Lt. Jason Rivera Rescue Co. 1 Stamford, CT Fire Rescue Dept. sent in this variation of the angle iron door chock. Its a piece of angle iron with a nail welded to the inside angle. The nail is then heated up with an oxy/acetylene torch and bent over so it will hang on the doors hinges. They may not be pretty, but they take about 5-10 minutes to make and are a lot cheaper then the store bought brands. If you forget one after a run, no problem just go make another, its also a good training opportunity to use the oxy/acetylene torch.

Nail Wedges

A bunch of readers have sent in the idea of using nails as wedges, but Captain Mike Alsup from Ocala Fire Dept was the first to include a photo. Besides carrying "regular" wedges he carries 8 penny nails in the strap of his helmet. They are lightweight and out of the way. Open the door, place the nail in between the door and the jamb, and "set" them by pulling the door shut just a bit. He also points out that with this size, you can still slam the door shut if things go bad.

Masonry cut nails also work very well. When using this method on a metal door and frame, simply open the door, place the nail in the screw heads of the hinges, and the door closer does the rest.

Which Pocket is it Anyway?

Firefighter Mitch Sanders from Orlando Tower 11 send in a real simple idea about keeping stuff in your pockets...Which pocket is it in? He mentions how it drives him crazy digging thru his pockets looking for that tool that is needed RIGHT NOW!  He suggests organizing your pockets like the compartments on the rigs. He has an extrication pocket (valve stem tool, center punch, etc), search pocket (chocks, nails,  small search rope, etc) and tool pocket (screwdriver, wire cutters, etc) He points out how we go to great lengths to organize our rigs so that our tools are stored for EFFICIENCY, and why should our personal tool should be any different?

Wedge Storage

Firefighter Ryan Marzheuser from Sycamore Township Ohio sent in this photo of another way to conveniently store a door wedge. Simply drill a hole into wedge and loop an EMS or fire extinguisher tag through the hole.  (See, we knew EMS has a its place on a truck company!) This allows this loop to be clipped onto your bunker coat. You could really use the tag to secure the wedge almost anywhere. Just pull on the wedge to place it in service. The beauty of this method is that it is truly a break away set-up, it will free itself if it gets hung up on anything.

Tool Sleeve

Lt. Tim Biermann from Baltimore City Rescue 1 sent in this great idea to keep your pockets organized. This tool sleeve is fashioned from a scrap piece of 3" supply line and sealed off with some duct tape. He pointed out that it keeps your tools together and upright for easy access and removal. It also prevents your tools from poking through your pockets, and jabbing you in the leg. He also gets credit from being the first person to come up with a good use for hose on a Truck Company... :)

Flashlight Wrap

Lieutenant Walt Lewis from Orlando Fire Sent in this idea of wrapping your backup flashlight. At first glance you may not understand the need for a flashlight wrap, but read on, this one makes perfect sense.

A backup flashlight that is simple to use with a gloved hand is vital on the fireground. An idea he picked up from a previous partner (Eng Mike Horn, may he rest in peace) is to wrap the handle of the flashlight like you would a halligan. One step better, is to have the oxygen tubing end at the push button to activate the light, so that in a hurry, with gloves on, and in the dark, you can find the switch and get your light going.

Lieutenant Lewis sent in some additional thoughts about flashlight use on the fireground. Be sure to check out the supplemental page for additional information.

Pruning Saw

Lt. Pat Gallagher from Martin County Fire has an interesting idea for hurricane windows. He has found that a pruning saw makes quick work on them, and caries a small folding saw in his pocket for that purpose.

He has noticed a significant increase in the popularity of hurricane windows in his coastal area of Florida. For obvious reasons hurricane windows don't break like traditional windows. They are laminated, and designed to remain in place even after taking a significant impact. He has found that using a halligan to create a purchase point and using the saw to be quite effective. Once the purchase is made, the saw can be used to "clear" the window. This method works well if a window needs to be opened in a hurry, without having the proper equipment readily available.

A saw would be the tool of choice if multiple windows need to be opened. Obviously the preferred method would still be to take the entire frame out, and the glass shouldn't be too much of an issue. Another interesting observation about hurricane windows is that they tend to be mounted flush regardless of the type of building construction being used. The old trick of flush mount = wood frame, and recessed (with sill) = block or masonry may not be as much of a tell tale sign as it used to be.

Bungee Cord

Samuel Hittle from Wichita Firehouse 10 sent in an idea that another brother from Wichita shared with him. Firefighter Tom Dent from Firehouse 9 showed him a solution utilizing a bungee cord carried in his pocket, the bungee cord is used to quickly and easily secure these doors. The boys from Firehouse 10 liked the idea so much they attached an 18” bungee to the irons. Having it attached to the irons makes it readily available for any firefighter assigned to the door position. When an attachment point cannot be found on the structure, they simply create a purchase (to hook into) on the structure by driving the halligan into the house or porch wall.

Tool Bag

Lieutenant Brad Dougherty from Navy Region Mid-Atlantic Fire & Emergency Services sent in the latest what’s in your pockets. The irony is that his submission is about what’s not in his pockets. He took an old army ammo bag and placed some of the items that firefighters typically carry in their pockets. The bag has a large interior compartment which has some organization slots on the inside. It also has exterior compartments for other items. These compartments allow the bag to be organized without being too cluttered. He uses the bag to eliminate the excess weight in his pockets. While responding to an alarm, he reaches into the bag to retrieve what he may need on that particular alarm. He even pointed out that he has taken the whole bag on a few special occasions.

Door Clamps

Sgt. Scott Madden from Loudoun County (VA) sent in an idea he got from one of his brothers at Station 6. The idea is to use a small spring hand clamp to wedge doors open. Scott points out that the clamps work well in a number of different ways, and on various types of doors. The photos below show a few of the many options.

The photo to the left shows the clamp keeping a self-locking door from closing on itself. This would work well if the door needed to be controlled, while preventing it from re-locking. The photo in the middle shows the clamp being used on a hinge to prevent the door from closing. The photo on the right shows the clamp on the door itself (on the hinge side) to keep the door open.

Vise Grip Eye Bolt

Vise grips are a great tool to have in your pocket. There are many great uses for the tool. Firefighter Sam Russell form Capital City (AK) sent in this useful modification to a pair of vise grips. Take a quick trip to the hardware store and find an eye bolt and nut that fit in place of the adjustment screw on the vise grips.

This modification is two fold, first it makes adjusting the vise grips much easier since you have the eye of the bolt to use for leverage when moving the adjustment screw. Second (and more importantly) the eye bolt gives you an attachment point for a carabineer. The attachment point is useful when using carabineer with webbing or rope on the tool to secure a padlock or chain during rotary saw forcible entry.

Flashlight Mount

Jeff Daniels from Goodyear (AZ) Fire sent in a different method of securing a flashlight to your lid. This idea simply takes a thorn resistant bicycle tube and attaches it under the brim of the helmet. The thorn resistant tube is thicker than a standard tube and holds up better to the abuse. The tube expands to fit various size flashlights, and keeps them in place pretty effectively. Some people prefer to have the light mounted under the brim of the helmet to minimize a possible entanglement hazard. As you can see from the close-up picture the tube was secured using the shell retaining screws. Obviously this set-up will not work on all types of helmets, but it is a lightweight, cheap and effective way to secure your light if works on your style lid.

The thorn resistant bicycle tube could be used above the helmet as well. For those who have the large inter-tube that runs all the way around the helmet, the smaller thorn resistant tube could be zip tied to the larger helmet band to achieve similar results. This set-up would allow the allow this style of flashlight to be attached without using a “hard mount” bracket.

Vise Grip Clamp

Vise grips are a versatile tool for a number of different reasons. One of their many uses is to clamp a garage door open. When working in or around a garage it’s easy to open and keep open even after utilities have already been secured. From the inside, simply reach up and activate the emergency release mechanism, which frees the door from the automatic door opener (shown in the photo below.) Once the door is open, simply take the vise grips and clamp on the track to prevent to door from closing.

The door is much “safer” once it has been released from the door opener mechanism and clamped open. The automatic garage door opener no longer has an effect on the door. This was one of the speculations in a video we posted a few years ago, that radio interference caused the garage door opener to activate and close the door. (Which would not have happened if utilities were secured.) Another reason why the door is safer is because if heat builds up in the garage around the springs this will not cause the door to close since the track is blocked by the vise grips. (make sure the vise grips are clamped tight) The springs are normally located on the front wall above the door, or along side of the tracks. If heat builds up in this area, it could cause the springs to anneal, lose tension, and lower the door. The weakening of the spring was the other speculation in the video. A simple clamp on the door would prevent either situation from happening and prevents committing more useful tools to be used to prop the door open.

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