Gold Leaf Shileds

[Taylor61]

I was recently promoted to Captain and I am debating on getting a gold leaf shield for my helmet. How well do these hold up when exposed to fire/heat?

[fire615]

Gold leaf shields are really for chiefs, they really don't hold up well to fire, that is why chiefs were them.

[RFDACM02]

Gold leaf shields are really for chiefs, they really don't hold up well to fire, that is why chiefs were them.

I know where there's one that is 6 years old has seen plenty of fire and has held up very well. It's a little darkened but the hand painted gold leaf paint holds up fine.

[LeatherHed4Life]

check out www.helmetshield.com. Bob does great work and his shields seem to hold up fine.

[Just a new name]

Bob does do great work. I have two from him.

[Rescue101]

Dammit Adam, you beat me again.BS call on hallj. Maybe you ought to ask Leo Stapleton how they hold up as a CHIEF.His certainly saw plenty of FIRE and I've got proof.And what's this "Don't hold up well in fire,that's why Chief's wear them.Don't know where you're from but most of the Chiefs around here are still seeing plenty of fire.Inside and out.I've got a hand painted from Paul Conway that's done very well. T.C.

[jonnyirons2]

The gold shield is made so cause its not supposed to come in contact from fire. Its supposed to be outside where it can monitor radios, progress and see the overall task at hand. And since when do captains get gold anything? Ive never seen a Military Captain with gold.

[fireman4949]

Bob Stella. www.helmetshield.com.

None better! I have 2 of them.

[Dickey]

And since when do captains get gold anything?

Gold leaf shields are really for chiefs,..... that is why chiefs were them.

EXACTLY!!!!!

[fire615]

Dammit Adam, you beat me again.BS call on hallj. Maybe you ought to ask Leo Stapleton how they hold up as a CHIEF.His certainly saw plenty of FIRE and I've got proof.And what's this "Don't hold up well in fire,that's why Chief's wear them.Don't know where you're from but most of the Chiefs around here are still seeing plenty of fire.Inside and out.I've got a hand painted from Paul Conway that's done very well. T.C.

WHAT THE !@#$

"The gold shield is made so cause its not supposed to come in contact from fire. Its supposed to be outside where it can monitor radios, progress and see the overall task at hand."

My point! A chief can't run the show while on a hose line.

[Taylor61]

Go back to school and learn English. "is made so cause" ????? "not suppose to come into contact from fire" ??????


Read my post again. It asked a simple question. I'm not in the military. Captains on my department, along with many other departments, wear gold.

The gold shield is made so cause its not supposed to come in contact from fire. Its supposed to be outside where it can monitor radios, progress and see the overall task at hand. And since when do captains get gold anything? Ive never seen a Military Captain with gold.

[Taylor61]

Thank you to everyone that answered my question. I appreciate it.

[RFDACM02]

WHAT THE !@#$

"The gold shield is made so cause its not supposed to come in contact from fire. Its supposed to be outside where it can monitor radios, progress and see the overall task at hand."

My point! A chief can't run the show while on a hose line.

So what about the D/C's, A/C's and B/C's who operate under another chief officer? They can't take an interior position? Can't go in and evaluate the conditions?

Our dept. used to run with one Chief of Dept. and three Captains each running a shift. Then 30+ years ago ISO came along and said, under no circumstance should any first alarm or greater fire be run by an IC that was not a chief officer. Now we have three A/C's each running a shift. On a routine day the A/C's run the shift with minimal manning and the CoD comes to fires. The glorified Capt's, now A/C's, make the size-up, go in determine where the line is stretched and then lead off the search or whatever is needed, with the CoD taking the front lawn. Maybe our A/C's operate like truck captains, but they wear white and gold. You'll not find a run where there isn't a white hat in the street, but there's a good chance there's another inside. In a perfect world staffing would not necessitate this, but it ain't perfect yet.

[jonnyirons2]

Being that the original poster is stating he is 'thinking' of getting a gold shield, it would be safe to assume its not a civil service position. Nor is daytime staffing. If I wore a gold shield at work I would get charges!

[ResidentTruckie]

The captain of my station has a gold leaf shield, but hasn't been into a fire with it yet. (We are volunteer, not a lot of fire)

But, the chief 2 towns up has one, not sure how long he has had it, but it is wavy because it got heated up from a fire. Not sure if this was b4 he was chief or during. (before u flip out some more, its not uncommon to have a mutual aid chief pack up because of staffing problems in my area, especially my chief! hahaa)

So my point is, they are cool, but when they get hot the curl and get wavy, or at least that's what I have observed

[Rescue101]

Jonny,Sssshh! It's the "new"way.Like RFD, our Chiefs,particularly on MA calls when help is short,are often found WORKING.That work isn't ALWAYS outside.Most of the Chiefs will use a MA chief to monitor inside ops,move around,and relay critical info to the IC.I realize that doesn't fit the "city"mold of a lot of you but it fits and works here.As I alluded to earlier,get a copy of "Thirty years on the Line"by Leo Stapleton.I'm pretty sure you'll find some battle worn gold leaf in there,and they aren't a little Dept like mine.Imagine that;a WORKING Chief in 'lil ol' Boston.Now in my community,a STRUCTURE fire will draw from 4-7 Chief officers plus unit officers.Overkill? Perhaps.In any event,the Gold leaf WILL hold up,not every Chief stands outside,and some of us are still "working"Chiefs.If that concept upsets you,SORRY! T.C.

[fire615]

Jonny,Sssshh! It's the "new"way.Like RFD, our Chiefs,particularly on MA calls when help is short,are often found WORKING.That work isn't ALWAYS outside.Most of the Chiefs will use a MA chief to monitor inside ops,move around,and relay critical info to the IC.I realize that doesn't fit the "city"mold of a lot of you but it fits and works here.As I alluded to earlier,get a copy of "Thirty years on the Line"by Leo Stapleton.I'm pretty sure you'll find some battle worn gold leaf in there,and they aren't a little Dept like mine.Imagine that;a WORKING Chief in 'lil ol' Boston.Now in my community,a STRUCTURE fire will draw from 4-7 Chief officers plus unit officers.Overkill? Perhaps.In any event,the Gold leaf WILL hold up,not every Chief stands outside,and some of us are still "working"Chiefs.If that concept upsets you,SORRY! T.C.

I give up, my chief always runs the show outside, even if we are at a working fire all the chief are running operation, safety and other posts, that is what captins and LT.s are for in my oppioin.

[Rescue101]

Don't give up,expand your horizons.While we all use varying forms of ICS,Chiefs responsibilities vary from area to area.Most involve direction/control but in a lot of small communities it isn't uncommon to find a "white hat"doing sometime involving actual firefighting. To a point compare how YOU do things to say,how California does things just as a example.Contrary to what Trotter thinks,we all get the job done but each of us geographically will use a slightly different approach to reach the end result.I can speak only to the arenas in which I am familiar which covers in varying degrees most of the upper NE.Learning the various ways things can be done is a part of this business we're involved in.There a few perfect ways and NO perfect Fire truck. T.C,

[cozmosis]

And since when do captains get gold anything? Ive never seen a Military Captain with gold.

I would say gold for fire department captains is very common in my part of the world in large and small departments (including mine). I also know a few police departments that go with gold starting at sergeant. Not everyone does it the military way -- nor should they.

[hwoods]

Looks like another fun day at the Forums........... Here's a few points, as they apply to this area, for your reading pleasure:

Gold Insignia: Sgts on up use Gold, FFs use Silver.

Chiefs inside working: Any job you go on around here, you'll see at least one Chief inside. Our Sops have certain assignments that need to be filled by an Officer who is NOT attached to a Company.

Helmet Shields: Never had a Gold Leaf shield, so I have no opinion on their durability. Of Course, Christmas isn't here yet.......