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Permalink Reply by Mike Schlags (Captain Busy) Retd on October 3, 2011 at 12:30am

You might consider helping out the French firefighter that is developing a new fire nozzle. Some of our senior members played with the hydraulics which does some of the homework for you. Look closely at how USA firefighters attack, and extinguish a fire compared to the european firefighters.

Click here for the FFN Forum Post on French Nozzles.

Good luck with your project,

CBz

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Permalink Reply by Sean Coutorie on October 3, 2011 at 9:34am

If i had to pick two out of our daily usage items that need improvements...i'd have to go with the SCBA masks.  we have battled for years over the amount of heat they will take before failure vs. visibility.  we need a heavier duty see thru face piece.  also, the heads up displays in the new masks are great...until they get too hot and decide not to work...or they're in a place we can't actually see them.  Maybe you can contact the SCBA companies and work with them on these?

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Permalink Reply by Miguel Browen on October 3, 2011 at 1:50pm

Mike,

I appreciate the feedback. We would like to keep our design strictly US based, but finding inspiration from anywhere is always a plus. My project is being done with a group and one of our members is working on the process of attacking and putting out fires. Comparing the two nation's differences could provide some great insight on why we do the same task in a different manner and show some aspects of both that could improve on the main goal. I did have a question though, do you find yourself using fire hydrants very much? If so, are the nozzles used to connect the water house to the hydrant easy/quickly attached?

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Permalink Reply by Miguel Browen on October 3, 2011 at 1:54pm

Sean,

My group is focusing on the whole process of attacking a fire as well as what goes on inside the fire ground. I know the importance a SCBA mask working flawlessly and this does seem like it could pose a very serious problem, seeing is pretty important. Do you find that they give out at a certain distance from a fire? Or is it after prolonged use while close to a heat source that they start to fail? Also, thanks for your response!

 

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Permalink Reply by Sean Coutorie on October 3, 2011 at 2:29pm

in general, the masks give out at temps close to 350F-400F.  it is unusual for them to fail because of being in a fire for any certain time.  direct flame impengement is always a factor also.

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Permalink Reply by Olivia Jones on October 6, 2011 at 12:05am

Ok heres my take which may be different than others but SCBA maskes are the bane of my existance, not only is the heat resistant levels a factor but the fog issue drives me crazy. I did see one creative fix for fog ups two magnets and craft felt.

 

As a woman with very small hands I also have an issue with the width of tool handles. While I understand that we need our tools to be strong and heat resistant, but we can put men on the moon and polute space with all maner of thin heat resistant materials why cant we have a pike pole with a slightly thinner pole?

 

And last but not least is it to much to ask for our tools to be better balanced?

Anyway just some things that may or may not help yall with your project.

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Permalink Reply by Miguel Browen on October 6, 2011 at 1:35pm

Hi Olivia,

Thanks for the feedback! I have researched and found a lot of complaints about the SCBA masks, I will look into what materials they are made from and see why the heat resistant levels are such a nuisance. My group has taken into account women firefighters and it will be a big point in our project to make sure our final product works just as good for both male and females.

 

I'm about to create another post about a direction that we seem to be leaning in named: Health Monitor Systems: Are They Used?  Please read through it and let me know what you think.

 

Thanks again!

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