A garment or accessory is provided having an elasticized portion, said elasticized portion being free of stitches or holes. The elasticized portion comprises a fabric portion of the accessory or garment to be elasticized; and a length of elastic element. The length of elastic element is applied to the fabric by a means selected from the group consisting of direct welding and indirect welding. A method is provided for elasticizing a fabric, said elasticized fabric being free of stitches or holes. The method involves providing a stack of fabric to be elasticized; stretching and positioning a length of elastic element against a first of the fabric in the stack; applying one or more ends of the elastic element to the fabric by a means selected from directly welding and indirectly welding; moving the first fabric to expose the next fabric in the stack to be elasticized; and repeating the steps for the next fabric.

A protective garment including a body portion, an extremity portion coupled to the body portion and being shaped and configured to receive a leg or an arm of a wearer therein, and a piece of expansion material coupled to the extremity portion. The piece of expansion material is movable between a retracted position wherein the extremity portion is configured to form relatively smaller fit about the wearer's leg or arm, and an expanded position wherein the extremity portion is configured to form a relatively larger fit about the wearer's leg or arm. The garment further includes a biasing device configured to bias the piece of expansion material to the retracted position, and a retaining system configured to releasably retain the piece of expansion material in the retracted position.

A protective garment system including a bib configured to fit around at least part of an upper portion of a torso of a wearer. The bib includes an outer material and a particulate-blocking material which is configured to be positioned between the outer material and a wearer when the bib is worn. The bib has a perimeter and is configured to be releasably attached to a pair of trousers about the perimeter.

A protective garment system including a bib configured to fit around at least part of an upper portion of a torso of a wearer. The bib includes an outer material and a particulate-blocking material which is configured to be positioned between the outer material and a wearer when the bib is worn. The bib has a perimeter and is configured to be releasably attached to a pair of trousers about the perimeter.

Described is a breathing system that covers a person's head with a flexible hood material. One aspect provides a protective hood, including: a flexible hood material having a closed top portion and a neck portion; a viewing window disposed within the flexible hood material; a breathing inlet disposed in the flexible hood material and providing for breathing air to enter into an interior of the protective hood; an exhalation valve disposed interior to the protective hood; and a sealing arrangement disposed at the neck portion of the flexible hood material; wherein at least a portion of expelled gas from the exhalation valve is released into an interior of the protective hood and rinses the interior of the protective hood.

A garment assembly including a first garment portion having an outer perimeter, a second garment portion, and a first fastener. The first fastener is positioned on the first garment portion and configured to removably attach the first garment portion to the second garment portion. The first fastener has a base portion that extends entirely about the outer perimeter. The first fastener further has an extension portion that overlaps with at least part of the base portion in a radial direction but is axially spaced apart from the base portion.

A protective apparel support system is disclosed comprising a support frame configured to rest on the shoulders of a wearer, the support having a first shoulder member, a second shoulder member and a shield engagement portion. A shield is selectively coupleable to the support and protective apparel is coupled to the shield.

A personal protection suit has a selectively sealable hood (1) for protection against CBRN threats. In one series of embodiments, the hood (1) is separable from a jacket body (5) by a releasable attachment means (11), and has a mask hood seal (2) for sealing with a mask. In one series of embodiments the hood (1A) has a deployable face mask (60) stored within the hood (1A). The hood (1) can be removed without breaking the seal between the mask and mask hood seal (2) to minimise contamination during donning and doffing.

There is provided a firefighter protective coat including an outer shell and a plurality of hook-and-dee pairs. The outer shell has left and right front panels and a closable front opening. The left and right front panels have a border area extending along the front opening and includes a closure flap foldable over the border area. Each hook-and-dee pair includes a hook and a dee. The includes a hooking piece extending across a width of the border area and an asymmetric base fastened to coat panel. The asymmetric base includes upper and lower wings projecting strictly on top and bottom sides of the hooking piece. The dee is affixed to another coat panel and is in alignment with the corresponding hook. The dee includes a ring engageable with the hooking piece and a longitudinal base fastened to the corresponding coat panel and extending parallelly to the front opening.

A protective apparel support system is disclosed comprising a support frame configured to rest on the shoulders of a wearer, the support having a first shoulder member, a second shoulder member and a shield engagement portion. A shield is selectively coupleable to the support and protective apparel is coupled to the shield.