Yo Bro, Several years ago I dared to question, in print, what a local fire service icon had suggested about Smooth Bore superiority. In the next edition his cohorts chewed me up and spit me out. My only real point was that there is often a need for versatility at the nozzle so you can choose the right weapon for the right fire. Today, I believe, most instructors and practioners agree. The lesson is this: If you want to find all about one side of the arguement, all you need to do is make a strong stand in favor of the other. Keep The Faith.
personally i prefer a fog nozzle because it allows you to conserve more water (which is what really matters for my dept) or crank up and bust through if needed
My dept uses automatic fog nozzles. It really depends on what your presented with onscene. We have a few smooth bores but none of them are preconnected to trucks. I like to use both myself, although smooth bores can be easier to control.
we use both type of nozzles. my preference is the smooth bore. the fog nozzle is good for hydraulic ventilation if needed, the smooth bore is good for hard hitting and the reach.
i feel they are helpful for large fires, for example a well involved house or a incident you need a good amount of water on because they are usally on bigger lines like 2 1/2 inch lines.
My first Dept. we used Akron Turbo-Jet nozzles set for max gallonage. It worked very well for attack operations (straight stream), fog setting for backing out of a situation in an emergency, mostly in outdoor situations. The nozzle was set up so that you can shut the bale and change out the adjustable nozzle for a solid bore tip. This was a great benefit when you where deep inside a structure and unable to get back to the truck for a different tip. As far as using a fog stream to fight a fire.....well if you have ever used one on a real hot and heavy fire load, then you are either not here to read this or you"ll never do it again!
We did a two year study at our Department and found that depending on what manufacture of the nozzle there was little to no difference in the stream. As a matter of fact the Elkhart nozzle was a better stream than the solid bore. It did not break up as early as the solid bore and at least provided more options for the nozzle man. The fire service - 150 years of tradition unimpeded by progress.