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I guess 30 yrs back is history
Leather helmets,rubberized coats with wool liners,pull-up boots and lets not forget the orange vinyl gloves.No nomex or kevlar if you had bourkes you were considered big time.Open cab seagraves and ALFs,riding the tailboard listening to the Q sing its mournful song,hit the ground running with a 5 inch line and hope it was layed right or you would get yanked off your feet at 25or 30 mph.Knock on the door with the head of an axe,take a deep breath cover yor face with your arm and the fight was on.We have evolved a long ways in the 30 I've been around.I remember the first SCBAs we got,those things were heavy,the frames did nasty things to your back.But you could breath for a short time,the alarms on them were kinda hard to hear if it worked at all,but there was no doubt in your mind when it was empty it would stop you in mid breath(what a thrill that was).And we still refer to then as the good old days!Nobody had ever heard the term stress or rehab,you simply put did the job till it was done.Hell cuts and scrapes,minor burns came with the territory,never gave it a second thought.I could go on for days but I think you can kinda get the picture.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by SMOKEnPipesJim on
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Kevin I caught the tail end of the era, Scott 1850psi steel botttles in a cardboard case straps tangled , Rubber hair removing octopus on your head felt lovely at 2 am in subzero weather, WOOLEN Mittens or Orange OIL resistant gloves for packing hose, a pair of leather and cloth backed garden work gloves did ok... we had NO Mattydales and NO Preconnects all off the backstep....we wore cotton duck globe ( if you was Lucky) or "armored" which were the Morning pride coats of the day, no rubber, prolly heavier then the ruubber ones lol ohh lets not forget standard trannies Real drivers training just to be able to shift the square toothed '55 alf midship mount with armstrong steering....lol only the real men drove that thing ...lol now they got push button trannies and power steering and cameras to be sure they dont hit nuthing backing up......air conditioning, heat, much less the "inside windshield whipers"....lol
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Permalink Reply by Kevin King on
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We had Bodyguard turnouts,oh yes the orange gloves with two pairs of brown jerseys inside to slow down frostbite.Alot of the old trucks were dual trannys 5X2,5X4 mostly. Dont forget the old meat grinder pumps(prime it or burn it up).The Good Old Days!!!!!!!!!
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My 1st Truck in the vollies was a 1955 ALF 65' Midship mount, wooden ground ladders, It came with a 12 cylinder Continental I was told, That blew yo they put a chevy 8 in it, that lasted a couple years, blew up they put a chevy 6 in it... I was riding it in '78 To a Mutual aid Box as 2nd due assigned truck across town when it began making noise, we made it there and then 1/2 way back when it blew up...lolwesold itand it was repowered again, But by them.. we got a new '77 maxim 100' midship, the A/lf had a crazy ship pattern to, a 4 speed it was like 2 1
3 R 4 or almost that crazy, and youhad a leveryou had to pull up a safety to get it in reverse ,, ArmStrong steering of course The open cab (in New england was loverly, they built a wooden cab like anyone else didin the 60's .... LoL who 'd have thunk I would get on the job 10 years later and be riding a ALF rearmount of 1970 vintage that was purchased (in New England
with an open Cab with a plywood, leaky roof on IT Too....lol Thankfully, that didnt last long... Back in the old days, The guys actually prefered these Military surplus WOOL Mittens in winter , wet or dry, they kept your hands warm, unfortunately everyone walked around unable to do anything....lol Like penguins..
I was always glad My mom's side was from the great white north (eh?) Even in sub zero weather I am warm.... I always wore Leathergloves even in cold...then I began using neoprene as liners Like the wool, they dont stay dry BUt you can use yourhands and the water heats to body temp at least... ( Cabelas or the other outdoor stores have em for like duck hunters :) they still work great under approved gloves too, I still break em out@under 5 degrees
I also found Wool felt Boot pads made for like hunting boots keep your feet toasty in Rubber boots, rubber boots filled with cold water, and leather approved boots as well... I since getting older, wwent to walmart last winter andgot some of those hand warmer packets small enough to fit ina glove and in places in your boots and toasty warm for a few hours.. well worth the 3.75i spent... only used a couple last year.. :) NOt being prepared is how youfall into the cold trap.. I've also used knit wool gloves sold at Cabelas' outdoorhunting and stores etc, as a hand /glove liner never freeze your fingerseven though they are the fingertip less ones.. I keep them in a Tiny Bag, along with a jobshirt, a watch cap, and woolen Bootsox and a couple bucks change, spare gloves (outers) just in case which goes on the rig with my gear in cold weather .. live and learn... -
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Permalink Reply by Bob Kinne on
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We had a '47 ALF 65 foot with an open cab. It was great for parades but it could get real nasty riding in it at 3AM in mid January with a tempreture near zero. BURRR !!
After it was replaced in '71 by a 75 foot Sutphen tower, I actually missed the old girl ... there was nothing like riding the stick in a stiff breeze and a charged ladder pipe between you legs.
It came with the old rubber coats that went down to your knees and pull-up boots, but by the time I entered the department in '69 they were going to shorter duck coats buit we still had the pull-ups.
Each company in the department had two SCBAs on each truck but they were kept in the old hard "suitcases" in one of the compartments and it was usually more trouble getting them out and putting them on than most of the guys thought it was worth. I've had several close calls using them. One night when it was about 6 degrees, I was working in a basement when the exhaust valve froze up to where I was exhausting my spent air out through the seals. I was okay with the situation but the guy I was with started to freak out when I told him what was wrong and that we needed to back out of there.
And the alarms on them were pretty worthless. They either didn't work at all, or they went off with only two of three breaths left in the tank. -
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