Thread: Firehose Strop

I am a newbie here so forgive me if this has been discussed before. I work out of a fire station and have recently learned that they either give their out of service hose to the firefighters or they stay in a closet somewhere until they can get rid of them. I've read that a good material for the linen side of a strop is firehose. Most of the articles focused on the unused types found in high rise buildings. Would used firehoses still be a good material for the linen side? My thought would be to cut the hose and remove any lining, then use the inside of the hose for stropping. The fire station I work out of only handles 1-200 calls a year and only a hand full of those are fires. If not, why not?

Thanks

Lots of different types of firehose. The old Linen stuff has no liner. Newer ones have a thick rubber liner.
Then, newer, one-use types like we see coiled in buildings are usually polyester fabric with a thin membrane inside. No way to get it out as it is formed inside the hose.
If it is super-thin, you can use it. Takes some ironing with a medium-hot steam iron to get them flat.

Personally, I prefer stropping on the poly to the linen.

Type 'firehose strop' into the search box up top right. Lots of threads on the subject.

and remember it will be a kob getting it clean enough,, the hose has been drug around in crap for years before hung up. doesn't take but one particle of grit to mess up an edge. if your willing to do the work, depending on the type it works.

unlike my good friend Sharpton, i prefer the linen.. but poly works really well too! i have tried his great tripoli strops that come with poly frihose.. magnific!

if you go for the linen, you can use fabric softener when cleaning..
key is to dry it very well..
there are several threads explaining cleaning proces.. you will need more than one washing cycle