Dead reels

[CFS_Firey]

What are peoples opinions on dead reels?  The CFS seems to be putting them on all the new trucks, but I'm not convinced they're any more useful than rolled hoses.  Has anyone had experience with them?

[vsteve01]

They're good if you use a lot of layflat.  on the old 24 reels you can get about 100-150m of hose. 

[misterteddy]

CFS Firey, I think they have gained popularity based on peoples experience in the Black Saturday campaign fires in Victoria. I know we used them quite a lot and found them very useful (compared to using the CFA standard rural hosereels - which were dogs to use).

We fashioned a dead reel for our appliance for the KI fires and it was excellent for the repetative 50m blackout along a road, worked quite well.

What we don't want to see, is dead reels, taking the place of live reels and our front line appliances only left with one live reel, that would be a backwards step. As vsteve said, they are excellent for layflat and packing up and moving somewhere else quickly (and allowing practices like Figure 8s to be consigned to the same place canvas beaters are living) - but thats all.....they arent a replacement for a live hose reel

[Bagyassfirey]

Isn't the next build of 34's coming with 1 live and 2 dead reels?? 1 dead having 25mm and other 38mm???

[Shiner]

That's what the prototype doing the rounds has, yes.

[Darius]

really?? what's the thinking behind a dead reel for 38mm hose? I can see the reasoning for a 25mm layflat dead reel (although remain a bit unconvinced myself, even after having used one during the Vic fires). I agree with Mr Ted that retaining 2 live reels is essential.

[CFS_Firey]

CFS Firey, I think they have gained popularity based on peoples experience in the Black Saturday campaign fires in Victoria. I know we used them quite a lot and found them very useful (compared to using the CFA standard rural hosereels - which were dogs to use).

We fashioned a dead reel for our appliance for the KI fires and it was excellent for the repetative 50m blackout along a road, worked quite well.

So basically you're saying the advantage is in the speed of making up, rather than deploying?  (and there, it's the speed of making up to move positions, rather than to go home?)

They're good if you use a lot of layflat.  on the old 24 reels you can get about 100-150m of hose. 

This is where I'm not convinced they're any better.  Surely it's easier and faster to bowl out a new length of hose every 30 metres, rather than drag 150M of hose through the scrub?  or am I missing the point?

[Alex]

really?? what's the thinking behind a dead reel for 38mm hose? I can see the reasoning for a 25mm layflat dead reel (although remain a bit unconvinced myself, even after having used one during the Vic fires). I agree with Mr Ted that retaining 2 live reels is essential.

38mm canvas is standard gear used for plantation hoselays in conjunction with 25. Presumably thats the reasoning.

[misterteddy]

So basically you're saying the advantage is in the speed of making up, rather than deploying?  (and there, it's the speed of making up to move positions, rather than to go home?)

I think that this is one of it's biggest benefits (but certainly not the only one) to make up 6 lengths of layflat, reposition down the street and get the 6 lengths working again quickly, I defy most Brigades to do that without the inevitable bunch of "XXXXs" somewhere along the line.

This is where I'm not convinced they're any better.  Surely it's easier and faster to bowl out a new length of hose every 30 metres, rather than drag 150M of hose through the scrub?  or am I missing the point?

this kind of depends on the area you respond to......for us, its pretty common once you're off the bitumen to find that bowling out hose is impossible.....or stupid....because of the scrub or terrain (or both). With the modern pitifully short hosereels we are supplied with (how I miss a hosereel with 100m of 25mm HP), one person can run that out and a second person (even an accountant pretending to be a firefighter)can generally start running out 2-3 lengths of layflat. As its taken off the reel rather than bowled, its relatively straight and kink free, and you can disconnect the Wajax couplings at the length required. This way 4 people can generally get 2 x 90ish metres of easy to manage hose out and get to work pretty quickly.....in my experience it takes a pretty well drilled crew to do that bowling out hose in the scrub/up a hill, etc. Having lost a person with the seating configuration of the new appliances, we can still achieve this and have an IC and a pump operater (to bowl out more hose at the truck end if needed.

We looked at a design for a drop in dead reel that we could mount on the rear step of our old appliance (when it had a step), but storage became a bit of an issue. Personally, I liked the option of sticking 3 or 4 of them in a Group Car and fitting the Groups appliances for but not with, dropping them on if needed....but apparantly they got in the way of the golf clubs