Fire Extinguishers

If you mount it on the outside it will get stolen. Keep your extinguisher in the cab or in the bed box.

Huh. Is that really an item that gets swiped? I never considered that.

5lb is too big to keep in the cab, and my truck box is full with the chainsaw gear and tow straps.

hrm

I keep a ten pounder clipped to the ladder rack/bed rails in my truck. It's been there for at least a year and isn't showing any rust. I just shake it up once in a while to keep everything from caking up at the bottom

I have the small grey Kidde that you can buy a walmart in my vehicles.

I did have to use it once. An oil rag I stuffed under the hood of my truck got loose and found the exhaust manifold. Definitely would have burned my truck to the ground if I didnt have it.

I have a least a 5# ABC and a 5# Halon in all my vehicles.

One thing about extinguishers, when the fire is out no-one has ever complained about having to many or one left over that didn't get used.

Make sure it's not a one squeeze and done extinguisher or if it is you or the person using it knows it is.

Alright. Asked Dad (I know, I know) since he's a retired firefighter after 35 years. I don't 100% agree with it, but I can see it from his perspective.

Don't bother. The toxic fumes. Canisters exploding. Flammable liquids like propane and gasoline. Stand uphill and call the fire department. Collect the insurance on it. The extinguisher is fine, but you're at a massive risk of getting hurt or killed. He was going over the list of items on vehicles that explode. The bumpers, the pressurized canisters that open doors, the shocks, tires, etc. All the plastic is toxic to breathe too. You can't even see the fumes and it'll do damage if you inhale it. He's been to a lot of calls where people tried to save their vehicle, and got hurt trying to put it out. Not worth the risk.

Iunno. I can see it from both ways.

These are interesting,

I have 5 pounders every where, looking for a old school water fire ext,
A 5 gallon bucket of water with an old bath towel soaking in it for welding and sketchy stuff like first starts etc.
I also have a couple of fire blankets".

We were discussing the ELEMENT fire extinguisher on another website recently...


Aside from the cost (which doesn't really matter) they are a way better unit.

Whatever you decide to do, do >NOT< buy cheap crap from Wallyworld or crAmazon.com !!! Go to your local fire supply place, it won't cost much more and you'll get something that's much more likely to work when you need it. I go to http://www.greersupply.com/ 'cause they're local to me, but Google is your friend. Most places like Greer's sell stuff that's rechargeable so when you >do< need it, it can be recharged for much cheaper than replaceing it. And while I understand what Woods' dad said, if somebody is trapped in a burning vehicle, I'm gonna grab my fire bottle, try to knock the fire back, and save somebody's ass. That's what the portable bottle is for, to knock it out when it's small, or knock it back enough to save a life. Let insurance deal with the rest...

As a retired FF myself I carry an extinguisher in all my vehicles, 2A 10BC serviceable. All that he said may be true, but then I travel in remote areas with no cell coverage so calling for help is not possible. I also want to be able to save my own vehicles rather than just let them burn to the ground and possibly start a wildland fire in the process. What if you could save a family members life by using one but you called the FD instead of having one? Too many what ifs in my mind to just say, don't carry one and rely on the FD. That's like saying don't carry a spare just call AAA. Stand uphill and upwind if possible, the smoke from all the plastics can fuck you up. Learn how to use one properly, it's more than just P.A.S.S. I have mine all hard mounted within reach of the drivers door so they don't become projectiles in a crash and are easy to access. Someone mentioned periodically shaking them up. That's a good idea since they can cake or harden up at the bottom, Kidde has had several recalls for just that. Or just shake them up to break up the cake.

Ultimately you make the choice yourself, there's possible dangers in everything we do.

Its really situation dependent I think. Rolling up onto a scene, first thing is scene safety. Something starts and you catch it quickly, then have at it.

https://elementfire.com/

That does seem pretty neat. $80 for the small and $120 for the bigger one isn't all that expensive.

I've got two 2.5lb H3R HalGuard extinguishers in the front of the Jeep and a single 5lb H3R HalGuard in the rear. They cost a lot more than the Elements but, I don't really care what safety equipment costs.

I also installed a 5L AFFF system in the Jeep. Mainly because I installed a fuel cell in the rear that sticks up into the tub. I have two nozzles on the cell, two nozzles on the driver and passenger, and two nozzles in the engine compartment. Figured if I'm spending tens of thousands of dollars on fancy parts, I might as well spend $500 on protecting them and myself.