- Joined
- Jan 16, 2012
- Messages
- 399
i am apart of a training program for high school aged kids at our local fire department. we train with the full timers in use with hoses, equipment, car extract etc... and even do weekly ride alongs for ems calls and fires. me being a knife freek i dug into my collection and grabbed my somewhat new benchmade grip h2o with x15-tn steel. i choose that knife for my days at the department because i knew i would spend hours at a time working with hoses and sweating my butt off in hot bunker pants.
lets just say that the knife's claim to be a water knife is a stretch. after getting off my bunker gear after about 4 hours in the 85 degree sun the knife was coverd in rust from sweat & hydrant water. not to mention the hardwear which does not appear to be " rust proof " did very bad aswell. shouldent a knife company or steel company test the " waterproofness " before relasing a knife like that?. i do realize that sweat is loaded with salt which is very curosive but i would expect it to do very well seeing that it was designed for aplications like that. what do you think? ( wish i had pics but took steel wool to it before thinking about you guys)
now to the interesting part. what do firefighters carry who are not interested in knives that only see them as tools?
so far i have seen 2 spyderco 93mm orange rescue knives ( good choice ). several benchmade 2550's with a coated plain edge ( coated for water resistance i would guess?). those benchmades where tax payer purchased i believe. and all of the have been carried since about 2006 and none have needed spring replacement. and a few boker switch blades which i was not impressed with at all. all guys carry a benchmade rescue hook and gerber multi tools on their belts both of which where issued thanks to the tax payers. some guys have switched to leatherman wave's and supertool 300's. the last things i can think of are stream light pen lights that where issued and pelican helmet lights and angle head lights straped on their bunker jackets.
what do you think about what the firefighter/ems issue gear and what do you carry if you are in a similar service?
lets just say that the knife's claim to be a water knife is a stretch. after getting off my bunker gear after about 4 hours in the 85 degree sun the knife was coverd in rust from sweat & hydrant water. not to mention the hardwear which does not appear to be " rust proof " did very bad aswell. shouldent a knife company or steel company test the " waterproofness " before relasing a knife like that?. i do realize that sweat is loaded with salt which is very curosive but i would expect it to do very well seeing that it was designed for aplications like that. what do you think? ( wish i had pics but took steel wool to it before thinking about you guys)
now to the interesting part. what do firefighters carry who are not interested in knives that only see them as tools?
so far i have seen 2 spyderco 93mm orange rescue knives ( good choice ). several benchmade 2550's with a coated plain edge ( coated for water resistance i would guess?). those benchmades where tax payer purchased i believe. and all of the have been carried since about 2006 and none have needed spring replacement. and a few boker switch blades which i was not impressed with at all. all guys carry a benchmade rescue hook and gerber multi tools on their belts both of which where issued thanks to the tax payers. some guys have switched to leatherman wave's and supertool 300's. the last things i can think of are stream light pen lights that where issued and pelican helmet lights and angle head lights straped on their bunker jackets.
what do you think about what the firefighter/ems issue gear and what do you carry if you are in a similar service?
