How we choose gear

What we cover

We focus on the gear volunteers buy with their own money: torches, spare gloves, hydration, masks and fireground kit. Agency-issued PPE is covered as reference only.

Tested or researched

Every product is labelled either Tested by Dan or Researched, not yet tested. We don’t pretend to have used something we haven’t.

Standards come first

We only recommend gear for the fireground if it meets the relevant Australian, New Zealand or international standard. Even then, your brigade’s policy wins. Check before you buy.

Prices are checked by hand and shown with the date we checked them. Links go through our own /go/ redirect so we can send Australian and New Zealand readers to local shops and fix broken links in one place.

Money

Some links earn us a commission. Retailers don’t pay for placement, don’t see reviews before they go live, and a higher commission never moves a product up a list. See our affiliate disclosure.