Iron Firemen Wooden Ladders & Iron Firemen
It all started with the post Old Firemen and Dirty Balls. Apparently, AXE was watching. They not only contacted me, they also wanted to send some product for us to use at the station! Cool huh? I explained that this site is not connected to the station nor my Department and that it is against our policy to accept gifts. However, I explained; if they sent the product to me personally (as the Owner / Author of this site) then I could not only accept it, I would assure it was used at the station and conduct a “review” of their product.
I cautioned them that any review from a firefighter or firefighters would most likely be brutally honest … no guarantees on which way the review may go. That said, it would also be me writing the review … I assumed they had read my work and knew it would most certainly have my “spin” or sick sense of firehouse humor attached. I don’t know why but, they sent it anyway…. Find that story here … Naked Firemen? An Early Christmas Results In Nudity At The Ironfiremen Headquarters.
They held up their end … and I mine. Every bottle of AXE made it’s way to the station our next day back….
We’ve used it everyday. Fast / slow … busy or not. Then, we got the ultimate test. We had one of those “working fires” last day where the smell of smoke gets “baked” into you pretty good. You know… a hot and smoky fire that usually takes 3 or 4 days to wash out of ya.
Well, the reviews are in and they’re good….. WE LOVE IT! Here’s what we like…
The Bottles. They are firefighter friendly. They are made of some kinda durable plastic (I guess) and they won’t break. Trust me. I tried dropping a full bottle multiple times and couldn’t get it to break or even crack ( NOTE: I said firefighter “friendly”… not “PROOF”..LOL).
The Shower Gels have easy to use “flip tops” while the shampoo’s “push button” tops open just as easily
The Shower Gels have a formed or “shaped” bottle that fits your hand nicely. They are easy to grab and to hold on to…no slip.
That also makes it nice for those of us who don’t have those fancy shower “hangie” shelf thingies. You can lay the bottle on the soap rack and it won’t slip or fall off….
The product. It’s thick…. you know you have something in your palm and it wont run out before you get it to where you want to put it (shampoo, Scrub or Gel). It makes good lather. Again, you know you are washing with “soap” … it’s not like you’re washing with plain ol water or some kind of lotion. It almost has a sort of “granular” feel until you apply it to your body. I don’t know how or where it goes but that “granular” consistency disappears at application … it goes on and lathers up smooth. It also leaves you with a “tingling” … kinda “fresh” sensation after rinsing (quit laughing… I’m serious!). You feel CLEAN after you use it.
The smell. We had a lot of variety to choose from, each with it’s own distinct fragrance. I’m not sure I ever really knew what “red dragonfruit”, “Cactus oil” or “Glacier water” actually smells like but, if AXE came anywhere close to the real thing; it’s pretty nice. I’ll also say that it done a VERY nice job on the “smoke smell” after our fire last day. I have always had trouble finding a soap that will knock the smell out. Some will mask it for a while but usually, the odor returns within a few hours. AXE didn’t totally get rid of the smell (I think it gets deep in our pores and works back out through perspiration etc) but it did take care of it longer than any other brand I have used. I woke up this morning with a slight hint of the smell of smoke so I’d say it lasted about 20 hours (I purposely did not shower before bed last night to see how long the AXE scent would last).
Our Favorites. Personally, I like plain ol original AXE. They didn’t send that. From what they did send, my favorites were the AXE FEVER (Brazilian Hot Mud and Red DragonfruitExtract and AXE SNAKE PEEL (Desert Minerals and Cactus Oil). Boots likes “mint”. His favorites were AXE SHOCK (Glacier Water + Deep Sea Mint + Menthol) and the AXE DOWNPOUR Shampoo.
What I didn’t like. Too many choices. Firefighters are “simple”….. too many options can and will confuse us. The “original” AXE smells and works GREAT. If it ain’t broke … don’t fix it. I’m not sure about the bottle size…. they are 12 oz. bottles. I’m thinking that maybe a little smaller or “travel” size bottle may be more firefighter friendly (most of us use shower “bags”, “kits” or travel cases for transfers between companies etc) plus a smaller bottle may fit better in our lockers (but I’m not sure).
Conclusion. BUY SOME! It really works and, with all the variety they offer; AXE will have a product to suit your taste in fragrance. The real shame here is that the Company doesn’t even know the full potential of their product .. but we have figured it out. They’ve been hung up on the “ball cleaning” thing. Come to find out, AXE will clean Firefighters, their “balls” AND their “Tools”
Until next time, Stay safe and in house!
Captain Wines