Firefighter Knives??

[intraining]

kind of a stupid question, but if you carry them, what kind of knife or leatherman do you use on duty?? i have been looking at gerber knives and are wondering what the best quality would be and what would be the best for use in our line of work. links, opinions, reasons would all be appreciated. thanks.

[jcasey]

Anything you can open with your gloves on. Also carry a spanner and a pair of linemen wirecutters/pliers. All those expensive options in the Leatherman are good for mountain biking and camping (I own one)but are impossable to use at 3am, at 30 degrees with gloves on.

[intraining]

thanks for the advice, i never really thought about the glove thing. also, i hate to sound stupid, but what exactly is a spanner??

[jcasey]

It's that little fold out wrench that locks onto the luggs so you can loosen or tighten hose.

[FyredUp]

In my turn-out coat pockets you will find:

1) Gerber tool
2) 4 way screw driver
3) TFT ResQWrench
4) Spyderco serated blade knife or my Buck knife

I am contemplating adding either a vise grips or an adjustable jaw pliars, or perhaps even a small crescent wrench.

When I first started at this fire dpartment I took a lot of guff from old timers about my pocket tool box. Until we had a call for a ballast and they needed a screw driver and instead of hustling back out to the rig I said here use mine. And another call where they needed a pliars and I said here use my gerber tool. Or another call where we needed to shut off the natural gas and I said here use my ResQWrench. Many became believers after that and would look to me for tools on those types of calls.

Many on the job carry far more tools than I do, and some carry rather large fixed blade knives on their gut belts.

FyredUp

[intraining]

thanks again for the advice.... i don't know that i will end up carrying a whole lot, but from what i have gathered so far, i should be okay with a quality knife with a serated edge and pliers/wirecutters right?? i understand about carrying more, but for now i think that will be fine. also, what kind of gloves do you recommend??

[dfdex1]

If your considering a spanner........

Do NOT buy the Res-Q-Wrench.
I swear it is the biggest POS marketed to the fire service. I have gone through two of them and they did not last more than 2-3 drills (keep in mind im an explorer so it didnt see much action) each. Useing it as a spanner is when I broke the yellow part from the black part (both times). The window puch gets annoying too when you reach in your pocket or putting it on a fitting bare handed. A fellow explorer who goes to calls noticed the gas shut off does not fit all gas shut offs. I never had a chance to use the pry part or seat belt cutter but based on the rest of the wrenchs performance im sure it would not fare well.

I prefer the folding spanner wrench made by Fire Hooks Unlimted. It is aluminum-unlike the Res-Q-Wrenchs plastic,tough,cheap($6 as opposed to $24),can shut off multiple size gas shut offs,shiny-good when your looking for it at night unlike if you dropped a Res-Q-Wrench,and will last forever and if you lose it your not out alot of money and should last you your whole carrer.

Some people sware buy there Res-Q-Wrenchs,I have used them and was not impressed by it all. I also am kinda weary off "multi-taskers" like that cause if it breaks or gets lost your out of business and your out of $25.

Here is a link where you can buy one.

http://www.thefirestore.com/store/product.cfm?pID=756

Hope this helped.
-dfd

[FyredUp]

dfdex1...

First off I don't sell the ResQWrench or any other fire equipment.

Well I have used mine to shut off natural gas lines, I have used mine to break windows for extrication, I have used it to cut multiple seat belts, I have used mine as a spanner. And yet mine is not broken...I can't explain the trouble you have had with yours. My vollie FD issues them to everyone and we have not broken one yet.

If I were you I would talk to the comnpany who sold it to you and seek a replacement or refund. If they won't deal with you contact TFT.

By the way, here's how I got my first ResQWrench, I was at the IAFC Fire Rescue Interantional in Louisville a few years back and I walked right up to the TFT booth while the guy was giving the spiel on this tool. When he was done I said this thing doesn't look very tough. He said you won't be able to break it. I said okay give me that one you have right there and let me try it out for 6 months, if I don't break it I'll buy 25 of them for my vollies. He gave it to me and I used it on the job, as a volly and even while teaching and I was impressed. Everyone that saw it wanted to try it. Anyways I ended up buying 25 of them.

I am not saying that they can't break, what I am saying is several years later, mine hasn't.

Intraining...

I would add a 4 way screwdriver. Not much weight but much versatility and usefulness.

FyredUp

[Resq14]

Knives

I used to carry a folding Spyderco Rescue Jr. on my coat hanging from a PBI speaker mic tab. I came to the conclusion that it is quite difficult to open the blade with gloves on. So, I decided to get something different. I opted for this:

http://www.benchmade.com/detail.asp?model=100SH2O

It is a Benchmade River/Dive knife. I wear it in its kydex holster on my turnout coat. I can quickly access the knife with either hand, and the knife is ready to cut upon removing it. I figure if it might save my life some day, it's worth the money. I also have a pair of wire cutters.

Wehr/Glasmaster makes some decent looking knives also.


Finally, I like the res-q-wrench. True, some gas shut-offs that have been painted over several times will make it difficult to use the gas wrench. As far as being a spanner, it has worked great. I rarely use the pry/window punch/seatbelt cutter.

[dfdex1]

Some people sware buy there Res-Q-Wrenchs,I have used them and was not impressed by it all.

Like I said some people like them,others dont. The pin that holds the two pieces together sheard off both times.I had contacted Galls and they wouldnt re-fund me cause the week I ordered them they were on sale. I was at a fire show recently and I asked the guy who sold them about my problem and I got the standerd dog and pony show from him about all its features, but never answerd my questions on why it failed like that. Not one of TFT better designs.

Also my adviseor has one of there new "Rescue me" mini window punches/seat belt cutter.The window punch worked good but after the 2 seat belts the blade got dull and on the 3 rd seat belt it took a couple trys and on the 4 th we had to use the knife. Although on this id by it just for that window punch.

Like I said this plastic vs. metal spanner thing will cam be debated forever like smooth bore vs. combo,red trucks vs. yellow. I was just shareing my expierience with him. I just prefer haveing something bullet proof in my pocket over something that may break.

[FyredUp]

dfdex1,

Galls is a middle man is this deal. Did you contact TFT directly? They are the manufacturer and usually when someone has a problem with a product and the seller won't back it that is the next step.

FyredUp

[dfdex1]

Originally posted by FyredUp
dfdex1,

Galls is a middle man is this deal. Did you contact TFT directly? They are the manufacturer and usually when someone has a problem with a product and the seller won't back it that is the next step.

FyredUp

Your right I should have,but didnt think to at the time--oh well I chock it up to not buying from Galls anymore. NMFIRE was right (even though it was about nextels)just cause its new and shiny and does a million things dont mean its a good or practical. I have gone to and so have many others(or went back to)aluminum spanners mainly cause I can buy 4 metal spanners that I can retire with for the price of one plastic toy that does break and I may have to replace in a few weeks,months etc.

Anyway back knives.
Goto your local knife store or hunting store and look at them and ask them about sharping and maitnece and try opening it with gloves. That way you can try,feel,use before you buy as opposed to Galls were it is sort of a blind item.

good luck
-dfd

[keysim331]

Myself I carry a Gerber Easy-out with part serrated and part straight blade. Find it very useful to cut wires, seatbelts, easy to get open with gloves on. If you want to carry stuff in your bunkers, carry what you need. Now I carry prussiks cord, wedges, cable cutter, lineman pliers, 2 aluminum spanners, spring assisted punch, search cord, flash light, pen, paper, rubber gloves, pass, four way screwdriver( when you take the head out the slot can be used to take the screws out of A/C units). Going to get webbing, 8mm cord, and a couple of carabiners soon you know for safety reasons. That is what I carry, because thats what I need. Here are you some ideas go get what you need and don't worry about the older guys who give you a hard time they will need your tool or knives one of these days.

[RyanEMVFD]

i carry just a cheap $6 spring open knife. it works decently and it's not that hard to open with gloves on. after losing a couple of tools on the fireground, i tend to buy the cheap expendable stuff like knives, flashlights and wildland gloves.

the TFT rescue wrench i have had problems with but at times it has done it's job. the seatbelt cutter is awful but the other parts work fine for me. by the way i got mine at the firehouse expo last year for only $16. try other places before galls.