SCBA Cylinder Duration

[Tuscy27]

Looking for feedback on cylinder duration 30 or 45 minutes with 4500psi SCBA...

[captnjak]

Not sure exactly what you're looking for. Give two guys a 30 minute cylinder and put them to work. One guy may get 12 minutes work time out of it and the other guy 20 minutes.

[Tuscy27]

Who is using 30 min or 45 min cylinders for standard FF operations? Why?

[johnsb]

Who is using 30 min or 45 min cylinders for standard FF operations? Why?

A 45 min bottle gives you more of a safety cushion if something goes bad. It doesn't mean you have to stay in for the whole bottle. You can pull a crew out after 15-20 minutes to relieve them. The bottle isn't that much bigger, but if someone gets trapped, you have a lot more time to get them out. 12 minutes into a fire, how much reserve air will you have in a 30 minute bottle?? It may take a RIT team five or more minutes to get to you if something happens.