Thread: Fire hose strops

Originally Posted by RezDog

Fire hose would have to be clean for use with a straight. All shiny and new.

That's why mine is still in the garage ,, and it's a fairly new piece that they kept clean at the academy for training purposes , but it's still been dragged around and sat with dust on it for years, tc

If it is still new but a little shelf dust on it toss it into the washer. We had a small piece at work that was left over from making chaffing gear and I put it in with my laundry and it came out quite nice, too small for a strop, but it made nice hinges on a box.

Wash in the washer with some Oxi-clean. Once it clean it makes excellent secondary stropping material.

Yea, the grit is a problem, a few years ago I tried using some used seatbelts and never could get all the grit out. I would expect a firehose has a lot more grit in it.

And I don’t know if it would be better that modern alternatives. I have had real good luck with Polyester Canvas Sailcloth. I just cut it and leave the ends raw, they fray a bit but not much.

I've service tested fire hose that was 1 call old, and it lost pressure at the coupler (the hose was perfect), so the hose had to be put out of service. Just faulty hose. This would probably work well. Even older hose is scrubbed after every use with soap & brush, and it should be well taken care of in most fire halls. Fire hose comes in many sizes, 38, 45, or 50mm (1-1/2, 1-3/4, or 2 inches). Bigger hand lines are 65 or 77mm (2-1/2 or 3 inch).

Originally Posted by Firefighter2

I've service tested 1-1/2" fire hose that was 1 call old, and it lost pressure at the coupler (the hose was perfect), so the hose had to be put out of service. Just faulty hose. This would probably work well. Even older hose is scrubbed after every use with soap & brush, and it should be well taken care of in most fire halls.

I would believe the inside of the outer cover, or the outside of the inner core would be fine to use for stropping, cause i dont see grit coming through that tight a weave.
Nothing is frayed along the length of this hose. Just alot of dust, and faded in comparison to the inside of the hose.[emoji6]

Originally Posted by outback

I would believe the inside of the outer cover, or the outside of the inner core would be fine to use for stropping, cause i dont see grit coming through that tight a weave.
Nothing is frayed along the length of this hose. Just alot of dust, and faded in comparison to the inside of the hose.[emoji6]

Yes, there is a jacket over the inner hose which would not be exposed to the elements.