The merino wool that we use has many unique performance properties and here we look at the fibre's naturally occurring flame resistance (FR). This natural FR is generating interest as we are hearing more and more about the importance of fire fighter well being with growing concerns about clothing toxins. Added to this uncertainty is that to make some textiles flame resistant they are treated with a number of chemicals and should these chemically treated textiles be exposed to heat or flames they can produce hazardous gases (known as off-gassing) which may be inhaled by the wearer. With these facts in mind the naturally occurring fire resistance of the Armadillo Merino® wool looks more and more attractive.

Topics: Military, Fire Service, Police, Merino Wool Knowledge

Photos of an Italian policeman with significant burns have appeared in the media following the recent highway tanker explosion near Bologna on 7 August 2018. (See here) . The officer was providing emergency rescue assistance and was caught in a secondary explosion which inflicted severe burns to his body from the melting, dripping synthetic material. The melted garment is shown below.

Topics: Police

Fighting fires in summer is placing significant demands on fire fighters. Did you know their choice of underwear has the greatest impact on their safety, performance and comfort?

Topics: Fire Service

People usually think merino wool for winter, but it also works great in summer.

1. Breathable: The wool fibre is special and has the ability to move moisture in the vapour form. When you sweat, you sweat in the vapour form. The merino wool absorbs the vapour, and then passes it to the outside. The merino wool fibre can also absorb up to 30% of it's weight in moisture vapour, leaving your skin feeling dryer, and more comfortable. This is why a lightweight wool t-shirt feels great on a hot summers day. 

Topics: Insider, Military, Search and Rescue, Fire Service, Champion, Police, Bushcraft, Outdoor, Merino Wool Knowledge

This weeks blog post is from Euan Whittaker, from ClimbNow, and his recent ski touring trip to Iceland.

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The Troll Peninsula is located in the North of Iceland between the fjord of Skagafjordur and the fjord of Eyjafjordur. It is an area of outstanding natural beauty with glaciers, deep valleys and hundreds of mountain tops culminating in its highest peak, Kerlingarfjoll, 1538 metres. The area is a paradise for ski touring and ski mountaineering and a must for all those interested in these sports.

Topics: Champion, Outdoor

How can you provide your officers with an effective PPE layering system without considering the next-to-skin layer? Wearing an effective next-to-skin layer is vital.

Your skin covers about 2m² and is your body’s most sensory organ detecting pressure, pain, heat and cold, all discomfort factors that greatly influence your cognitive functioning and sense of wellbeing. So we need to buffer the skin.

Topics: Insider, Fire Service, Industry

Armadillo Merino® is proud to support the Borne Arctic Challenge. Everyday, premature babies face the ultimate struggle for survival in their fight for life.  This April, a courageous team of Borne supporters set themselves an extreme challenge: to walk to the North Pole and raise £750,000 for new research into the causes of preterm birth.  They accomplished this goal and challenged themselves to the extreme to achieve this.

Topics: Search and Rescue, Champion, Outdoor

Microfibres are in the news a lot these days. Here I look into the topic in more detail, as well as make some suggestions on what you can do in the short term to help the environment and reduce your microfibre output. Hint: The best solution is to wear natural fibres, and better still Armadillo Merino®.

Topics: Insider, Design, Industry, Outdoor, Merino Wool Knowledge

Norway 75 - Commando Spirit is an expedition that will traverse the length of Norwegian by sea and land to celebrate and retell the Commando raids from WWII. We are proud to support the team as they embark on this expedition and they will be wearing Armadillo Merino® next-to-skin to protect them from the elements.

Below is from an interview with Tim, the team leader.

Norway 75 Commando Spirit – what is it?

Topics: Military, Champion, Outdoor

Sometimes, no matter how careful you are, accidents happen, liquids get spilt, stains happen. All of our next-to-skin garments are machine washable, but if you have a really stubborn stain, or want to remove a stain before washing, here are a few tips. Click here for our standard washing instructions.

Topics: Insider, Military, Search and Rescue, Fire Service, Police, Industry, Bushcraft, Outdoor, Merino Wool Knowledge

Over the coming weeks I will touch on some of the key performance attributes of Armadillo Merino®.  The first in this series is Protection. At a later date I will also talk about each of the specific attributes in separate posts, but that is more detail than is required here as we start to talk about the key attributes of Armadillo Merino®.

Topics: Military, Fire Service, Police, Merino Wool Knowledge

This is the second in our series of articles talking about the key performance attributes of Armadillo Merino®.  Today, is it Comfort.

Topics: Military, Fire Service, Police, Outdoor, Merino Wool Knowledge

Growing up, Bex Sims never dreamed of being a Firefighter, nor sailing across the Pacific and through one she will achieve the other. Now a professional Firefighter, Bex enjoys a challenge, and living life to the fullest, and her energy and passion for life is an inspiration for others.

Bex, tell us a little about yourself, and what you are doing now, and what you are going to do next year?

Topics: Fire Service, Champion, Outdoor

People have asked us how to dress for the extreme cold. Researching this blog post was interesting and we definitely learnt a few things about how to dress effectively for these conditions.

Topics: Military, Search and Rescue, Bushcraft, Outdoor

Topics: Search and Rescue, Champion, Outdoor

December 21st is ther shortest day, and to go with this, today will be our shortest blog post, and I wanted to make it pretty simple. We even created a simple 6x4 downloaded cheat sheet that goes with this blog post as well!

Topics: Design, Military, Search and Rescue, Fire Service, Police, Industry, Bushcraft, Outdoor, Merino Wool Knowledge

We often get asked about bamboo and to compare it to merino wool. In this post we review bamboo vs. merino wool from manufacturing perspective and then compare the key properties.

Topics: Insider, Bushcraft, Outdoor, Merino Wool Knowledge

Good socks, you know they are good when you are wearing them, but how do you judge a good sock when you go to buy one?

A good question as there are more bad socks out there than good socks in my opinion. Here I will share what I think makes good socks, versus average, or downright uncomfortable ones. This is also a topic that comes up each year as the weather gets colder, and and people are thinking about their winter adventures.

Topics: Military, Search and Rescue, Fire Service, Police, Bushcraft, Outdoor

Why Armadillo Merino® is essential PPE for firefighters

Firefighters experience many stresses, strains and challenges when performing firefighting duties in personal protective equipment.

Topics: Fire Service

Sometimes the weather conditions change and a little preparation and planning can be the differenece between an enjoyable day out and cold, wet and potenitally dangerous day out.

Follow our simple tips to layering, and enjoy the outdoors in all conditions.

1. Dress in Layers

Layering is the idea that you dress with multiple layers for your outdoor adventure. Add a layer if you are cold, take off a layer if you are too hot. There are three key layers:

Topics: Insider, Outdoor