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Permalink Reply by Chris Collier on June 9, 2011 at 3:29pm

Hello... anyone?

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Permalink Reply by ryanhubble on June 9, 2011 at 8:58pm

i like to use the flat end

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Permalink Reply by DUST on June 10, 2011 at 5:41am

I've always set the tool with the bevel towards the jamb because that's way I was trained to do it. Good info. and good blog!

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Permalink Reply by Shareef Abdu Nur on June 10, 2011 at 8:55am

For me, it has always depended on the type of door and frame. For an inward swinging wood residential door, we have always either just kicked it in or used the head of a tool as a battering ram and just punched it through blowing the door from the frame.

For an outward swinging wood residential door, we have always gapped the door with the adze end of the halligan and then flipped the tool around so that the forks are in the gap with bevel towards the door so as to reach in and grab the door when the member forces energy by pushing on the halligan bar. We are trying to remove the door from the frame and not the frame from around the door.

With metal commercial doors inward swinging, we attack them just as we do inward swingng residential doors but with outward swinging residential doors we again gap the door with the adze of the haligan placing a wedge in the gap if needed. We put the bevel the same way towards the door because again we are forcing the door from the frame and not vice versa. If the door is to fortified we either go to another door or window or we use the K12.

There are many times with us that the OVM is alone in ther rear of the building forcing doors for egress and he/she has to do this alone. It can be done and has been done. Is it ideal? NO! Necessary? YES!

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Permalink Reply by Patti Walz on June 10, 2011 at 9:29am

I would prefer the one that will giv me the best leverage for the door that I am trying to pry.

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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on June 10, 2011 at 9:53pm

Situational. It depends on what type of fork is on the bar. There are at least three types - the mostly-straight with a bent tip, the curved slender version, and the fat one with one curved side and one flat one.

The last one is relatively useless for gapping metal doors set in metal frames, especially in masonry contstruction.

If the door is heavily armored, you can angle the tip into the gap, drive the bar in as far as it will go, and lever the door open if you put the bevel toward the frame.

On lighter doors, especially wooden ones, you can turn the bevel toward the door, poke the fork into the gap, drive it into the frame, then lever the bevel against the door to pop it.

You can also use the duckbill to gap the door, as another poster says. Dependning on the door, you can sometimes pop it open by just levering or twisting the duckbill in the gap.

Then there's the baseball swing technique for wood-framed doors where you swing the pick into the frame and use it as a pivot point to lever the door open without involving the fork at all.

We are fortunate to have a Friction Force prop for Halligan practice.

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Permalink Reply by Nathan Henderson on December 10, 2011 at 2:54am

How do you like the friction force prop?

I have looked at it and thought about trying to get my dept to purchase one but was wondering about costs, durability and versatility.

What are some pros/cons your fd has found with it?

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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on December 10, 2011 at 4:58pm

We like it a lot.  We just finished a set of night drills where forcing entry on the prop was one of the required elements and it added another dimension to the training instead of the nozzleman just opening the tower door and entering.

 

Cost - approximately $7,000 delivered.  Around $500 will be shippping cost - the prop is HEAVY.

 

Durability - as long as you don't use sledgehammers on the doors and keep up the required minor maintenance, the prop lasts fine.   Repeated sledgehammer techniques can split the spot welds on the reinforcing plates on the doors.

 

Versatility - you need a paved area to set it up.  The prop is wheeled and the wheels can be retracted to set the prop up for training, but the wheels don't roll well on dirt or gravel.  The prop is shipped on a pallet, so a forklift is mandatory to unload it from the truck.

 

The only other con is that the prop is two half doors, hinged in the middle.  When you combine forcible entry training with hose or search drills, you need to set the prop up near the door the firefighters actually enter.  You can't really use the Friction Force prop as an entry door - it is designed for stand-alone forcible entry training.

 

We like ours a lot.  It is around a year old, and gets frequent use.

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Permalink Reply by Nathan Henderson on December 10, 2011 at 9:09pm

Thanks Ben.

Sounds like it's a good product and probably worth the money. I'll definitely look into it more.

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