant remember what I payed for mine at all!

All I'd say is go with the very best you can afford.

[Woolley]

Warm and dry is the most important thing to start with. Don't worry about upgrading walking boots unless they're worn out and leaking. I use my walking boots for marshalling (or more accurately, marshalling boots for walking!)

You can go for orange later, once you've done a few days and are sure you're going to stick with it.

[Terrible-Tones]

Originally Posted by Joemurray93

As a recent recruit myself, id say save the money and get a good set of Proban fireproof overalls.
Jeans etc should be fine for now, as a trainee we dont tend to get too close to fires!

Great to see new members posting and asking sensible questions about clothing etc. Just a little heads up though......

Proban is not "fireproof" - it is simply a treatment applied to cotton that prevents the material bursting into flames (or melting,like nylon for instance). What the material will do under extreme heat is start to char. If this is happening you are on for some serious burns anyway. Proban doesn't make you "fireproof", or able to wade into a firestorm like Superman.

Overalls are probably more to do with becoming "one of the team" than they are about "fireproofing", if we are to be really honest. Though, don't think by any stretch of the imagination that you are not part of the team if you don't have them - you are, and I know a number of marshals who don't have them.

As a trainee you may well end up dealing with a fire! Which is a good thing, you only learn by doing. The real trick is NONE of us get so close to a fire to as get burnt and that is all in the training, and experience. It must also be remembered that most of us have nylon based waterproofs, so we'd pretty much want to stay outta the way of fire anyhow.

As for clothes, really it just is a common sense approach. It is possible to overthink it. We are nearing the end of the season, maybe it will be worth spending another few days on the bank and getting a handle on what others do/wear/buy/steal/borrow etc? It's nothing clever, just treat it the same as you would treat any other day out in the weather.

Under my overalls I personally wear a number of cotton based t-shirts, depending on how cold it is. Jeans or similar for below. (and no, despite rumours to contrary, I do not wear my wife's underwear!). If I didn't have the overalls I would top off with a jumper or sweatshirt basically, then a coat. Layers is everything

Just don't clash with flags - especially Red/Yellow

Boots - I just use steel toe capped builders boots - I get from one of those cheap High Street chains. Seem to last about 2 seasons at around 60 days a year. Point blank refuse to pay more than about £20.

Gloves, Welders gloves from Ebay/Screwfix seem OK. Only a couple of quid. Work well, gits if they get wet though. I buy two sets - when one gets wet, swop to the other pair.

Waterproofs, mine basically came from Ebay - think the trousers were a tenner or something, and the Orange jacket about £22 - Google " Hi Viz Rail Workwear" to make a start - there are loads.

Hat (baseball is fine) essential, keeps rain off (especially if you wear glasses), sun out, and hopefully brains in. Plus nobody ever knows what others hair lines are, so when you meet people at a social function, you find yourself continually surprised by such thoughts as, I never knew they were bald, had a quiff, had green hair etc LOL. Unless that person is one HairyDJ, but that is another story....

[snailpace85]

Originally Posted by Terrible-Tones

Great to see new members posting and asking sensible questions about clothing etc. Just a little heads up though......

Proban is not "fireproof" - it is simply a treatment applied to cotton that prevents the material bursting into flames (or melting,like nylon for instance). What the material will do under extreme heat is start to char. If this is happening you are on for some serious burns anyway. Proban doesn't make you "fireproof", or able to wade into a firestorm like Superman.

Overalls are probably more to do with becoming "one of the team" than they are about "fireproofing", if we are to be really honest. Though, don't think by any stretch of the imagination that you are not part of the team if you don't have them - you are, and I know a number of marshals who don't have them.

As a trainee you may well end up dealing with a fire! Which is a good thing, you only learn by doing. The real trick is NONE of us get so close to a fire to as get burnt and that is all in the training, and experience. It must also be remembered that most of us have nylon based waterproofs, so we'd pretty much want to stay outta the way of fire anyhow.

As for clothes, really it just is a common sense approach. It is possible to overthink it. We are nearing the end of the season, maybe it will be worth spending another few days on the bank and getting a handle on what others do/wear/buy/steal/borrow etc? It's nothing clever, just treat it the same as you would treat any other day out in the weather.

Under my overalls I personally wear a number of cotton based t-shirts, depending on how cold it is. Jeans or similar for below. (and no, despite rumours to contrary, I do not wear my wife's underwear!). If I didn't have the overalls I would top off with a jumper or sweatshirt basically, then a coat. Layers is everything

Just don't clash with flags - especially Red/Yellow

Boots - I just use steel toe capped builders boots - I get from one of those cheap High Street chains. Seem to last about 2 seasons at around 60 days a year. Point blank refuse to pay more than about £20.

Gloves, Welders gloves from Ebay/Screwfix seem OK. Only a couple of quid. Work well, gits if they get wet though. I buy two sets - when one gets wet, swop to the other pair.

Waterproofs, mine basically came from Ebay - think the trousers were a tenner or something, and the Orange jacket about £22 - Google " Hi Viz Rail Workwear" to make a start - there are loads.

Hat (baseball is fine) essential, keeps rain off (especially if you wear glasses), sun out, and hopefully brains in. Plus nobody ever knows what others hair lines are, so when you meet people at a social function, you find yourself continually surprised by such thoughts as, I never knew they were bald, had a quiff, had green hair etc LOL. Unless that person is one HairyDJ, but that is another story....

Was going to write something similar so well said Terrible-Tones! I seem to remember a fire trainer (possibly Jim Whitaker at Donington) once saying that you should be able to put out a fire while wearing swimming trunks! I suppose the emphasis is on 'should' - that's why marshals wear natural fibres such as wool and cotton. I haven't marshalled for many years now but did my first season wearing jeans, walking socks and boots, donkey jacket and however many layers of wool and cotton as required.

Don't forget the sun screen and a waterproof bag for your things - a bin liner will do.

Above all - enjoy it and muck in as required. I found small club level race meetings the best because of the lower manning levels - you go in at the deep end!

Scott

[Terrible-Tones]

Originally Posted by snailpace85

Above all - enjoy it and muck in as required. I found small club level race meetings the best because of the lower manning levels - you go in at the deep end!
Scott

- especially about Club meetings!

[Retired]

The BMMC overalls are "free" thanks to their generous sponsors. Simply buy the overalls from AWS and then send the receipt to the BMMC who will reimburse you in full. Enjoy your marshalling!

[Morseman]

I volunteered for the 1st time this year. My 1st event was at Darley Moor and I got a pair of overalls, a waterproof jacket and trousers all for under £30. This was, of course, subsidized by the club, as I realized.

I also got an orange tabard at the TT as part of the signing on procedure. I'm sure this is subsidized as well, and I've seen people with "Dickies" and other advertising logos on their gear, which I guess is another way of reducing the cost to the marshals.

As for boots, my Mum and Dad bought me a really good pair when I was in my teens and, although they have seen some tough use over the years, they still fit and still do their job, so I can endorse the idea of buying the best that you can afford as it will probably last longer than cheaper gear and you will end up buying the better gear that you should have bought in the 1st place.