Question for guys with Leathers, Million lights and Ect...

[rescuepimp911]

NOT BASHING.... NOTE TO FIREHOUSE> NOT BASHING...


I was once a Junior myself, not to long ago, so I can some what relate better in here that out there... Anyways I started a thread on My new Helmet, Got a lot of "LEATHERs the best" comments... Anyways Im just curious how come we would rather spend tons of money on LEATHERS, Millions oflights and so on.... Being a lil older and lil wiser can honestlky say I was once the Fire Station Light Bandit.... It was stupid, I thought the more EQ I had the quicker of a response... NOPE... Leathers.. Whats the real Deal with leathers... Why are they so much better...)This question is more or less for those who replied to my post)....


I dont know... Just sitting here board as ****....Just wondering

[blancety]

....Because my 20 year old leather helmet will still be around in 20 more years....

[CALFFBOU]

Leather...

I have used leather once. After awhile, I noticed
I wasnt getting any points from any "traditional
committee." All it was just extra weight to deal
with and the leather could absorb the toxins.

Some guys say its for tradition. Wow, leather was
all they had back in the 1800s. They used it on
EVERYTHING. Leather hose, leather wheels for trucks,
etc.

I personally think if you use "tradition" to validate
you operations, you need to look again. Sure we dont
like change, but much like taxes, it isnt going to go
away.

[blancety]

Re: Leather...

Originally posted by CALFFBOU
I have used leather once. After awhile, I noticed
I wasnt getting any points from any "traditional
committee."

There is a committee...no kidding.

Originally posted by CALFFBOU I personally think if you use "tradition" to validate you operations, you need to look again. Sure we dont like change, but much like taxes, it isnt going to go away.

First off, who said anything about validation. What I wear is a matter of personal choice and Department policy..nothing more. If they told me I couldn't wear leather then I would wear something else. I would do this job with a soup bowl on my head if that was what was required. I can guaratee you that what I wear had little to do with validation of operations. I can hardly imagine a department saying "Well, we didn't save the house, but man we looked good and traditional in those leathers" And as for the toxins....well if you clean your gear..it shouldn't be an issue.

Why is it the "non-traditional" guys always talk about tradition like it is a plague. Tradition isn't slow or backwards thinking, it isn't even a reluctance to change. It is defined as "The passing down of elements of a culture from generation to generation, especially by oral communication". Also as "A mode of thought or behavior followed by a people continuously from generation to generation; a custom or usage." I think you tend to blame tradition for way too much. I respect those who have gone before me, much of what we now know was learned with their blood.

We have a tendency to re-invent the wheel in the Fire Service, but when everything gets boiled down to its core, we fall back to the tried and true methods that have worked for years. Sure we modify them, tweak em a bit.

My training and education started way before I got hired, and I plan on it stopping way after I retire. And I consider myself a "traditional" guy. Don't confuse those with an inability to think and a prediliction for lazyness with me, they are not traditional .... they are a fact of life.

Dave

[DeputyChiefGonzo]

"leathers"

Dave.... I got a tear in my eye when I read that... eloquently stated, Brother, eloquently stated!

[raven911]

Blindly following tradition out of ignorance is BAD. Having tradition within your organization and to the US Fire Service is good. There has to be a mid-point someplace. If we throw away all of our traditions to blindly follow the current fad, we are just as guilty as blindly following the traditions we threw out in the first place.

Being "Progressive" is great, but there is a point of being overly progressive which is just as dangerous as being non-progressive. Time has to be given for the organization to adapt. Too many times I have seen an organization destroyed from the inside because of hasty "progress".

[Duffman]

Easy big fella

Dave I don't think CAL was directing his comment at you. I know someone whose department is actually considering switching to leather (and going back to 3/4 boots) because it "looks cool". So it does occur, and I think you would agree that if that is the reason it is wrong.

Nice words on tradition.