What SCBA To Buy?

[captainwest04]

My department is looking to replace all our scba's. What I am asking is for is advise on what brand we should go with and what will work the best. We do want to stick with 4500. I would apreciate any feedbac k, Thank You.

[DeputyChiefGonzo]

SCOTT!

When I got on the job in 1981, my FD had Scott 2A's and a few MSA units. After a fire/hazmat incident, our turnouts and SCBA needed replacement due to the fact it would be cheaper to replace than decon. A comapny called North got the bid to replace the SCBA. There were the biggest POS unit I have ever worn. They may be fine in an industrial, use them once in a while setting, but they did not stand up to daily use and abuse by firefighters. Aniother fire/hazmat incident, same situation. This time, the powers that be convinced the City's purchasing agent to go with Scott. We have had them since.We first got the 4.5's, then after having them in service for 15 years, upgraded to the Scottt AP50 with integratred PASS and HUD.

The SCBA units used at the Massachusetts Fire Academy are Scotts. They take a lot of punishment.. but like the Timex watch, take a lickin' and keep on tickin'!

[Bones42]

We recently switched from Survivair to Scott AP50's. I wish I had my Survivair back. No problems with the Scotts, but there were some minor things that made the Survivairs better in our opinion.


Good Luck on your poll. You will get a variety of opinions. You will need to try them all and form your own.


PS - figured someone may ask...i don't like having to line tabs up and twist the right way, i don't like having to have a chincy piece of metal on the bottle that has to line up right, i don't like that i can't find a mask that fits me as well as my old one (and yes, I have tried medium and small for both AV2000 and AV3000).

PSS - and i have even less interest in a NXG2 with their "special" bottle adapter.

[Rescue101]

Bones,yer old and stuck in your ways.Just like hunting,red dot to forehead, twist left.As natural as scratching your tail when it itches.We has Surpriseair once,I have no interest in going back.Our Scotts,from wire frame 2.2's all the way thru the AP50's have all been easy to maintain,high reliability units,low cost of ownership.That's why we keep using them. T.C.

[randsc]

My vote for MSA is not a reflection on any other brand. I have been in 10 years, and for all 10 years we have used MSA. I just vote for MSA because we have had no problems at all with MSA, and very good support from our vendor.

[CaptOldTimer]

My department is looking to replace all our scba's. What I am asking is for is advise on what brand we should go with and what will work the best. We do want to stick with 4500. I would apreciate any feedbac k, Thank You.

What do you have now?

Suggestion - Have several makes of SCBA brought to your dept on different days and look at them real closely. Have the sales person (dealer) give you all the facts on each of them.

Then write your request for bids, based on what your dept wants in a SCBA. Put the RFB out and see what comes back and after your dept looks them over very closely, award a purchase order.


If your dept is happy with the make of SCBA's that you are using now, then stick with them.

[kd7fds]

What do you have now?

Suggestion - Have several makes of SCBA brought to your dept on different days and look at them real closely. Have the sales person (dealer) give you all the facts on each of them.

Then write your request for bids, based on what your dept wants in a SCBA. Put the RFB out and see what comes back and after your dept looks them over very closely, award a purchase order.


If your dept is happy with the make of SCBA's that you are using now, then stick with them.

I second this.

Our department has used Draegar for 20 years. Last year we considered changing. We had Survivair, Scott, MSA and Draegar packs in house for 2 weeks. We had people trying them on, crawling, lifting, climbing ladders, dragging hoses, walking on a treadmill.

When it was all said and done, Scott came in second to Draegar. I think a lot of that was familiarization. The new Draegars felt like a more comfortable version of the old ones that we still liked.

[Bones42]

Bones,yer old and stuck in your ways.

Yup! But I'm trying this new fangled stuff.

have all been easy to maintain,high reliability units,low cost of ownership.That's why we keep using them. T.C.

and we had the same results with our Survivairs.

[Rescue101]

Yup,me too! Dealer support plays a MAJOR role in the success of ones packs.As our "local" Survivair dealer wasn't,we went/stayed Scott.Some newfangled stuff is good, alot is recycled old ideas.Whatever works,T.C.

[mcaldwell]

DRAEGER FTW!



But seriously,

It comes down to a few things in my order of preference.

1. Interoperability (with M/A depts)
2. Service and support (considering reputation for reliability of course)
3. Personnal preference (after testing)
4. Budget

There must be a lot of work and research put into any major purchase to avoid the shoulda/coulda/woulda's.

[dan143n]

Isi

www.intsafety.com

[KevinFFVFD]

i cant speak for any other scba than scott. it is the only scba i have ever used. one of the other fire departments here use MSA's, but i have never used it. all other departments around here use scott. i have never reallu had any problems with them, other than some small minor air leaks that were easily fixed. i would say go with scott, but research others.

[SAFD46Truck]

What SCBA should you get?

Anything but Interspiro! You'd be better off growing a long beard and stuffing it in your mouth before you make entry. Personally I'd choose SCOTT's everytime.

[VCFD434]

My department uses Survivair. We actually just updated to the newer version of what we had. They are very easy to maintain and switch on the fly. Built in PASS and lights in the mask to let you know how much air you've used. They are a little heavier than the old ones, but the old ones were also 2500 psi as compared to 4500 now. I haven't used any of the others on your list so I can't honestly give you my opinion on those, but I do know that the Survivairs are very good. Best of luck to ya.

[KevinFFVFD]

just out of curiosity, what is different from all of the scba's? like i said before, i have only used scott. what kind of problems do other scba's have?