Tools of the trade...

[sassy1]

As I have started helping with inventory on our ladder, engine, and heavy rescue truck recently, in order to be familiar with what the tools are, and where they are so I can be productive on a fire scene if something is needed( remember I'm still in training)--I don't want to stand there with a blank look on my face. However, I have found that many of my co-workers will swear by one tool being THE TOOL of the trade. Some like the Haligan, some say just use the axe, but some (including me), like the piercing nozzle! I think it's an awsome tool, but it's rarely utilized on scene by our dept. One of our engineers who happens to be a fan of the nozzle, said that it's great to use on car fires..?! I guess so.. I've never seen us use it.
Anyway what I was wondering is this--what is your prefered(must have-if you will)tool of the trade, and what unusual use have you found it to be effective on?! I like inovation! Thanks all

[Rigin1]

I have recently become a huge fan of the TnT tool

http://tinyurl.com/4t26l

I compare it to a quint. It does the job of multiple tools just not as well.

Rigin

[SAFD46Truck]

My favorite tool is the TNT..you can be a 1 man wrecking (oops I mean Truck) company with that little baby!

edit- damn rigin beat me to it.

[sassy1]

Okay--that tool looks cool, but I don't think we have that exact tool on our trucks( actually, since my memory is good, I can tell you we don't-for sure.). I can see you could use it to chop, ventilate or pull ceiling, but what else would we use it for? Thanks!

[Co11FireGal]

My favorite tool is the pickhead ax. I love to tear stuff up, and the pickhead will GIT-R-DONE.

I also really like the closet hook. I think I've used it on more structures than anything else. I usually get the nice tight places since I'm smaller than most all of the guys.

Got to mention the halligan...my fave hand tool for car wrecks...use it to pry to get a point to put in your spreaders, use it to bust glass, and make a spot to put in your stabilizing jacks if you have them.

If someone made me pick just one I wouldn't know what to do...there are so many good ones.

Sassy, I agree, the piercing nozzle is VERY cool! It does work well on car fires. That's about all we use ours for. Hehe, I'll have to put up a pic of ours when I get a chance. It's a homemade job (capt. got bored one day I guess), but it's nifty. Guarantee it's heftier than most on the market.

[ullrichk]

My all-time favorite tool is a functioning brain.

After that. I'd have to go with a Halligan or a closet hook. We don't have any TNT's, but I could easily see that becoming a favorite.

[CaptOldTimer]

Originally posted by ullrichk
My all-time favorite tool is a functioning brain.

After that. I'd have to go with a Halligan or a closet hook. We don't have any TNT's, but I could easily see that becoming a favorite.

I am with you pal. Use the brain more. Just give me a tool and I will make it work for me. I do like the TnT shown above and the halligan as well.

[LaFireEducator]

The halligan and the sledgehammer. Both can perform a variety of jobs but together they are dyyyyyyyyyynoooooooooooooo mite.

The TNT looks intresting, but not enough folks on my department want to get away from the traditional to even purchase one for testing.

[Co11FireGal]

Originally posted by ullrichk
My all-time favorite tool is a functioning brain.

Very true...

I had an extrication instructor one time that always said, "Work smarter, not harder."

[N8sfd333]

I love the halligan, great tool, theres almost nothing a halligan with a flat head axe cant do. When i took forcible entry the guy swore by the irons.

A neat way to pop a hood:
so you get on scene and need to pop the hood but the latch/button/level is unreachable or isnt working. take the fork end and crack out the grill, then find the cable, its usually tucked up along the bumber going off to the right pull some cable out and stick the cable between the forks and twist! before you know it POP! its open. works really cool...

[RyanEMVFD]

Actually of all the damage causing tools that can be carried by hand, one is as good as the other just depends on the user. Honestly my favorite tool is the SCBA. Take it for what it's worth.

[Truck106]

The Irons, would I dare say anything else?

[hwoods]

An Old Fashioned, 6 Ft. HEAVY Steel Pry Bar. Tell me what needs doing, I'll figure out how to get it done with the Bar. Pop doors on a regular basis, while the kids are getting the Hurst Tool out. Nothing wrong with Hurst, I love 'em. But, there is no Hose to drag, Switch to turn on, Valve to open, with my bar. Just grab it and git! And, while I have the floor, Anyone else use a Pulaski tool to open Roofs? Works! Works real good!.....

[cozmosis]

Originally posted by sassy1
...some (including me), like the piercing nozzle! I think it's an awsome tool, but it's rarely utilized on scene by our dept. One of our engineers who happens to be a fan of the nozzle, said that it's great to use on car fires..?!

Why, may I ask, is the piercing nozzle your favorite tool?

We carry one our engine... and it will probably be a dark day on the face of the Sun before we pull it off for anything. I know some guys that say you can shove it through a headlight to extinguish a fire in the engine compartment of a car. I say pop the hood and use your hoseline & standard nozzle.

Other guys have said that you can shove it through wallboard to extinguish fire in an attic or in a void space. I can't support that because I don't want to be spraying water blindly. If I'm going to be putting water into an attic or void space, I'll be pulling sheetrock before I do.

[sassy1]

Ummm...... Actually, the reasons/uses you just mentioned are a big reason why. Also the fact that I have never seen it used, but they carry it on the trucks...so the curiosity I guess is killing me. I do have a question though from your response--and keep in mind, I'm still learning everything at the most basic level--but... Wouldn't you use it in an attic or to punch through a floor into a basement if you know there's no one up or down there, and by using the piercing nozzle you can put more water on the fire-with less bodies going into it? I'm thinking of it from the point of getting more work done with less crew members in danger. Plus, like I said, it hasn't been used so I think it would be a great lesson to see it used. After all, if we spend the money on these tools shouldn't we use them once in a while? Or does this become an issue of lack of training in the proper use of the tool?!If that's the case though, why would you put things on your apperatus if your crew can't utilize them because they don't know how to use them. I don't know, that's why I'm asking. Also--thankyou for all the answers. I have learned also that some of the tools you teach me about I have never heard of--so I'm doing a lot of research ( good thing!) to learn what some of the tools are you tell me about. Like the Hurst tool...We call that an Amikus.. I know it in lay terms as the jaws of life--if I'm right?! This is great!! Now I feel like I'm learning! Thanks everyone. Any more ideas about tools.... They like those here...

[hwoods]

Originally posted by sassy1
Ummm...... Actually, the reasons/uses you just mentioned are a big reason why. Also the fact that I have never seen it used, but they carry it on the trucks...so the curiosity I guess is killing me. I do have a question though from your response--and keep in mind, I'm still learning everything at the most basic level--but... Wouldn't you use it in an attic or to punch through a floor into a basement if you know there's no one up or down there, and by using the piercing nozzle you can put more water on the fire-with less bodies going into it? I'm thinking of it from the point of getting more work done with less crew members in danger.

Like the Hurst tool...We call that an Amikus.. I know it in lay terms as the jaws of life--if I'm right?! This is great!! Now I feel like I'm learning! Thanks everyone. Any more ideas about tools.... They like those here...

Hurst and Amkus are two separate and distinct Brand Names in the Hydraulic Rescue Tool business. There are big differences in them, and each has it's cheerleaders. I prefer Hurst over the others, and I've used all of them at one time or another.

Back to the Piercing Nozzle, (called a Bayonet nozzle here) I like it for a number of uses, one of which is shoving it into Hay/Straw piles, debris piles, both in and out of Dumpsters, Attics, Basements and other places where you can't readily jump into. Auto Fires? 1% Foam thru a Bayonet Nozzle, inserted thru a headlight or fenderwell works VERY well. Tractor Trailer truck with a load of baled cardboard was a lot easier to handle that way. The most important thing is your imagination, coupled with a strong common sense instinct, and a good dose of safety. Try things. If it works, great. If it doesn't, so be it. At least you tried. And that's more than a lot of people ever do.

[Bones42]

Personally, while in my officer position, I carry a TIC and a Paratech Pry-Axe.

[sassy1]

Question: do the Amkus and Hurst look the same? Why do you think one is better than the other? Is it okay to be creative and "use imagination" on scene..or is that something that should be pondered at the station...and if you are creative on scene-say something just comes to you, and it makes sense and you know the tool can do what you want it to, will it be okay to use it and implement your creative new idea, or will you get into trouble for using techniques that are not signed off with training???? Sometimes I look at a tool and the engineer will ask me what it gets used for and I'll get excited thinking I know--I'll tell him, and he'll laugh, and say that sounds like a plan, but then he corrects me and tells me what it's really used for....that's why I wondered. Oh, and by the way--what's the difference between a Paratech Pry axe and a regular axe? ( Remember, I'm still learning, and I want to know it all RIGHT NOW-no patience, but I'm trying )

[RyanEMVFD]

On a basic level all hydraulic tools pretty much look the same. As for one being better than another, it's just personal preference. Case in point, my dept uses Hurst but I prefer Amkus for several reasons. In the end they pretty much have the same proformance just depends on the user.

[Bones42]

There is a guy on these forums whose name is something like dfeursyth (sorry for the spelling) who has the best line I have ever heard for extrication: "Extrication is like jazz, Improvisation based on fundamentals." That line can apply to many things. All the tips and techniques people teach started out as someone's crazy idea at one time or another. Never stop imagining new ways to use things. Some will work, some won't. What worked today may not work tomorrow and vice versa. Things are best tried at training/drilling, but sometimes come up at actual calls.

Pry-Axe is a 2 piece tool. It's about 18 inches long with a pickhead axe on one end and a fork on the other end. The tool can be separated to allow for more leverage. You can see it at http://www.paratech-inc.com/ForcibleEntry.asp#pry No, I'm not a salesman, just a happy end user.