Personal Safety

Shop personal safety gear at West Marine.

Many boating projects involve chemicals and particulates that pose health hazards to users. Personal protection products protect skin, eyes, lungs, and other parts of the body from injury.

West Marine offers protective gear to do-it-yourselfers and professionals that engage in boat maintenance. The following types of products are offered:

Paint and Dust Suits

This protective apparel forms a physical barrier against chemicals and particles. Products offered include coveralls, head socks and painters caps. While some boaters prefer traditional cotton or polyester coveralls, many now opt for Tyvec® coveralls, which are lightweight and breathable.

Respirators

There are two general categories of respirators, those that protect against particles and those that protect against vapors. Particle respirators look like surgical masks and cover just the mouth and nose. They are for sanding projects only.

More sophisticated vapor respirators have one-way valves and layers of activated absorbent materials to trap more than dust. Some of these respirators cover the nose and mouth, while other include a clear face mask that protects the entire face. These respirators protect against vapors using chemical absorbing layers of charcoal or other materials that pull the vapors out of the air as the user draws in a breath. They use replaceable cartridges which must be replaced when their filtering capacity is reached.

Gloves

Gloves reduce the absorption of chemicals into the hands and prevent chafing. Disposable gloves are offered in nitrile or latex. Nitrile gloves offer greater chemical resistance. Disposable gloves are most commonly used when applying paints and epoxies. Heavier gloves, which are like dishwashing gloves, are available for other projects like wet sanding boat hulls.

Goggles and Safety Glasses

Keep dust and chemicals out of the eyes.

Ear Plugs and Ear Muffs

The noise in boatyards can rise to dangerous levels. Ear plugs and ear muffs are used to provide hearing protection against noise generated by paint chippers, power sanders, drills, etc.

Kneepads

Boat maintenance frequently involves getting down on our knees which can become painful. Kneepads, which protect the knees against hard surfaces and abrasion, can turn painful drudgery into a tolerable experience.