Firefighting Gear: Safety, Reliability and Durability a Must

Firefighting gear plays a key role in how effective a fire station can be at eliminating a fire hazard. Fire fighters need proper safety equipment to respond to all kinds of emergencies. When responding to a fire, seconds count. Firefighters rely on high quality, functional equipment for just about every task they perform on the scene.

Firefighting gear includes belts, first aid bags, strings and straps. Special nets are required to store fire hoses for transport. When battling fires associated with tall structures, a high-rise hose strap is used to stabilize a fire hose. Ropes and bundling straps are stored in special bags that are easy to carry. Firefighters often use special belts that hold vital firefighting equipment such as axes, hydrant wrenches and small extinguishers. In some cases, large items such as equipment or fire debris are bundled for easy transport and removal. In this case, firefighters will use special bundling straps that can hold items together.

When you mention firefighters or "firemen," most people conjure up images of fire trucks and a hose attached to the hydrant in their neighborhood. However, fire departments rely heavily on other firefighter gear when battling a large blaze. The scene surrounding a fire or other emergency can be very harsh. Equipment must be durable and able to withstand extreme temperatures while being subjected to constant use and abuse. Furthermore, firefighting gear must be in proper working condition. According to the CDC, an average of 100 firefighters die in the line of duty each year. Many of those deaths are associated with faulty, worn or malfunctioning fire safety equipment.

Fire departments across the country are noticing this trend and calling upon themselves to replace and upgrade much of their current fire safety gear. In Wedana MI, the city council has almost doubled the allocated funds set aside for local departments to purchase new equipment. The Jefferson City Council in Jefferson City, MO has proposed a quarter cent sales tax increase aimed at purchasing new safety equipment for local firehouses. Many rural areas rely on volunteer firefighters. Having up to date equipment can prove to be more of a challenge in these cases. Sometimes smaller or unfunded organizations hold fundraisers or rely on private donations to make sure their equipment is in tiptop condition.

Firefighters understand that the quality of all their firefighting equipment can determine the outcome when dealing with any emergency. When one piece of equipment fails, it can cause the whole process to fail. The risks associated with using outdated or defective equipment are just too high.

Walking Sticks,The Ultimate Survival Multi-Tool

The uses of a good walking stick are MANY. I always head out into the woods with mine without fail. If you don't already have one guess what? Get out in the woods and find one! I especially like the "vine wrapped" ones, and with just a little bit of looking around they are easy to find. A lot of folks put a nice finish on them as well, making them a real item to be proud of.

Whether it is a stick you have upgraded, or just a good straight stick you found while in the woods, their uses are unlimited. Walking around the hills and mountains around here they are priceless. If you were to sprang your ankle, that walking stick can get you back home before night falls. If you need to measure the depth of your creek crossing, your stick is a tape measure. If you get stuck in mud or quick sand, your stick can save your life as you can use it for leverage to wiggle yourself out.

If you come across an animal such as an aggressive dog, coyote, etc. you can use your walking stick as protection. If you are forced to stay the night in the woods and can't get back to camp before daylight you can take your knife, attach it to the end of your walking stick, and there you have a serious weapon for any late night stalkers such as bigger animals that might be lurking around your campfire.

If you are walking or hiking through heavy growth and vegetation, you can use your stick to lift limbs and thorns up out of your way. This will let you pass under the brushy areas without getting injured or scratched up on your hike. Anytime you scratch yourself up while in the wilderness, you leave yourself open to getting infections, which is the last thing you want when you are camping, hiking, or trying to survive in a situation where you are stranded and awaiting rescue.

My wife and I carry a walking stick in each vehicle also! We are not "old folks" yet, but find them very useful to have behind the seats of our cars and trucks. Should you injure yourself away from home, your walking stick is there for you inside that car! My wife had an incident where she pulled something in her back while on her job. That walking stick got her home and in the house!

Often it is the simple things that help us survive. It is not always that hundred dollar knife, the expensive hiking pack, or other store bought gear. Sometimes it is the simple everyday thing you take for granted or hardly ever think of! Any time I am camping, hiking, or just exploring around in the woods I carry my trusty walking stick!

Should Flood Zones Have Mandatory Raised Highways In and Out?

If you've ever driven through Louisiana you will notice that they have raised highways, raised roads, and in many places raised bike lanes too. The railroad tracks are also raised. When you drive along the freeway you are constantly looking down. It's obvious why this is, it's because it is a perpetual flood zone. Indeed, almost all of Louisiana is. Therefore, when the water level rises and starts flooding, people have a way to get out, and go to higher ground, even if that higher ground is just a long thin strip. Okay so let's talk about the strategy for a moment shall we?

Lately, the global warming alarmists have been telling us that all the ice will melt in the North, and it will rise in the sea level. This means that just about anyone who lives at the beach and is below two or three meters in elevation could supposedly get flooded. Now then, I'm not a global alarmist, but if that really were the case and the government was really concerned, and if runaway climate change was really occurring, then it makes sense to prepare.

Therefore, should there be raised highways, and roads through those areas which are under two or three meters near the ocean? That would make sense right? I mean are already talking about moving infrastructure such as sewer treatment plants, power plants, and other important structures away from the ocean, inland. Not only would this help in case of ocean level rise, it can also help if there was a big Tsunami, or a breaking of one of the plates in the Indian Ocean causing such, or God forbid along the Pacific Ocean's Ring of fire. We all saw what happened in Japan after their huge earthquake nearby.

No, I don't mean to scare people to death, all I'm saying is it makes sense to have a little bit of disaster preparedness just in case. People don't have to die just because they lose their property to a flood. Thus, it makes sense that all major two-lane roads, bike paths and bike lanes are raised in those flood zone areas. Likewise the two-lane highways should have very large shoulders, and Center dividers. This would allow people to have a place to park once they got to safety, even if they could motivate themselves out of the area.

In many places where hurricanes occur along our coastline in the United States we have hurricane evacuation routes. These are the routes which are safe in the case of severe flooding with raised highways. That only makes sense. If we are truly worried about a Tsunami or rising ocean levels, then maybe we need to consider this also, and that would be all along the Pacific Coast as well. Please consider all this and think on it.