This would be used inside large metal containers during live fire drills, underneath standard fire service equipment. We have used some methods but are interested to know if people can recommend any specific devices.
I don't know of any of a practical size for your application that would accept 150C. However we always circumvent the issue by wearing the loggers under the protective clothing. Given that 45C is your skin pain threshold, it would virtually never get above this (except in extreme radiant environments.
You could also consider logging sensors, like ibuttons, which come in lots of different types and ranges. Our experience with them is good and there are some validation papers too.
A smallish logger that takes rectal and skin sensors (as well as humidity and acceleration) is the MSR logger from Switzerland.
Finally, insulating it and/or packing it up with cooling packs would extend the useable time, but adds weight. Also if you use thermocouples this may not be great as it may affect your cold junction compensation.
The temperature in the containers can be anything from 150 to 600C, although it is unlikely the firefighters go anywhere near the hottest areas. As you say the actual air temperature in contact with the loggers will be more like 45-50C.
The issues we have had is that rectal thermistors degrade in that heat, while telemetry pills are incredibly expensive for the number of tests we need to do. We have considered the use of ibuttons for multiple skin measurements, while using an Equivital System for other physiological measures including telemetry pill.
Insulating the logger may be worth a try. Although the firefighters won't want to do this each time.
Working on thermoregulation process, I have also have identified the lack of simple solution to ensure the continuous monitoring of the core temperature during our experimentations. Given the limitations of the existing devices, I decided to create my own product (e-Celsius) for temperature measurement responding to our regular technical needs.
The device is based on an ingestible capsule which collect and transmit the core temperature data to a dedicated monitor. The main advantage of our solution is the implementation of an internal memory in the pill (capacity 2000 data) which allow to continuously monitor core temperature without the monitor during around 15h. The data stored in the pill are automatically recovered when this one is replaced in the range of communication.
For more information, I would ask you to visit our website www.bodycap-medical.com and/or http://www.animals-monitoring.com/fr/ (version dedicated to animal monitoring). Also, I remain at your entire disposal for any complementary informations.