Fire and thermal retardant materials are becoming more important in the arena of military, law enforcement and civilian rescue type products for use in demanding conditions.

In addition there are numerous motor sports categories that also demand a high level of protection from fire. This has resulted in Packer Leather developing the ‘Phoenix’ technology, which has been specifically designed for our range of kangaroo, bovine and goatskin products, as an additional technology that can be specified in.

Our approach utilizes a novel chemical treatment that reacts with the collagen in the fibre structure, giving lasting fire retardant performance. It has been designed to work in harmony with our other technologies, thereby lending itself to many different final product types.

Furthermore, the technology is incorporated into the leather in such a manner that it is does not detract from the leathers natural feel and aesthetics in any way, and only activates in the event of extreme thermal situations or fire to protect the wearer.

Technical Specifications

Typical results for this leather, as tested to DIN ISO EN 6941 and BS EN 407, are as follows. It should be noted that the fire retardant results listed below are for leathers from 0.5mm and thicker.

With regards to thermal resistance, there is a synergy between the product
design and the thickness of leather. For leathers needing to pass the harsh NFPA thermal dimensional stability requirements it is suggested that a leather above 0.8mm is trialled.

	Test	After Flame (s)	After Glow (s)
	DIN ISO 6941 - 5 second flame test	0 (Level 4)	0 (Level 4)
	DIN ISO 6941 - 15 second flame test	0 (Level 4)	0 (Level 4)
	BS EN 407 - 12 second edge test	<2	<5
	BS EN 407 - 15 second surface test	<2	<5