r/interestingasfuck • u/HomeNowWTF • 2h ago
Hose that turns water into a protective shield
•
u/Sneakysqueezy 2h ago
Besides the obvious that water puts out fire, it doubles as a wind tunnel to keep heat and smoke away while trying to extinguish the fire. It also curves flames away from a continuous flow of ignited gas (like a propane tank on fire) so the firefighter can get close enough to turn off the gas.
•
•
•
u/Jamooser 1h ago
Fog patterns can actually kill victims, because they entrain a ton of air behind them, which changes flow paths of smoke in a structure fire and disturbs the thermal layering, forcing hot gases down to the floor.
Their primary benefit is for flashover safety, hydraulic ventilation after extinguishment, and BLEVE suppression. When a compressed gas cylinder becomes hot, their pressure increases. Eventually that pressure builds to a point that triggers a pressure relief valve to vent the contents. If those venting contents are near an open flame, they combust. There is no shutoff on a PRV. The pattern is used to keep the cylinder cool so the PRV doesn't fail and cause the container to explode. Fog patterns are used because they give the water a greater surface area, which absorbs a greater amount of heat, at the expense of range and extra air entrainment.
Of course, this is a nozzle for a monitor gun that is mounted directly onto an apparatus. This thing is flowing about 10x more water than any hand line a single firefighter would ever use. This would be entirely for defensive operations, like compressed gas hazards or exposure protection. Engines usually run smoothbore tips on their monitor guns, whereas aerial apparatus generally have combination nozzles like this mounted to their hydraulic ladder.
•
u/Im_Just_A_Tourist 1h ago
Would something like this be used to protect fire trucks in like a forest fire supporting fire fighters for example?
•
•
•
u/Own-Grapefruit-6557 2h ago
Its called a combination nozzle. Standard for all fire departments. They teach you "right to fight, left for life" . Turn the nozzle all the way right you get a solid stream, turn all the way left you get a shield of water.
You can also use the open setting set as wide as a window and directed at the window to ventilate a room.
•
u/Exotic-Collection471 2h ago
Thats a nozzle
•
u/SevroAuShitTalker 2h ago
OP has 1.6M karma in a year.
Their brain is fully mush at this point
•
•
•
u/GenderqueerPapaya 1h ago
and their account is only one year old 😭
•
•
•
•
•
u/Sedert1882 2h ago
Nothing new or interesting here. It's widely used across the world.
•
u/Sharktistic 1h ago
Yeah this was interesting 20+ years ago when I got to use a fire house at my local fire station. Not so much now.
•
•
u/GlummyGloom 2h ago
Get a load of Debbie Downer over here.
•
u/Sedert1882 1h ago
Says GlummyGloom! hahaha Relax you're not the OP.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
u/ErrdayDrippin 1h ago
Soooo…firehouse just doing hosing things? Got it
•
u/Postmodern_Odysseus 1h ago
When you have equipment that multiple people's lives rely on, both people using the equipment and the people that its meant to help, you do this thing called testing.
•
•
•
•
u/MegaSmegmaSwagLord 2h ago
Protective shield against what.
•
u/Ok-Prune-1248 2h ago
Fire. This is a well known method fire fighters use . I’m sure someone with actual experience will chime in.
•
u/punosauruswrecked 1h ago
Ex Fire fighter here. This is standard for practically all firefighting hose nozzles. Spin it one way, you get a jet of water that'll blow you back off your feet, spin it the other and you get a great shielding fan of water that'll block heat/ flames if things get too intense.
•
•
u/ghostwriter85 2h ago edited 2h ago
Heat, this is a feature of most fire hoses
You go wide on the nozzle and fight the spread by reducing the available energy to the surrounding spaces.
You can suffocate a fire or deprive it of fuel. If you can't do either, you can just try to contain it like this while it burns itself out.
[edit fwiw my experience is mostly theoretical (Navy), so I'm sure there are different applications for this on land. Going wide to cool off walls can prevent the fire from spreading via heat conduction through walls on a ship]
•
u/Dividedthought 1h ago
This is also useful for if you get a situation where you have a lot of air getting sucked through a building from, say, a window at the base of the fire. You set it wide and then the air pulls the water right in. Situational, but handy.
•
u/BR1N3DM1ND 1h ago
Against firestarters. Twisted firestarters. Maybe even a punkin instigator or two
•
•
•
u/Ghosts_of_the_maze 1h ago
Your dad. Today’s the day. Today’s the day you’re gonna finally kick his ass
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
u/axallay777 2h ago
Probably riots and stuff, a few countries use water hoses like this to disperse chaotic riots
•
u/ElMehican310 2h ago
Reminds me of Dumbledore when he uses the spell to protect himself from the glass shards
•
•
•
•
•
•
u/East_Ad8844 2h ago
idk engineers take a bell and ball
put it on a hose and make the ball adjustable
then call it a day
and people are fascinated
software engineer can not phathome
•
u/TheTresStateArea 2h ago
There used to be a fireman arcade game and this was the two modes for the hose.
•
•
u/yourallidiotss 1h ago
Growing up my dad was a fire fighter. Every year they’d have a family day where everyone went to the lake the fire fighters cooked out. And the kids got to swim and play on the trucks.
We would always have water wars. The shield mode of one of these things is strong enough to stop a blast from another hose pointed at it.
I’m sure they had the pressure turned down tho.
•
•
u/sapperbloggs 1h ago
This has been around for a very long time. I was doing firefighting training in 1998 that uses the exact same thing.
•
•
u/Phoenix__Wwrong 1h ago
I was trying to figure out how this can shield you from a bullet and got confused lol
•
•
•
•
•
u/flatpipes 1h ago
it's a nozzle not hose, and it's a combination fog nozzle. Very common in the fire service
•
•
•
u/SevroAuShitTalker 2h ago
Have you never seen a fireman's hose before?
giggity