Rope gear storage

I had a person ask what does everyone use to carry their rope rescue hardware in? There are tons of options for cases and bags that are out on the market. There are also tons of different options of how you should store your equipment also. I feel you need to find the best options for your running district. There are a couple of examples having a storage options for your district. The first is if you respond to incidents thats far away from your vehicle then you need something light and comfortable to hike with. The other example is if you’re an industrial rescue team you might want something that comes off the truck easily. The question for the masses is, what do you use to store your hardware? Share pictures of your gear bags and storage methods. 

Boat cleaning

Have you ever pulled the floor out of you inflatable boat and cleaned the bottom of the boat? After a training session on water rescue and boat operations we were trying to get all of the pond water out of the bottom of boat when we started to have a discussion about what might be lurking below the floor of the boat. The decision was made to pull the floor out of the boat and cleaning the bottom. My crew then commenced to pulling the floor out of the boat and we got a good look at the bottom. See the picture below to see what the bottom looked like. The bottom was pretty dirty and it definitely needed cleaned out. So the question is, how often do you really clean your boat? Is there mold growing under the floor of your inflatable boat? It's definitely worth taking the floor out and cleaning your boat.

What’s in your pockets

As firefighters we tend to have different tools that we carry with us in our fire gear. Those tools can be different from person to person. The question ends up being what is in your pockets? When we start evaluate what we carry in our gear the first question that should be asked is what type of incidents do I normally respond to and what will help me with those incidents? The next question that should be asked is what is what tool might save my life or the life ofa fellow firefighter? Once you answer these questions you should decide on what you’re going to carry. The thing that we can tend to do sometimes is overload our pockets and become a walking tool box. Don’t overload yourself with a bunch of tools because you might just need it someday. Be smart about what you are going to carry and make sure it has a purpose. Give me a few examples of the unique tools that you carry with you as a firefighter. We as a fire service should be learning from everyone else. Pay it forward and give me a few ideas