Firefighter Plunkett from a New York suburb fire department came up with this great way to carry the K-Tool and Irons together. Simply by sliding the marrying strap trough the slot on the K-Tool prior to securing the Irons will keep the K-Tool handy at all times. This set-up may not be for everyone, but would work well in areas that use the through the lock technique on a regular basis.
Obviously, another key component to making this set-up work would be to ensure that someone has lock key tools readily available. This could be achieved by carrying a set of modified channel locks as shown below.
These modified channel locks were sent in by Clay DeSantis from Miami & Beavercreek (OH) Fire Departments. We had featured the modified channel locks a while back in our what’s in your pockets page. The ones shown here, with the bend toward the inside is the preferred way to make the bend to prevent snagging in your pocket.
I think this works good for storage but my question would be what about when you use them…we split the irons here cause simply put you cant use them alone. Some one has got to swing that axe. It also promotes accountability and teamwork wich are 2 keys to being succesful. Good idea though…will definetly see If I can incorporate it in our daily bread operations.
What about the other tools that go with the K tool? the picks. Good idea pairing the tools but I’ve seldem used the K tool in my 13 years, and have used the irons on a daily basis probably would’nt work in my department. Hey good ideas though, keep up the training and knowlege sharing. EBGH….
to Robby O…”someone has got to swing the axe”…you might be surprised what you can accomplish with “just” the halligan or “just” by yourself with the irons. I love the accountability/teamwork way to success, but dont limit yourself to only what you can do with another guy swinging the axe…there are tons of techniques out there for one FF to do/accomplish while “waiting” for the help to arrive in regards to forcible entry. The internet/you tube etc… has so much info on this -you just have to find it…
Not to change the subject, but, does anyone get the firefighternearmiss.com report of the week? I almost pissed myself laughing. If not check it out: Search report #09-159
DMAN- LMAO we all know that that pulling the meter shuts down all the power lines in the area. That trailer was probably a central breaker for the entire county.
Wow, thats a great idea. We have our irons on a shoulder strap and use a leather carrying case on the shoulder strap for the K tool. This idea can eliminate alot of hastle for us aslong as everyone carries a screwdriver or some sort of pick.
DMAN – If he had been wearing latex gloves, he would have been all set.
Nice job FF Plunkett! I used to never be able find a K Tool when I needed it. This is a very smart way to carry the tool without it getting in the way yet seems simple to access. I like it and will definitely try to incorporate this into our irons.
Robby O- The great thing about the irons is the fact that you can use them by yourself (both of them). You just have to do something called “training” in order to perform this.
Great idea here brothers, unfortunately we dont use the K-tool anymore ever since the donkey kick was installed into our departments SOP’s. Strong WORK!
Nice work. One quick thing I learned from the first pair of modified channel locks I made. If you bend the angled end of the handle inwards instead of outwards you can run into a problem. The bend inwards can hit the other handle when trying to close them. This can keep you from being able to close the pliers all the way. Can be a pain if trying to bite thin pieces of material. Nothing you cant fix if you plan ahead….but I prefer to bend them outwards now.
@RR E8T What about still bending it inward, but shortening the straight handle while grinding it? I have never tried it but you may be able to shorten it just enough to prevent them from hitting? I understand that it will slightly decrease the amount of mechanical advantage you’d have when clamping down on something, but it may prevent what you were talking about. Like I said, I have not tried it personally, but it sounds like it may work. Just thinking out loud… -Jimm-
REEEDONCULOUS!!! Once again way to much time on your hands and remember HEROs your not the only one so you dont have to be a tough guy and carry everything yourself. Remember the ole’ sayin “work smarter, NOT HARDER. Nice try but I am gonna have to FAIL this guy!
Like the post said, may not be for everyone, but good for dept.’s that use through-the-lock on a reg. basis. I like it for the fact that it’s one less thing to have to carry in your hand. For us, this means the irons FF can get things started while the Capt. is sizing up. To me, this does seem like working smarter. It doesn’t mean that you have to carry everything, it just means there’s one less thing you have to grab.
Jimm,
Ya definetly an option, you lose about an inch of the handle though if you go after the straight side. If I bend it inwards I just shorten the length of the angled piece. Take a 1/8 off and they will close all the way. That pair of pliers in the picture I sent you for the thru-the-lock prop would have closed fine if I would have bent the angle just a bit shorter. I make a lot of them now for the guys and it just makes it easier on me to go outwards…little less grinding, faster to make.
-Thanks
HAhahAA… he said “REEEDONCULOUS”.
It looks to me like bending the key tool inward (towards) the other handle will prevent it from being inserted into the lock mechanism because the other handle will be in the way. (It might be possible…but it looks like it could be a problem from the photo.) Most of the tools I’ve seen are bent outward to prevent this from occuring. Also, as another poster noted. Bending it in the manner depicted prevents the handles from closing all the way and might result in a poor grip while twisting out a cylinder. As for the strap. I’m not a big fan. My experience has been that the strap is never set tight enough and the tools seperate easily. The longer carrying straps also seem to never hold the tools securely. Finally, they are often difficult to take off when wearing gloves. For these reasons I prefer to notch a small groove on either side of the axe blade where the forks “marry” with the tool. This holds the tools in the married position quite securely. All that is necessary to release them is a quick tap of the axe handle on the ground. Now getting to the subject of using the strap to carry the “K” tool. I think the “K” tool is largely obsolete with the advent of the tubular deadbolt. The large tubular mechanism prevents the “K” tool from fitting over the lock. For this reason I think the “Little Rex” aka “Morrison” tool is the way to go. This tool works on Adams-Rite and tubular bolt locks. The “Little Rex” fits nicely over the pike of a Halligan, negating the need for the strap. Just my two cents. Stay safe, Brothers.
Reply to username “Ryan Patrician”, I understand your point. But from a volunteer prospective, with no schedualed staffing, who knows how many hands are going to show up on the first alarm. Like the webmaster said, its not for everyone. If you have a full crew, than sure distribute the work load. If not, than its not going to hurt anyone if they have a K tool “pre conected” on a set of irons when they grab it off the rig for crying out loud.
Unfortunately the lil rex doesn’t work because of the piece of pipe welded on for the pike of the halligan. And you are right, the K Tool is starting to become a bit obsolete in the fire service with the new dead bolts being put on doors. With that said, there are still a ton of doors in our area, typically commercial stores, that have cylinders that make light work for a pair of channel locks and without a doubt, the K Tool. I like the Idea of having the K Tool handy like this. Its quick and easy. Thanks for posting.
I’m afraid I don’t understand why the Little Rex “doesn’t work because of the piece of pipe welded on the pike of the halligan.” If LT Rob could elaborate a bit on that I’d appreciate it. Thanks.
The pipe does not work as well as a band welded on it. You can make your own with a band welded on to allow you to use your adze end just like the K-tool. There are many locks where you need more options after your intial upwards prying motion. The band allows you to go side to side to work those more difficult locks out. The pipe obviously does not allow you to do this,as the pike just slides around and is limited to the up and down motion. Many cylinders take an up motion followed by a quick left then right to make quick work of them. Just my thought..don’t know if thats what Lt Rob was thinking also.
-Thanks
Thanks for the insight RR EST. I agree with you that the band allows for lateral force in addition to vertical force to be applied to the cylinder. Unfortunately, the only commercially available tools that I’ve seen use the pipe. They do work…just perhaps not as well as if they had the band. I guess we’ll just have to start make our own.
If you do make a tool with the band instead of the pipe. The Lil Rex tool can be carried on the adz end of the halligan instead of the pike. Also, it might be possible to apply some small amount of lateral force when using the “pipe” model tool by placing an axe blade or wedge under the halligan adz. This might tend to stop the “roll” inherent in the “pipe” design. I don’t know might be worth a shot.
I made mine with just a piece of scrap steel flat, and have not used the K-tool since. The band makes it pretty low profile too…easier to throw in your pocket. The homemade modified version of the rex tool is the best lock puller you can have in my opinion.
Thanks
DMAN I wanted to see the video your talking about how do I view it.
It’s just a page, not a video. Go to firefighternearmiss.com and search that report number. Then don’t forget to return to vententersearch.com
I have had some great success using the “baseball” swing and forcing doors with just the halligan. and using the ny roof hoof and halligan together using the roof hook to hit the halligan. I havent seen to many techniques on using the 8lb axe, and halligan by yourself. I think it would be inefficient for forcing doors. I have also used the k-tool, halligan, and axr bythemselves but I think pulling a lock cylinder is a little easier to accomplish then having to get the full swing of the axe to force a door.
Anyone have any documents or links to any information on this please send them on.
Question! Where does the rubber glove go? I think it goes on your head in order to complete your operation. Good luck
Robby O, there are many one man forcible entry techniques. Some work better than others, but they all add some outside of the box options for those tough situations.
The baseball swing is a good technique for inward swinging wood frame doors, and the roof hook and halligan technique works well for outward swinging doors.
If you get lucky, when you are gapping weaker inward swinging doors with the adz, they may pop open or distort and create enough of an opening for you to easily slip the forks in. Some companies widen the adz on their halligans to get even more of a spread.
For tighter outward swinging doors, if you can get the adz under the bottom of the door you may be able to create a gap by prying outward. Use the axe as a wedge or use a large chock to maintain this gap as you remove and reposition the adz to the knob side of the door. You may have to gap and reposition several times before you are close enough to the locking mechanism to start forcing the door. You could also “toe” the roof hook under the door and use that to pry instead of the adz.
I personally fidn that sliding the axe along the shaft of a (preferrably untaped) halligan, striking the shoulder of the forks, is an effective way to set the halligan. Having a halligan with squared shoulders vastly improves the success of this technique. (see article below).
I have also found the “ax blade” method (also in the article below) to be effective for outward swinging doors.
It is important to maintain the integrity of the door when you are forcing it alone (and any other time). It is easy to simply batter the door to sh*t when you are faced with one man forcible entry, but if you keep your cool and try these techniques, you should be able to gain entry more efficiently than mike the situation from the Jersey Shore.
Here is a pretty thorough article on one man forcible entry by Nick Martin. There are many other techniques for one man forcible entry, I’m sure you can find a ton if you google it.
http://www.fireengineering.com/index/articles/display/6634261630/articles/fire-engineering/volume-162/issue-10/features/forcible-entry_techniques.html
First, kudos to anyone who comes to this site to better themselves(theirselves?) and share ideas to that end.
Second, that isn’t an 8lb FE axe in the picture. I bought my own FHU Irons straight out of college 20 years ago and it is still one of the BEST purchases I have ever made. Get yourselves a Force Axe. Please?
Third, this you will find funny…. When I was in college, I ran with the local FD. They had no money problems and thought they were very progressive, and had a nice K-tool… BUT they had no Halligan type bar. None. Nichts. Nada. Not even the heinous Hooligan bar. I brought a set of real Irons from my home department and showed them how it all worked… They thought the irons were “awfully heavy”….
This is a great idea, however it is very seldom that we use this tool. I know in my department we have lost more velcro straps than i can count. We also just made a purchase of a lil Rex “head” which comes in a nice leather case, this was attached to the irons much like this idea, come to find after returning from a bunch of calls that the tool is gone but the leather case is still there and can not find the new purchase anywere. We now keep in a officers bag.
Great Idea for the K-Tool, As far as the key tool goes how about drilling a small hole on the key tool put a key ring something durable through the hole. Then, connect a small carrabiner through another hole through the velcro strap and then you have a way to keep them all together and can come off just as quick. Might sound like a lot but might be worth a try.
I prefer the key tool facing out on the modified chanell locks.I had a set where it was facing in and I punchered my hand when the tool slipped off a cylinder and closed rapidly. Yes I did have gloves on at the time, it went right through them.
The bad thing is that is tough on turnout pockets.
Is anyone manufacturing a through the lock device like the “Lil Rex” / Morris tool with a squared off adze handle like the K tool design instead of the cylindrical pipe for the pike of the “Lil Rex” / Morris design? Bob Farrell of Firehooks Unlimited doesn’t make one and doesn’t seem interested in this but a lot of folks don’t seem to like the loss of lateral leverage with the cylindrical design and are custom welding their own. The first person I saw suggest this was Andrew Brassard online here: http://brotherhoodinstructors.com/wordpress/?p=81
Seems like this would be something folks would buy if it were available. Anyone else making these?
They are not sold commercially. However they are easy to make and for the same price. You will just have to buy a rex and cut the head off of it. I have made a few of them and had good success. I truly believe that making your own with the band will give you the best and most portable thru the lock tool out there. I learned some things making them, so if you need any pointers on making your own let me know.
I imagine others might be interested in how you put yours together RR E8T. Would you be willing to post a description of the materials you used, dimensions, process and maybe a few pics? I know I would be very grateful and imagine others would be as well. I will take to my local welding shop and give it a go.
I like the idea of a through the lock tool that works on the majority of the newer locks as the excellent design of the K tool has become less useful as lock technology has changed over time. A small tool the size of a K tool that handles most of these rather than another thing to carry such longer handled Rex seems more practical. Finally the square bracket for the adze just seems to offer so much better leverage than the round tube for the pike. This seems like the way to go for the start of the art in through the lock tools. Only downside I can see is if the adze or pike end covers the slot on the claws for the prying tool it limits the use of the device to those locks which are fairly flush to the surface of the door. Not sure if you have ever encountered this difficulty with your device. This would seem to be the one advantage of the longer handled rex tool as there is nothing obstructing the opening of the claws.
I specifically welded my band tight enough so the adze only goes in so far. It is to tight for the adze to slide all the way through. This has worked well for me and have not had a problem yet with it being in the way. If the band is looser you can always slide the adze in from the bottom leaving all the extra on top of the tool. Hard to explain through typing. I will put something together with pictures and a detailed description. I may have to put a link up because it will be to much for the comment section. Or if Jimm wants I can send it to him and he can add it somewhere.