HAIX and GORE-TEX®: both brands are closely connected, and not just because they have joined forces to create high-quality products. Parallels can also be found when it comes to their values too: protecting firefighters and rescue forces in action is their topmost priority.
Anyone can promise high quality standards, but only by conducting extensive testing within Europe can complete protection be guaranteed.
Sturdy, black leather meets neon-yellow laces and instep protectors. Ask any firefighter to take one quick look at these boots and there would be no question about it:
they’re HAIX, the highest in quality. The inside of the shoe is lined in blue, one of the most important elements when it comes to protection at work.
Watch the video to see Johannes Krieg und Stefan Seidl explain what GORE-TEX® laminate is made of and how it can provide and also guarantee protection.
The HAIX headquarters in Mainburg are located around 650 kilometres away from the HAIX production centre in Mala Subotica, Croatia. Travelling this distance on foot in the FIRE EAGLE would be the real-life version of our endurance test.
Instead, we use what is known as a walking simulator, which is a little more comfortable, at least for the wearer.
In the video, Stephan Seidl explains how the test works.
Now for a change of perspective: whilst the walking simulator tests how waterproof the shoe is on the outside, the centrifuge puts the FIRE EAGLE under pressure from the inside. This kind of technology is often used in the field of space travel.
Stephan Seidl works in the GORE-TEX® footwear laboratory and is here to tell us more:
There are three cornerstones to the HAIX quality tests. In addition to the tests performed over the course of shoe production, four percent of all HAIX shoes produced are tested directly at the factory. At the GORE-TEX® site in Feldkirchen-Westerham, ten sample pairs are selected per month and their quality is tested in the footwear laboratory.
Videos and text: HAIX, Inge Fuchs
