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Perhaps you have an aversion to store-bought costumes. (Though, have you seen this one? It’s by Aeromax and it is fantastic.) Perhaps you waited just a little bit too long and can’t find a firefighter costume in the stores and shipping won’t reach you in time. Whatever the case, I’ve got some tips for you as to how to make your own firefighter costume. This is not a free option. You’re going to have to buy a few things and search, possibly quite hard, for a few things. This is a no-sew/sew-free costume, however, so even if you don’t know a needle from a straight pin, you should be fine.
Let’s get started.
1. To form the jacket, you have a few options. If you have a yellow, black, tan or red rain jacket on hand, you’re good to go. The good news is that at this time of year, rain jackets are usually on sale. The bad news is that they’re often very picked over. If you cannot find a rain jacket, get a small man’s dress shirt in black. Cut the hem off the bottom of the shirt (not the jacket!) and also remove the collar (again, shirt, not jacket).
2. If you are using a black or tan shirt or jacket, you need to locate some yellow tape. The good news is that the “official” brand of duct tape, Duck Tape, just so happens to make it in yellow. If you can’t find yellow in your area, grab the regular duct tape and paint it yellow with your child’s poster paint. If you are using red or yellow jacket, you need the regular silver colored duct tape. You want a stripe near the bottom of the shirt or jacket, three or so fingers from the bottom of the fire jacket. You want another stripe mid-chest. Lastly, put stripes on the bottom of each sleeve.
3. Place a flag sticker on either the upper left hand corner of the shirt or on the upper sleeve. You can find flag stickers very easily (here’s an example). If you are coming up short-handed, print one out and glue it onto the fire jacket.
4. Your fire pants are the easiest to find and fix. Simply get a pair of sweat pants (black would be acceptable no matter the color of jacket but if you can match to your jacket, more power to you!). Put another stripe of your colored tape near the bottom, again about three fingers up from the hem.
5. Now for the fire boots. If you have rain boots in black or yellow, you’re set. If not, take whatever rain boots you can find (remember, they’ll likely be on sale right now as snow boots are already flying off the shelves) and cover them with either yellow or black duct tape. Voila! Fire boots!
6. Locate a fire helmet. This is one you might already have, especially as your child’s school may have just sent one home in celebration of Fire Prevention Week. Depending on how much you want to spend, you can buy this fancy one
And voila! You have a little firefighter without sewing!
As an added bonus, if you used the silver duct tape (and possibly the yellow; someone let me know, please), it will be reflective if lights shine on it. While trick-or-treating at night isn’t your safest option, it is good to be safe if you’re heading outdoors when it is dark this Halloween season. I’ll be bringing you some Halloween safety tips in the near future. In the meantime, get to work on your sew-free firefighter costume. Feel free to send us pictures if you go this route!
Happy (homemade) firefighting!
Oct 052009
When I read the review of the Aeromax firefighter costume on Momma’s Review, I wanted to hug her. We have had the black costume in our Imagination Box for two and a half years now. In fact, BigBrother wore it, a size 2-4, when he was LittleBrother’s age for Halloween in 2007. But we never knew what brand that thing was since it had been given to us by a family friend. Now we know!
It’s an Aeromax Toys costume! Once I knew that, I contacted them to ask if we could review the new yellow one in BigBrother’s size (4-6) so that we could have two firefighters running around the house. They happily obliged and, as such, two firefighters have been busy putting out fires in the backyard and visiting their daddy on the scene of big downtown fires. We’re pleased.
Let me tell you my favorite things about these Aeromax costumes.
1. They look real. FireDad’s biggest “reality” complaint is that the yellow costume should technically also have a black helmet. Otherwise, the yellow firefighter costume is just like the real thing at our local professional department where FireDad works, right down to the red suspenders.
2. Little details like the knee patches, brass clasps and reflective tape add that little extra “oomph.”
3. Let me reiterate one point: reflective tape. This is probably the safest costume on the market, in black or white. Shine a light at this costume or take a picture with flash and you’ll see what I mean. I really wouldn’t suggest sending your small child out by himself in the dark while dressed in a costume but the reflective tape makes for some extra-safe trick-or-treating if you’re not home by dusk.
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4. It comes with a helmet that isn’t flimsy or easily breakable. I know you have received a flimsy, red fire helmet from a fire safety day at school or at a birthday party. If you step on one of those, they’re done. Not so with these! In fact, if you step on one of these, your foot will pay, not the helmet.
5. Which brings me to my favorite point: this costume is not made of your typical, cheap costume material. This is heavy. This material withstands stopping, dropping and rolling down the hill as your child fights an imaginary fire. It isn’t going to rip just because one child runs away from another and they yank on the back of the other’s costume. It’s going to withstand one child’s use and well into the next kid’s abuse. We wear costumes frequently in this house and our older black one still looks as good as new.
There are two things I don’t like about the costumes.
1. The brass buckles are still too hard for even BigBrother to do on his own. Sometimes I convince him that he simply wants to zip his jacket instead of doing the buckles as well but, most of the time, he needs to be in full gear which includes his buckles being buckled. But, as a kid, when he decides, not quite ten minutes later, that he needs to take off his fire jacket, I have to help him undo the buckles as his fingers are not quite strong enough. I will say that the difference in two years from the black to the yellow costume have seen some improvement but they’re still too difficult.
2. The picture that comes on the costume shows the little firefighter with an axe. BigBrother was mighty ticked for a few days that there was no axe. (Also, no boots. We have fire boots on hand at all times so that’s not an issue for our family. Heads up for you.) While I don’t really want him to have an axe and am therefore okay with all of this, I just thought I would warn you. No axe. Be prepared for, “Where’s my axe?” Over and over. And over again.
If those are my only two negative points, I’m fine and you should be as well.
The firefighter costume comes in black, yellow and tan. Aeromax Toys also happens to make a wide array of other imaginative costumes for your future Astronaut, Doctor or Armed Forces Pilot. Among many other things! You should give it a look.
You can purchase the firefighter costume straight from Aeromax Toys’ website for $59.95. It’s also available on Amazon right now for $49.33
And, yes, TheBrothers are being firefighters for Halloween this year. In fact, the whole FireFamily will be going as a group of firefighters to a friend’s party. Look for pictures after Halloween! But here are two more of my favorites, taken in the aftermath of a recent downtown fire.
We’re fans of Aeromax Toys costume. You will be as well!
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[I contacted Aeromax Toys to request a costume for review. I posted my honest opinion on both the pros and cons of this particular costume. I received no further compensation from the company.]
