SIP Protection's history

Foundation of SIP

SIP Protection’s story starts in 1970. S.I.P. stands for Société Industrielle de Prêt-à-porter, and was founded on the 1st Jan of that year in Foix, a town in the South West of France. During many years, SIP was a manufacturer of regular trousers for many of the French retailers. Only in the early 1990s, SIP gets involved with chainsaw protection.

Start of chainsaw protective clothing

The husband of one of the ladies in SIP’s production worked as a teacher in a nearby forestry school. As he worked with chainsaws, he introduced SIP to chainsaw protective clothing. This type of garments originated from Scandinavia via Germany and was later introduced in France.

The road towards comfort

At that time, only the bigger chainsaw brands were offering this type of protective clothing. Then, chainsaw trousers did offer protection against chainsaws, but they were heavy and uncomfortable. While they might have been suitable for the milder climate in Sweden and Northern Germany, those 14 layers of blocking material were definitely not suited for the warm summers in the South West of France.

That’s why SIP set a step backwards, looked at the options, and developed a new type of blocking material together with a French supplier, containing Kevlar® fibres. That made it possible to drastically reduce the number of layers necessary to offer the same level of protection. In those days, the standards weren’t even available yet.

SIP Protection is born

In 1994, things get serious. An EN standard is about to come, and in order to make a distinction between the regular business (trousers for daily and leisure use) and the PPE side, a new company is created: SIP Protection. What’s in a name? Making a clear statement, we are SIP, we know how to make trousers, but now we also offer Protection. Chainsaw protection. SIP Protection.

As a logo, the Rhino is chosen. In the same way as the Rhino’s skin protects him against the teeth and the claws of the lion, SIP Protection wants to protect the wearer against the teeth and claws of the chainsaw.

In-house testing

From one of the European Notified Bodies, SIP Protection buys one of the older test rigs, and starts to develop protective equipment according to this new anticipated standard. More than 250 different combinations and tests are needed, but at the publication of the standard, in 1995, SIP Protection managed to offer the first ever trousers on the market with only 6 layers of blocking material.

Our collection

For many, many years, SIP Protection is the only brand capable of offering this level of comfort. Now it has become the standard. At the time, we only had one range on stock, the “Tradition Range”, available in green, navy and hi vis colours. We hope that you will find your way to our current collection, where we try to offer a solution for all your needs and requirements. We are always sticking to our development and design. We are SIP Protection.