I've got to jump in here. Myles, I'm not picking on you - I just picked
your message out of the stream going by.
Disclaimer: I'm not a scientist, I can be wrong here, but....
What the drivers suit really does is insulate you from the fire. How does
it do that? It's got air trapped in a "fireproof" material. Air is a
notoriously bad conductor of heat. Air pockets are what makes fiberglass
insulation in your house work. It's what makes double pane windows energy
efficient.
Water, on the other hand, is a pretty decent conductor of heat. Fill the
air pockets with water, and while the suit won't burn, it will sure as heck
transfer the heat from outside the suit to the inside where we
live. Furthermore, it turns to steam so that it can spread the heat around
better. The reverse is true as well, that's why a wet suit feels so good -
it allows the heat of our bodies to pass right though the suit - it's
really hot in that suit on a hot day when the insulation is working as
designed.
- Tony Drews
At 10:36 PM 8/29/2002, MHKitchen@aol.com wrote:
>I've got to believe that WET anything is better than DRY anything in a
>fire...it will take longer to ignite the material??
>
>Myles
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