Basofil forms the basis of Arthur's fire protective clothing. Basofil is a melamine, a raw material with outstanding thermal properties that are used in kitchen tops among other things. Basofil is flame-resistant and it features good insulation properties. Unlike in other industrial fibres, in Basofil the air is trapped between individual fibres. The insulating properties of air enable Basofil to form a heat shield or - even better - a full heat barrier.
Flame and heat tests performed on protective fire clothing have shown time and time again that Basofil provides by far the best protection. The thermal conductivity of Basofil is extremely low, whilst the insulation capacity is extremely high. The test results generally far exceed the requirements set in the American NFPA standard for fire protective clothing and the European EN 469 standard.
Figure 1 shows the percentage of damaged area (pain, 2nd and 3rd degree burns) after a flame exposure of 10 seconds. The results show ehanced heat protection through Basofil outer fabric versus M-aramide.
