Some firefighters think that loading up your pockets with tools and other equipment weighs us down and makes our jobs harder.
Others think that we need to carry everything including the kitchen sink just in case we need it!
VentEnterSearch.com has a decent set of submitted articles on just this topic. There are some great tips on what firefighters carry and how they carry it in their pockets. You can read those articles here.
The tools I keep in my pockets are primarily for rescue of myself or others.
My radio strap. I have secured a gerber knife to the strap.
Occasionally I will place other tools in my pockets to give them a try and see if they are something I forget on the engine or need frequently. Most of the time, I go back to the way it has been for years. I keep two sets of webbing, each secured in a loop with a caribeener or two for rescue, self-rescue, or a downed firefighter. I also carry the 25′ prussick just in case I need to take a dive out of a window without the advantage of having a ladder (although I have no plans of needing this!)….you just never know!
All of this gear does add some additional weight. I often wonder if the added weight will be a benefit someday. Let’s just say that at this point I am willing to carry a few extra pounds than not having some of it as a lifeline or to assist me with a rescue.
Below is what is in my pockets and which pockets they are located. What is in your pockets?
What if anything would you remove or add from my inventory?
I have never been one for keeping stuff on my helmet. Recently, I added a Garrity light and door chock to my helmet. They were secured by my Foxfire illuminating helmet band. I actually used one of the door chocks…and promptly left it on scene. I have also since realized that I still don’t like having stuff on my helmet. The only thing that remains is my Foxfire helmet band.
As for my pockets, throughout my career I have inventoried what I carry and changed the setup from time to time. I recently added two tools. They are the Bowring and the Channellock Rescue tool #87 (both of which are upcoming product reviews). The only problem with this addition is that they are both solid metal and have increased the weight of my coat.
- In my left chest pocket which is designed for a radio I keep pliers and just added my Channellock #87 Rescue Tool. My left pocket holds 20 feet of 2″ webbing and two caribeeners. My right pocket holds a pair of work gloves, two door chocks, and the recently added Bowring tool.
I don’t use my radio pocket for my radio. I wear a leather radio strap under my gear. I also have a glove strap connected to my loop for the radio mic for my firefighting gloves.
In my pants pockets I carry 20 feet of 1" webbing and a caribeener in the left pocket and 25' of prussick with a caribeener on each end.
I also keep a bag with me on the engine when I am working. Mostly these are “extra” tools or equipment I might need when I am working, but nothing that I might need while I am already inside working. Remember, I drive mostly so I am often at the engine or around it getting gear for others to work more efficiently.
My "extra" gear bag includes a pencil, pen, grease pen, pliers, tool pouch (pliers, cutters, needlenose pliers, screwdrivers), work gloves, extrication gloves, extra firefighting gloves, utility knife, sprinkler chock, hoodie for the cold weather, hydrant wrench w/ window punch, spanner wrench, eye protection, and a key to every station in the City.
Great post!
Rhett, Get yourself a Xlarge Medical glove for your webbing. It was a tip I read about on the internet and it keeps your roll off webbing ready and untangled… @FireCritic:twitter @thefrontseat:twitter
I will try the glove trick. I hadn’t heard about that. Thanks! @thefrontseat:twitter
I have used a medical glove to hold my webbing, I roll the webbing up, stuff it in the glove with only the carabiner sticking out to make it easier to grab, I take and stretch the opening of the glove and make a knot to keep it closed tightly around my webbing to keep them from falling out (in a hurry the tied glove offers no resistance to yanking out the webbing with the carabiner)
Any radio issues you’ve noticed? A friend’s department was having a lot of transmission/reception problems with their portables until everyone started using the radio pocket.
We have had radio issues, but none that have been related to that. Most have been related to the mics we had on them and using them inside some of the buildings. The majority of our guys use radio straps.
Great post:
Im going to probably be the first to mention that I don’t like my Channellock 87 tool. I find it to be very heavy, bulky and odd shaped. The window punch is also so sharp it has tore a hole in the pocket I keep it and I had to make a holster for it. I like all the features it has, but I think a regular wire cutter and foldable spanner would be half the weight, take up half the space and be twice as cheap.
I have pretty much the same things you do (work gloves, webbing w/ beaner, knife, chocks) and I believe those to be essentials.
WHoops! Just realized Channelock has an 89 and 87 tool (the 87 is new?) I have the original Channelock 89 and it seems that they adressed the heavy, long and bulky downsides of it and created the channelock 87.
My original post then would be on my dislike for the Channelock 89
Thanks for coming back to clarify. I was about to check on it because I didn’t see a window punch on the 87. I will say that the 87 is still kinda heavy, but since it isn’t as big as the 89 it shouldn’t be as heavy. I will be doing the review in the near future!
Great topic. When i first started you named it i carried it. Now i use a 511 pocket organizer with my #1 tool my wire cutters followed by a folding uility knife all in my right pants pocket. In my left pants pocket the webbing with a carabiner and a hose strap. my radio pocket i still use for my radio. I have a radio strap but with the BA it tends to get tangled. Although i swear by the Stone Mountain Mic its a great mic. Im not a fan of items on my helmet so i only have a FoxFury command 20 helmt light. But the Foxfire glowing band and the bowring is being ordered after i finish this post.
Two 20-foot lengths of webbing each tied in a loop with a non-locking carabiner in each, accordioned behind the kneepads in my pants with the water knot sticking out to grab. These are for the Dale Pekle through the floor rescue or any other use. A pair of heavy-duty Klein cable cutters in my radio pocket (I carry my radio on a strap UNDER my coat) with a length of looped cord around one side of the handle and hanging outside the storm flap of the pocket for easy access. Left bunker pant pocket, extrication goggles and a spare flashlight. Right bunker pant pocket, four (I think) home-made hinge hooks and a couple regular wooden door chocks. Left coat pocket, left handed extrication glove. Right coat pocket, right handed extrication glove. Truckman’s belt, locking carabiner attached to the ring-side to anFESH hook to an CMC Escape Artist descender to 55′ of escape cord in a belt-mounted bag. Glove strap and firefighting gloves. On my helmet I have an LED cyclops flashlight like you see on the technical rescue geeks helmets.
Rhett, Thanks for the mention! It’s always interesting to see what everyone is carrying, and why. Sometimes the stories behind “why” someone chooses to carry something is just as educational as finding out what they carry. -Jimm- http://www.VentEnterSearch.com
You are quite welcome! I don’t get to read your site as often as I used to because of all the other sites out there, but I constantly get back to it when I can!
Great article, Rhett. My current turnout gear doesn’t have pants pockets (new gear coming will though), so my gear is a bit limited. I carry my firefighting gloves in my turnout coat pockets, left glove in left pocket, right glove in the right. Also in my right pocket, I carry a small 1 LED torch, a spring-loaded centre-punch for car windows and a small pocket knife. In my left, along with my left glove, I carry a 1 metre/ 3′ length of rope called a “personal lashing”. This can be used to tie off the top of a ladder to secure it, hold back a smashed car door while the cut is being done, or many other useful things. You’d be surprised how often that little length comes in handy! In the inside pocket of my coat, I have a small notebook and my flash hood. Considering that I am donning the flash hood on the way to a job and that I won’t exactly be taking notes while doing an internal search or attack, I find that’s the best place to leave them, especially to keep the notebook dry. I have a UK 4AA LED torch attached to a bracket up near the top of my helmet. Inside my helmet, between the support webbing and the protective shell, I carry a P2 dust mask and 2 pair of nitrile surgical gloves. Always in the cargo pocket of the pants I wear under my turnout pants are 2 pens and I always have my trusty Leatherman multi-tool, which I also use for work, on my hip. In future, I’m looking to get a Pelican Sabrelight 2000 to replace the little single LED torch in my right coat pocket.
I typically come off the rig with an orange box light. However, I do wear a flashlight on the front of my coat and I failed to record that!
Thanks for the comment!