Discover how to customize your fire water can strap for different body sizes and easier carrying. By switching from a single-point to a two-point connection using a prusik cord, you can instantly distribute the heavy load across your back and shoulder without fighting with annoying box-like straps. This breakdown explores how a two-point setup improves comfort in large buildings, how it impacts your ability to force doors, and how it handles like a pendulum when you are crawling. Learn the tradeoffs of both setups so you can build the perfect, reliable system for your next shift.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPTION:

I’m a littler guy. Having the can set like this works well for me. If, for some reason I’m gonna hand this off to somebody else that’s a little bit taller, a little bit bigger, that’s where this prusik comes into play. So instead of trying to expand this out, if you use a box-like strap on these, those box-like straps are a pain in the ass to extend and a pain in the ass to shorten.

So how can I make this work for a couple of different people without having to adjust the strap that’s a pain in the ass for? I can turn this into two-point position or a two-point connection, right? So I go from a single point to a two-point connection. If I’m walking around or I’m trying to walk through a large commercial structure or a bigger building, eventually the pressure on your shoulder and neck over here gets to be quite a bit, and it, uh, becomes uncomfortable.

So if you move this from a single point to a two-point connection, the can then rides a little bit differently. It kinda distributes the weight between the straps, so I got weight on the backside of my back and I got weight on the front side of my shoulder, and that helps distribute the load even, uh, even though it’s riding in the same spot.

And it rides nice. It’s up in front a little bit. This does interfere with trying to force a door. If I’m gonna force a door carrying it like this, I gotta try to cant it off to the side. Then I start running around to the backside of the can, hitting the lower side of my SCBA. So messing around with it like this, uh, you need to figure out what’s gonna work for you.

When you’re gonna crawl with the can in this position here, you can still crawl and move with it. If you go to put your hand down, right, now this is gonna start turning into a pendulum and your can, uh, trigger gets exposed out there. So you gotta try to figure out a way to hold it or pin it or do something to make sure that this can’s not sliding around on you.

If you put your other hand down, that’s fine. It does a little bit better, right? I can still present a trigger. This one, when I go to sit up to try to deploy it, it still rides crooked, so I, it takes energy, and I have to pull this up to deploy it to make sure that it’s burnable. Not a big deal, it’s just pulled back against me, versus the single point I literally just have to sit up, the can sits on its own, and I pull, and you go

* The training views expressed in this video are those of the training instructors, and not Fire Spotlight. The actions in this video are inherently dangerous and could result in death; should the viewers choose to adopt any views expressed in this video, he/she is doing so at his/her own risk. Fire Spotlight encourages viewers to review his/her department’s Standard Operating Procedures when adopting any new training views.