5 Inch Hose

[Almavillefire15]

Im at a Vol. dept. and weve just adopted useing the 5 inch hose. usually we only had 5-inch for hydrants but know chief says were actually putting it in the hose bed for use. if anybody has used this or knows anything on this please let me know. e-mail me at southernfireman08@yahoo.com just so we know what were lookin forward to. thanks!

[Firefighter2230]

where was it at before now?
We have ours loaded up onto the hose beds of our pumpers.

[Bones42]

just so we know what were lookin forward to

Lots of water.

[chopper12]

What in God's name would you use 5" for other than supply? You're gonna need a crew of superheroes to put that into use in any sort of attack. Hell, we don't even use 2 1/2" for attack anymore. I find it VERY difficult to believe your Chief is going to have you using 5" for attack.

[Bones42]

Maybe for a portable monitor? Instead of multiple 2 1/2" or 3" lines, they could use 1 5" line. or maybe they have long stretches and instead of running multiple 2 1/2" or 3" lines, they will run 1 5" line to a distributor valve, then 1 3/4" lines off that? I've also heard of some places getting 4" and/or 5" connections to the building standpipes/sprinklers.

[MetalMedic]

We have 4" hose on every engine and our aeriel and have adapted very well. We did not get rid of the 2.5" , which is also keep in a separate hose tray for large hand lin applications. The LDH is primarily your supply lines for hydrant to pump and pump relay operations. Because of reduced friction loss, it is also a good choice to supply a manifold/gated-Y for extended hand line deployment.

Much less friction loss means (as Bones points out better than me!) "Lots of water".

[Almavillefire15]

Well our tanker supply lines are 2 1/2 and we have short sections of 5 inch on the front of the engines for hydrant supply. i honestly dont know what were gonna use it for. as said ive never seen it used but for hydrant suppply!
also as said i think it'll take a team of superheros to use it as a attack line. we'll probably use it as portable monitors but we've got alot of sections of it comin in and we've raised the bed rails on the engines. I guess we'll find out this Thursday at the buisness meeting. I'll keep it posted!

[VinnieB]

I belonged to a few departments that utilized 5" hose. My first Vollie, Current Vollie and even a few units in my paid dept use 5". (All the Engine have 35' of 5" in the fron well) Basically like brother bones said, More water....1 gallon per foot and ZERO FL. When used with a Manifold and a good water supply, it is great. You can set up at your water source far from the fire, and be able to flow multiple Ladder devices, Pumpers, or Large Caliber Streams. At a recent fire at my job, 2 Manifolds were used, 1 from the Sattlite Unit and another from a Fire Boat, they supplied 4 Tower ladders, 3 Large Caliber Streams (Monitors), and (3) 2.5" Hand lines.

Packing it is a pain though. You have to make sure all the water and air is out, by walking out each lengths with a roller, and the best method we found in packing it on the bed it either, all the cupplings in the rear, packed long and short, or just pack the first bed long (all the way to the rear wall) and the next bed short( just short of the rear wall) and alternate.

Another important feature (may be standard these days) is the "auto locks" on the storz. I have seen may lengths come apart in the past because they were not tight......and once 5" have water in it....you not moving it. Even a length with a bit of water in tough to move.

Also, keep a tube of vasoline around for the gaskets. We lubed up the gaskets on every length. Each time we used it, and disconnected, we would re-lube the gaskets.

If I remember anything else....I'll be sure to post it for ya'.

Stay Safe

VinnieB

[Daniel4880]

It sounds like you are going to use 5" for supply instead of 2 1/2". I assume you are using dual 2 1/2" lines for supply, so you can look forward to a little less work initially setting up water supply, but alot more difficulty moving lines once it's set up, so pay attention to where you are laying out, and move hose to the side of the street before charging it so apparatus can get through.


Daniel

[SSHANK42]

VinnieB, does the Vaseline hurt the gaskets? We keep a can of spray white lithium grease around for lube. We were worried that Vaseline would degrade the rubber gaskets since Vaseline is petroluem based. That tube of Vaseline would be easier to store than our can, thats for sure. We use our 5 in. for supply, whether it be from hydrant to truck, truck to truck, or truck to portable device. It is definately a chore to put back on one of our engines. We have to walk out the water and roll it to get every bit of air out. Once we roll it we stick a prybar thru the center to roll it back off. If we do not lay the couplings right it all will not go back on.

[VinnieB]

I don't really know. They have been using it for........14 years now, I think. Never heard of a problem though....... I guess the lithium Greese should be used.

[MichaelD77]

From what I've seen in my time as an Explorer at my volunteer department, 5 inch is used for water supply to tanker, supply to a manifold, or as a hook-up into a building's sprinkler system. As of right now, our 2 engines, pumper/tanker, and ladder carry 5 inch. Along with it they also carry a hose clamp to cut off the 5 inch if need be.

I think I also saw 5 inch being used to supply a monitor one time. But this was a big monitor, it was on a trailer. I think it belonged to a refinery or something.

[fourfifteen]

Our department has use 4 inch supply line for a very long time and now started to switch over to 5 inch. Last summer we set a 4-inch up with a 4-inch storz to a 2.5 male reducer and we put a 2.5 nozzle on it. One of our safety guys in our department found out about it and said that if it were ever used in that manner again you'd get fired. It’s too un-safe.

[sdff1520]

Our department has use 4 inch supply line for a very long time and now started to switch over to 5 inch. Last summer we set a 4-inch up with a 4-inch storz to a 2.5 male reducer and we put a 2.5 nozzle on it. One of our safety guys in our department found out about it and said that if it were ever used in that manner again you'd get fired. It’s too un-safe.

What is the safety issue with using the LDH line this way?

[SSHANK42]

I would think back injury. I would hate to try and direct a stream with 4 or 5 in as my hose.

[sdff1520]

I would think back injury. I would hate to try and direct a stream with 4 or 5 in as my hose.

Yes, obviously the back thing...I guess I just assumed (probably incorrectly) there was a 50' 2 1/2 on the end rather than the nozzle right on the LDH. I cant imagine trying to wrestle LDH as a hand line and being very productive with the effort, however with a section of 2 1/2 on the end and then the nozzle no problem...

[fourfifteen]

There is no 2-½ section of hose. We just put a reducer on the end of the LDH and then put on a 2-½ nozzle. We also tried a stack tip. The hose is impossible to move with in either of those configurations. It’s only good as a supply line from hydrant to pumper or pumper-to-pumper.

[SSHANK42]

At least a Kennan (sp.) would not be required.

[BKDRAFT]

If they are planning to put 5" hose in the bed than they'll use it to catch a hydrant and have the ability to lay line. Our engines have 600' of 5" just in our bed. We then have a 25' on the front bumper and two 15' jump lines.

[Holyfield911]

We carry 2100 ' of 5'' on our water supply pumper and about 600' on our Telesquirt. It makes laying into a hydrant VERY easy. We have shorter pony lines for truck -to - truck.

As for repacking it.... thats what probies and second due companies are for : )