DIY’ers Safety Equipment 101
DIY’ers Safety Equipment 101
As DIY’ers, makers, craftsmen/craftswomen, fabricators and general hobbyists of manual labor we often focus too much on needed tools before we consider how we are going to protect ourselves from the tools we already have. At Later Traitor, we protect one part of the body but there are some hacks to safety equipment that help protect yourself while keeping your style factor high. We are huge proponents of “look good, feel good and create good.” The list below compiles safety equipment we use every day at home and at work that check style, affordability and quality boxes of PPE gear.
1. Safety Glasses
Gone are the days of uncomfortable dorky looking safety glasses. Entering the market are major manufactures making PPE lenses for their proven frames. While we like to support small business these manufactures have plenty of second hand glasses online that you can swap lenses and have a brand new pair of lookers. Rocking safety glasses that you had in shop class in high school isn’t going to cut it. Personally, we use Oakley’s M Frame with clear lenses. Oakley lenses are designed and tested under extreme high mass and high velocity circumstances to ensure uncompromising protection across a wide range of demanding conditions. Smith Optics also makes a burley pair of safety glasses that have MilSpec lenses that are interchangeable. Both glasses are anti-stract and anti-fog which is huge under a welding helmet and when wearing a mask.
We like the multi purposeful version of safety equipment, like the glasses listed above, because we believe that you should buy products that you can use in multiple areas of your life. Quality to us means how much we can use it outside of its intended purpose. Our father always told us, buy quality and buy once. Instilling confidence with your shop gear to help you dive more into your projects and worry less about if it’s safe.
2. Respirators
Within the last year respirators have made a major resurgence of necessary safety equipment and not just because of COVID-19. More than ever before metal fabricators, especially structural fabricators that work in a shop with little to no ventilation, are starting to realise the amount of particulate they breathe in. We’ve seen replaceable respirator filters go bad in one week in some shops. If you work in a shop we can’t stress enough the importance of lung health when it comes to what’s floating in the air.
Even DIY’er metal fabricators have blown their nose after a welding/grinding job only to find black particulate filled boogers. And that’s only what was caught by your nose hairs! Think about all the other gunk you breathed into your lungs!
Wood carpenters aren’t left out of this category either! I planed down a slab of walnut last week and didn’t even think to wear a respirators and sure enough later in the day blew my nose and was darker than I’ve ever seen it. The respirator is an often forgotten piece of safety equipment that is mandatory in any DIY’ers tool box.
But don’t worry, you don’t have to spend $300 for a respirator. Even spending $40 and another $30 on replacement filters can save your lungs from disaster. The list below is our go-to respirators that have saved our lungs from the hidden monster of invisible particles in the air.
Keep in mind that respirators don’t have to be the full face ones either. Even just a simple surgical mask under your welding helmet is an adequate piece of safety equipment that can protect your body from harmful airborne particles. Those are easy to keep on you at all times and very easy to place on your grin at a moment's notice.
3. Shop Apron
I started wearing aprons in the bike shop to keep my most-used tools close so I didn’t have to keep venturing back to the tool bench. While shop aprons are good for keeping tools close by they also offer a level of protection outside of your thin layers of clothes. We noticed this mostly in the summer when we were wearing less clothing to keep cool. The apron allows you a major piece of safety and protection while minimizing the amount of clothing you have on your body. I’ve had grinder blades shoot off at me and land against my apron which would have otherwise torn through my clothing.
While at Later Traitor we understand the durability of leather when it comes to finger dexterity, we love the functionality of waxed canvas shop aprons. Waxed canvas isn’t as flexible as leather but it’s just as durable and with a piece of cloth protecting your body dexterity isn’t a major factor. We like our aprons to have buckles instead of ties because when we use power tools we want nothing hanging out to get caught and cause unnecessary harm.
The list below is some of our favorite aprons on the market.
For all the boys out there - whatever apron you decide to put in your quiver make sure it covers your crotch. A smack to your manly bits can ruin a project!
4. Gloves
Enter Later Traitor. We design and manufacture the most universal heavy-duty gloves on the market. We make one style of glove because it covers all the bases across safety, durability and dexterity. Later Traitor gloves were born out of a need to do a multitude of projects and hold up to whatever we put it through.
Our form fitting design makes wrist and finger mobility a key asset in the safety work glove. Tied together with our 1.0mm thick cowhide leather makes sparks, wood chips and impact obsolete. We believe we make the best work gloves because we’ve gone through and had to toss out every pair of gloves in the past. Give our gloves a try and you’ll see what we are talking about.
5. Work Pants
For this section we are only going with one company. We have been wearing the same brand of pants for the last 10 years. Duluth Trading Company makes their paints with flexibility and durability in mind(the same way we make our gloves). They come in many shapes and sizes but our favorite are the DuluthFlex Fire Hose pants, in Cargo, Carpenter and Relaxed fit.
Thanks for reading! Reach out if there is something you think we should add to the list! Contact Us