Painting Ends of a Wood Cribbing

[rmoore]

I received a question from a fire department that is considering painting the ends of their wood cribbing. One reason was identification. The other reason was to show the recommended setback that each piece should have in a box crib formation. The cribbing would only have the last 3 & 1/2" of wood painted.

When a team paints the ends of their wood cribbing, they are forgetting one other important point about cribbing utilization. The grain of each piece of cribbing should be parallel to the load when in the crib; not vertical. This makes the wood stronger when the grain is compressed under a load.

The image below is taken from my Vehicle Rescue 1-2-3 training manual. Note how the grain of wood for each piece is parallel to the load, allowing for full strength of wood cribbing to be achieved. When you paint cribbing ends, you make it hard to tell which way the grain is running.

[slackjawedyokel]

may just be me, but I can see the direction of the grain on the side, just as well as on the butt cut,in a perfect world, im sure that you take the time to align things, but in the real world, usually doesnt happen. How about you paint the ends in a pattern to indicate the direction of the grain ?

[Bones42]

We put rope through each piece. Different color ropes for different things. And the orientation of the rope handle shows the "grain" direction.

[slackjawedyokel]

We put rope through each piece. Different color ropes for different things. And the orientation of the rope handle shows the "grain" direction.

there you go -very simple solution

[footrat]

If you paint just the sides of the ends that go up and down, it makes it easier. You see paint, you know it's oriented correctly.

Honestly, I think people just look for things to paint.