Thread: Old firehose

I have some old..er firehose that has the webbing on the outside but it has rubber on the inside. Someplace I was reading that old firehose worked well for stropping. Is there an "old" firehose that came without the rubber that was used for stropping?

To my knowledge firehose has always had a inside layer of rubber.

Just a fast Google search for "Unlined Canvas Fire Hose"

75 ft ' X 1.5 UNLined CANVAS fire hose(good Cond.) (09/20/2007)

http://suppliers.jimtrade.com/140/139029/111958.htm

http://pipelineproductsindia.com/tem...id=54&pr_id=80

Why not just get the canvas? Who cares if it was a hose or not, it's the same or similar material, right?

"Unlined" firehose is commonly used in wildland firefighting, mainly because it's lighter and it
can be more readily rolled into compact bundles, thus making it easier to carry in a backpack
than rubber-lined hose. It's also cheaper. There are both single and double jacket varieties,
meaning one or two layers of fabric.

When I was a firefighter, the cotton-jacket hoses with brass fittings were gradually being
replaced with hose and fittings made with synthetic material, mainly because of
durability issues, but reduced weight was also a factor.

The cotton jacket is a fairly coarse and heavy weave, and it maybe could be used for making
a strop....I dunno. I never tried it. But, if you want to give it a go, your local firehouse will
probably have some odd lengths of damaged or retired hose laying around. A length of
1 inch diameter hose, if cut lengthwise, would be a bit wider than 3 inches.

You might also consider sail cloth, which is a finer weave.

This is old "free" fire-hose, but I really just was interested in trying it. Right now, I get along pretty good with my 3" strop with the wool Felt /leather.
Thought it might be something to try, but like I said, this is available at a good price. *S* Just seemed a bit "coarse" is all, even with the rubber lining.

You must have posted about the same time I did PaulKidd! I looked on the GooleMap (My Location) where you are and sail cloth "would" be someting of interest in your neck of the ....waters. LOL Probably as common as potholes in Michigan. I agree with you about the fabric being a bit on the coarse and heavy weave side. We have a lot of leftover firehose in the cellar (winery) that I thought I might try a small piece for stopping just to see. I was on a fire department, also back in Crawford, NE and we had real grass Prairie fires there, some Pine and woods, but mostly grass fires, but never thought the fire hose would be much of a use for stropping anything to improve the edge.

I can't imagine Lifuka Island having anything dry enough to worry about fire danger. If you wanted to find a remote spot, ...well, you certainly found it.. Off topic.. sorry, just had to poke a little fun.

I believe that firehose has too heavy of a weave to make a sufficient strop. A seat belt would work better. Also, it tends to mold easily when left in a damp environment.

I have used old firehose material as a strop many times, but not as a razor strop. I do a lot of convex edges on hunting/chopping/general use knives using a slack belt technique on the grinder. When grinding knives that way you will sometimes get a lot of wire edges(burrs), depending on steel type. The old firehose material works very well for stropping off the wire burr before moving on to the power strop and then paddle strop.

Some of the old cotton firehose should be deluxe strop material.
Some is tightly woven fabric and some has a rubber
liner and a fabric outer layer for strength and abrasion resistance.
The weave of the hose I have seen is very denim like which provides
a smooth easy to drag surface which IMO is what a razor likes.

So do not ignore used firehose if you can fined it for a fair price.