The "Don/Doff Firefighter" was Handy Hooks first design at 6" long which mounts securely to your bunker pants or coat, holds your gloves extremely well, allows you to "Don" each glove single-handedly and will also offer the option to "Doff" each glove single-handedly. The longer base offers a more secure glove don as well.

After using the "Don/Doff Firefighter" in the field during the prototyping process, we decided to see if we could make it shorter and still be able to function for donning your gloves quickly.

We came up with the "Compact Firefighter"! At only 3.5" in length the "Compact Firefighter" will mount anywhere on your bunker material, hold your gloves securely and allow you to "Don" single-handedly at anytime in the pre fire process. You will only lose the ability to "Doff" your fire gloves. The shorter stature makes the "Compact Firefighter" less cumbersome during your fire-ground activities as well.

They have a melting temp over 400F, they will have to be in that temp range consistently for several minutes before they start to fail. When they do fail, the plastic will relax where its mounted on your gear and fall off. The back plate will land inside your pocket. 

The injection molding and new stainless steel back plates are made right here in Wichita, Kansas.

Handy Hook will work better with gloves that have a rolled sewn cuff that makes for a stronger hold and allows the Handy Hook to work more consistently. They will not grab the cotton or nomex gauntlet extensions unless you roll them inside the glove so the Handy Hook will grab the rolled sewn cuff.

Both the "Don/Doff Firefighter" and the " Compact Firefighter" are designed the same in the way the hold your gloves, ready to don at a moments notice. The difference is that the "Don/Doff Firefighter" is 6” long to enable you to doff your gloves single-handedly as well. The "Compact Firefighter" is 3.5” long and will hold your gloves securely until you’re ready to don them single-handedly.

While donning your glove, make sure you put pressure towards your thigh which makes the Hook grab. My Hooks mimic the use of your Thumb and Index finger grabbing the cuff of your glove. Then as soon as you have your hand fully inserted, pull down and out at around a 45 degree angle away from the Hook to allow the glove to remove easily. 

When mounting your Hooks for the first time, you'll have to recheck the tension after general use. Your bunker gear will conform to the shape of the Handy Hook mounting style and tend to loosen. A few quick turns of your Phillips head screwdriver will fix it.