Which Tuff-N-Lite Safety Jacket Should I Choose? (product review & comparison)

Tuff-N-Lite wants to help you make the best decision possible when buying PPE for your employees. Tuff-N-Lite offers a wide variety of jackets that can be customized to our customer’s specifications and needs. So, in order to make the choice a bit easier, we’ve laid out the strengths and weaknesses of all our jackets.

Before getting into all the jackets, keep in mind all keel jackets come with dual sleeves. This feature protects against injuries to the palm of the hand with sewn-in thumb loops and thumbholes. The thumb holes also help to prevent the jacket from moving or riding up a worker’s arm when they go to lift glass or other objects.

Most of Tuff-N-Lite’s jackets are treated with Micro-Texpur to eliminate odor-causing mold and mildew, as well as other harmful microbes, before sale. This feature is especially important for people who work outside and in hotter climates!

Keel Jacket with Zipper

Strengths:

The Keel Jacket with zipper is the most lightweight jacket offered and highly customizable (e.g. mesh back, hi-vis, CBD oil treatment).

This jacket also comes treated with Micro-Texpur.

Weaknesses:

The effectiveness of the Keel Jacket will largely rely on your company’s safety culture. If you have to frequently tell your employees to zip up, a pullover might be the better option.

Best Uses :

The Swiss Army knife of safety jackets—anywhere cut protection is needed.

  • Glaziers
  • Delivery Drivers
  • Maintenance
  • Supervisors

Reasons to Buy:

This jacket covers all the requirements for PPE and is great for any company with a responsible safety culture.

Keel Jacket with Zipper w/Mesh Back

Strengths:

The Keel Jacket is already the most lightweight cut-resistant PPE available, so the mesh back maximizes breathability. This jacket comes treated with Micro-Texpur.

Weaknesses:

Like the Keel Jacket, this jacket is better suited for companies and plants with a strong safety culture. The Keel Jacket with Zipper and Cool Mesh Back has to be zipped up for it to offer proper protection. 

Best Uses:

The Swiss Army knife of safety jackets—anywhere cut protection is needed.

  • Cutting station
  • Breakout
  • Steaming
  • Edge deletion
  • Any environment that requires a reinforced jacket
    • Food processing
    • Cold-rolled steel
    • Sheet metal
    • Waste recycling
    • Heavy material handling (e.g., transport)

Reasons to Buy:

The Keel Jacket is good for any company without climate-controlled work areas or any company in hotter climates. The jacket is lightweight and breathable to promote cooling.

High-Visibility Keel Jacket with Zipper (Special Order)

Strengths:

The high-visibility Keel Jacket with Zipper offers increased safety in high-traffic areas and for people who travel between sites.

Weaknesses:

Hi-vis gear can show wear and dirt faster and more easily than traditional PPE, so this jacket will not be as effective in dirtier environments. However, Tuff-N-Lite only offers colors more resistant to stains for this reason.

Best Uses:

  • Delivery Drivers
  • Forklift Drivers
  • Maintenance
  • Supervisors

Reasons to Buy:

The high-visibility Keel Jacket with Zipper is a one-stop-shop piece of PPE. This jacket is a highly specialized PPE that combines two to three safety requirements into a single tactical jacket. The special hi-visibility yarn is ANSI certified and customizable between hi-vis yellow or orange and with or without reflective tape.

Combining two pieces of necessary safety equipment into one is the reason for the higher cost, but it also lowers the overall expenditures for companies by removing the need for a cut-resistant jacket and ANSI high-visibility vest. Additionally, this reduces the headache of managing more PPE inventory and decreases storage costs.

Keel Interlock Jacket with Zipper

Strengths:

The Keel Interlock Jacket with Zipper is treated with Micro-Texpur and comes with a non-metallic and scratch-resistant zipper. The jacket is:

  • Puncture resistant
  • As breathable and light as everyday clothing with a jersey fabric
  • Equipped with a ribbed collar to maximize neck protection
  • Lined with Coolmax for comfort
  • Designed with added protection at the wrist and torso

Weaknesses:

If your job requires you to drag heavy materials often to the stomach area, even with the added layer, this jacket will wear out more quickly. The jersey fabric of this jacket is less durable and not meant for heavy wear or aggressive manufacturing around sharp objects.

Best Uses:

  • Cutting station
  • Breakout
  • Steaming
  • Edge deletion 

Reasons to Buy:

The Keel Interlock Jacket with Zipper is light and breathable, so workers will become less fatigued throughout the day. This jacket is perfect for jobs where the threat level is low or where they’re not directly dealing with sharp objects.

Keel Interlock Jacket with Zipper and Meshback

Strengths:

The Keel Interlock Jacket with Zipper and Meshback has an added layer of protection in high-risk areas—fully covering the entire torso. The jacket also has throat and zone protection, giving it high cut-level resistance.

This jacket can also be further customized with hi-vis, reflective tape, and more.

Weaknesses:

This jacket is heavier than a regular safety jacket due to its increased high-risk and priority-area protection.

Best Uses:

  • Cutting station
  • Breakout
  • Steaming
  • Edge deletion
  • Any environment that requires a reinforced jacket
    • Food processing
    • Cold-rolled steel
    • Sheet metal
    • Waste recycling
    • Heavy material handling (e.g., transport)

Reasons to Buy:

The Keel Interlock Jacket with Zipper and Meshback is one of the most popular jackets for a reason. This is the most durable jacket available and will hold up best against heavy glass and extreme environments.

The torso region has added protection and it won’t wear out as quickly, so the jacket will last longer and get the job done! With the added breathability from the cool mesh back, the jacket is still a great option for plants without climate control and hotter climates.

Padded Police Jacket

Strengths:

The padded police jacket is:

  • Highly cut resistant (level 5)
  • Designed with the revolutionary ZoomBang polymer (impact protection)
  • All black

Weaknesses:

ZoomBang protects against impact, but this makes the jacket heavier than standard PPE.

Best Uses:

  • Law enforcement
    • SWAT
    • Breaching
    • Riot police
    • Security guards in arenas
  • Department of Corrections
  • Search and Rescue
  • Motorcycle Sports (street and dirt/offroad)

Reasons to Buy:

Despite the jacket’s added weight, it’s impact resistance through the ZoomBang polymer is lifesaving. The jacket will protect people against injuries common in riots, breaches, cell extraction, and motorcycle wipeouts.

Glazier Jacket w/ Harness-Thru-Back Design

Strengths:

The Glazier Jacket features the revolutionary “harness-thru-back” design. The opening sits at the back upper part of the jacket and it doesn’t affect the skin on your neck. This design:

  • Gives people the ability to thread the rope attached to their safety harness through a special opening
  • Maximizes comfort and stops the increased stress the friction a harness and rope places on a worker’s PPE
  • Allows for freedom of movement
  • Offers easy access with a zipper in the front and back of the jacket
  • Is scratch resistant and non-metallic

The jacket is treated with Micro-Texpur.

Weaknesses:

This jacket is intended for the specific use of glaziers and is not necessary for people who are not installing glass and do not wear a safety harness.

Best Uses:

  • Glazier work (the glass industry)
  • Window and glass installation involving rope and harness equipment
  • Any job that requires a harness and cut protection

Reasons to Buy:

This specialized PPE provides the worker with cut and rope burn protection and keeps your company in OSHA safety compliance! The harness-thru-back addition to the jacket makes it so the harness and rope are almost unnoticeable during the workday.

Arc Flash Interlock Jacket

Strengths:

The Arc Flack Interlock Jacket:

  • Can absorb 12 cal of energy
  • Is highly cut resistant (level 5)

The jacket comes with high-visibility tape and is great for:

  • People who need to cut protection and are working with electricity
  • People that handle maintenance work including electrical

This jacket is more affordable than HPPE jackets.

Weaknesses:

The Arc Flash Interlock Jacket is made with para-aramid fibers so it can withstand the high temperatures of an arc flash.

However, para-aramid fibers are:

  • Less strong compared to HPPE fibers
  • Degrade from the point of creation due to ultraviolet rays, sweat, cleaning, etc.

Best Uses:

  • Electric work where arc flash hazards are possible, including:
    • Power lines
    • Circuit breakers
    • Electrical panels

Reasons to Buy:

When arc flash protection is imperative, the Arc Flash interlock Jacket is the best tool for the job. The jacket can handle high heat without melting and will still protect you from cutting hazards.

Tuff-N-Lite has jackets available to fit everyone’s safety needs. For more product details, or to inquire about customizations, contact us.

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