When firefighters arrive on the scene, their focus is where it should be: protecting lives, saving property, searching structures, and putting out the fire.

But there is another threat that doesn’t disappear when the flames are extinguished.

Contaminated turnout gear can continue to carry smoke, particulates, and potentially harmful contaminants long after firefighters leave the scene. When that gear is placed inside a command vehicle, SUV, pickup, or other enclosed vehicle, those contaminants can come along for the ride.

That reality led Rockland Custom Products to ask an important question:

If we’re already building storage for turnout gear, why not build a system designed to actively move contaminated air OUT of the vehicle?

That question became Gear Clear™.

Today’s Fire Environment Is Different

Firefighters aren’t encountering the same fire environment they did decades ago.

Modern homes and businesses contain plastics, synthetic materials, electronics, furnishings, and countless manufactured products. When those materials burn, firefighters can encounter a complex mixture of smoke, soot, gases, and contaminants.

And exposure doesn’t necessarily end when firefighters clear the scene.

Contaminated turnout gear can be loaded into the same vehicles firefighters use to drive back to the station, travel home, go to meetings, or even transport family members.

As one of our team members explains in the Gear Clear™ video:

“I’m going to throw that in the car. Now I’m driving that back a half hour to go home…and possibly my kids someday and my wife…they’re going to breathe all this stuff. That doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense.”

That realization helped change the way we looked at turnout gear storage.

Putting Contaminated Gear in a Box Isn’t Enough

The first solution seems obvious: isolate the gear.

Put it in a cabinet, close the door, and separate it from the passenger compartment.

But Rockland recognized a problem.

A standard enclosed cabinet may contain the gear, but what happens to the contaminated air trapped inside?

When the cabinet is opened again, that air and whatever contaminants remain inside can be released back toward the firefighter and vehicle interior.

We knew there had to be a better approach.

Introducing the Gear Clear™ Venting System

Rockland Custom Products developed the Gear Clear™ Venting System to go beyond simply storing contaminated turnout gear.

Gear Clear™ actively ventilates the storage compartment, bringing fresh air in while exhausting contaminated air outside of the vehicle.

Instead of allowing air surrounding contaminated gear to remain trapped inside a standard storage cabinet, Gear Clear™ continually moves air through the compartment and directs the exhaust out of the vehicle.

The ventilation also helps move air around stored gear, which can assist with drying.

Built to Contain. Designed to Vent.

The Gear Clear™ system isn’t simply a plywood cabinet with a fan attached.

The system incorporates a manufactured metal insert and sealed compartment designed specifically for this application.

Key design features include:

• A manufactured steel insert within the cabinet
• A sealed turnout gear storage compartment
• A heavy-duty 3/4-inch door
• Compression locking to help maintain a tight seal
• Fresh-air intake
• Active ventilation
• Exhaust routed outside the vehicle
• Air circulation that can assist with drying stored gear

The objective is simple:

Contain the gear. Control the airflow. Vent contaminated air OUTSIDE the vehicle.

Why Active Ventilation Matters

There is an important difference between storing contaminated gear and actively ventilating the space where that gear is stored.

A conventional storage cabinet can physically separate gear from occupants. Gear Clear™ takes that concept further by creating controlled airflow through the storage compartment.

Fresh air comes in.

Air from the gear compartment is exhausted out.

And the turnout gear remains isolated from the vehicle’s occupied space.

For firefighters who routinely transport gear in SUVs, pickups, command vehicles, and other response vehicles, that distinction matters.

The Idea Was Personal

Gear Clear™ wasn’t developed because someone simply decided firefighters needed another cabinet option.

It grew out of firsthand experiences and questions about exposure.

One experience discussed in our video goes back to September 11, 2001. After working at Ground Zero, members of our team later looked at photographs taken at the site. Images taken with a flash revealed an incredible amount of airborne material that wasn’t nearly as visible to the naked eye.

As described in the video:

“It looked like it was a snowstorm. We had no idea we were breathing all that stuff.”

That experience raised a question that would continue to matter years later:

What are we bringing with us after we leave the scene?

For firefighters, that question doesn’t stop at the firehouse door.

It extends to the vehicle, the ride home, and ultimately the people waiting at home.

Protecting More Than the Firefighter

Firefighters are trained to put other people first. That selflessness is part of the job.

But reducing unnecessary exposure isn’t only about the firefighter.

It’s also about coworkers, passengers, spouses, children, and anyone else who may ride in a vehicle where contaminated turnout gear has been transported.

As one firefighter says in the video:

“The people at home, they’re kind of counting on you to make it home.”

That is at the heart of Gear Clear™.

If contaminated turnout gear must travel in a vehicle, Rockland believes it makes sense to isolate that gear and actively ventilate the storage area rather than simply allowing contaminants and off-gassing to remain inside the vehicle.

Go Beyond the Box

At Rockland Custom Products, we build custom vehicle storage and command solutions around the way Police, Fire, EMS, and other public safety professionals actually work.

Gear Clear™ represents exactly what we mean when we say our storage solutions go beyond the box.

It isn’t simply about creating another place to put turnout gear.

It’s about recognizing a real-world problem and engineering a better way to address it.

Gear Clear™ actively ventilates contaminated air OUTSIDE of the vehicle while keeping turnout gear isolated in a sealed storage compartment.

Because knowing what we know today, simply throwing contaminated gear into the back of a vehicle shouldn’t be the end of the conversation.

Learn More About Gear Clear™

Want to learn how a Gear Clear™ Turnout Gear Storage System can be incorporated into your department’s command or response vehicle?

Rockland Custom Products can design a solution around your vehicle, your equipment, and the way your department operates.

Rockland Custom Products
Truck & Vehicle Storage Solutions That Go Beyond The Box

RocklandCustomProducts.com
855-808-2597

Ask us about Gear Clear™ and how active ventilation can be incorporated into your next command cabinet.