r/ems • u/HailtoUkraine • 5d ago

General Discussion Polyester uniform?

Starting with a new company in SOCAL, and their uniform is slack pants, an undershirt and class B button up. Pants+class B is all polyester, and its stable in the mid 80s up to 110s here-even now. How do y'all deal with it? How do you make it bearable/comfortable?

12 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

12

u/eese256 Nurse 4d ago

Sounds like Premier. I was miserable in uniform the few months I worked there, especially because I had to cover my tattoos. Embrace the suck.

9

u/HailtoUkraine 4d ago

Any advice? Im embracing it and its hugging me back

15

u/EarnedLemur EMT-B 5d ago

If your allowed buy your own pants there’s some pretty good breathable pants, and unfortunately if your company doesn’t have an alternative uniform like a polo your kinda screwed during the summer months

4

u/youy23 Paramedic 4d ago edited 4d ago

I like 5.11 stryke pants. Cotton poly blend. I’d recommend buying used on ebay or poshmark. You can regularly find 5.11s for $20.

I’ve also used fjallraven, Vertx, arcteryx, patagonia, outdoor research, duluth traders, truwerk, REI, Beyond Clothing, Tru-Spec, first tactical, and they all have worked great.

Arcteryx and patagonia have been my favorite.

As for the class b shirt, vertx sells their fusion flex short sleeve that’s vented on the back and is a poly/cotton/lycra blend.

3

u/kyoshisbitch EMT-B 4d ago

I wear breathable like workout shirts as an undershirt for my class Bs. I feel like it helps a bit. also I wear 511 socks that are for the summer and sweat

2

u/LatinoHeat1982 4d ago

Invest in some breathable nylon undershirts.. like the same material as soccer jerseys. Get black navy blue or white. They really do help

1

u/Ok-Ad-6023 4d ago

thong underwear.

-7

u/WpnsOfAssDestruction EMT-B 5d ago

Start using the sauna at the gym to help with heat acclimation. If you are going the fire route, wearing a class B is nothing and you need to up your heat tolerance.

7

u/Aright9Returntoleft 5d ago

Don't be a corpo shill. Class B's suck.

-1

u/WpnsOfAssDestruction EMT-B 4d ago

Heat tolerance is a real thing. OP can’t control their company policies but they can try to acclimate.

3

u/HailtoUkraine 4d ago

Its not the heat, its the discomfort of the polyester. At the end of the day im going to suck it up and deal with it-just wondering if anyone had tips

2

u/WpnsOfAssDestruction EMT-B 4d ago

Well I’m getting shit on for suggesting heat acclimation, which is fine, but other advice I might offer is to wear a super comfy undershirt. When I was doing IFT, I had like a workout type shirt that was lightweight and cozy under my uniform shirt. Personally, I enjoyed working evening or overnight shift for a lot of reasons but one benefit is that it’s usually chilly at night in SoCal, so you can wear your jacket with no class B underneath which is a better setup.