Given how severely burns can impact your life, making sure you pick the right pair of flame-resistant pants is very important and can easily be the difference between buying new pants and spending time in the hospital. There are several brands out there that advertise as being flame resistant, but to be sure you will need to check on a few things before you invest in a pair.
Flash Point
This is the temperature at which the material will catch fire. While clothing sold as flame resistant in the US must meet certain regulation, buying cheap suits from overseas can often lead to you winding up with a jumpsuit that does not do much of anything to protect you. The flash point should be at least several hundred degrees with temperatures in the thousands being even better. The higher this rating, the safer you will be.
Slag Resistance
Slag is a common sight in an industrial setting, even more so in areas that require flame resistant clothing. Slag is small, red hot, bits of burnt metal and contaminants that is shot off of a hot piece of metal. This is most common when welding or working with molten metals. Because slag is a byproduct of unprotected molten metal, it is going to be just as hot as whatever it came from until it starts to cool.
Slag can be dangerous because, unlike fire, it can stick to you. If you happen to be exposed to a flash fire, then you can move, but if a piece of slag lands on your hood you are not likely to notice right away. Over time this can cause a hole to burn through your gear even though it never actually caught on fire. Make sure whatever you choose to buy is going to be thick enough to keep slag from burning through your clothes.
These are just the basics of what to look for, but if you make sure you get something that is going to stand up to high heat and is not going to let slag burn through it then you should feel confident in your purchase.
