In the story King Tuts Tomb, Batman is forced to team up with his enemy The Riddler in order to bring down the titular Mr. Tut. After Batman saves Riddler from an explosion by wrapping the villain in his cape, Riddler wryly remarks, The cape is flameproof. Important to note for future reference. ...And flameproof it is. With more than one insane arsonist in his rogues gallery (as well as the hero's irritating predilection for being blown up at the end of every other issue), Batmans cape needs to be fireproof. It is an absolute must. In a chapter of the classic 90s story Knightfall, he even employs a fireproof variant of his costume in order to do battle with The Firefly. The cape has other uses as well and has saved Batmans hands from being frayed by steel cable (Destroyer, Shaman), as well as providing a confusing target for bullets (Year One), knives (Destroyer) and other projectile weapons. On another note, the cape is so well insulated, that during the events of The Last Arkham, Batman is able to use the inner aluminum lining of his cape in order to escape capture by deflecting the attention of a microwave motion detector. The cape can also be used as a parachute/short-range glider (Batman Reborn/Court of Owls), which helps Batman to move from building to building. In a few late 80s/early 90s stories (Year One, Prey, Death in the Family), Batman used a hang-glider to get around, but the para-cape has essentially supplanted this in more recent stories.