Wildfire Suppression Hose Packs Guide

7/30/2019 Wildfire Suppression Hose Packs Guide

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Andrew H. Bernard

October 15, 2001


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Building Hosepacks

Hosepacks can add an aggressive initial attack capability to any wildland engine. Theycan also be used by city fire departments to add a wildland capability to their type 1

engines. All three progressive hosepacks illustrated in this guide have the samecomponents. All three will connect to each other just as they can be attached to morepacks of the same type. All three packs have been used extensively in the field. Thechoice between them is simply the readers needs and preferences.

There are some tools, which can make building hosepacks more comfortable and willyield superior packs. The first item is a sturdy table. While it is possible to makehosepacks on the ground the builders knees and back will pay a price.

The table can be drilled with holes to accommodate a spinning wheel of fortune asshown in the picture. This item is used to build two of the three hosepacks in this guide.The next item is a box built from plywood and 2x4s. The updated version has a cutout onthe right side for a gated wye, and the string slots have been deleted.

The interior dimensions of the box are 20 x 14. On theright side of the box the first six inches of the sideboardhave been removed to facilitate the placement of a gatedwye. The dimensions of this box are suitable for use withsynthetic jacketed forestry hose. For departments stillusing cotton jacket hose the box will have to be larger.

The string slots shown on older diagrams have beendeleted because tying the knots while the pack is still inthe box prevents them from being adequately tight.

J.Ramsay

J. Ramsay

1.1

1.2


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The spinning portion of the hosepack table measures 30 square. The pegs are mounted22 and 3/8 apart and 4 from each side. A fifth peg is mounted 1 interior from any ofthe other pegs and used to secure the nozzle during construction.

Other items needed for building the various hosepacksare; a spool of parachute cord, a roll of flagging, a pairof 8 slip joint pliers with smooth rounded, non rubbercoated handles, and a pair of 6 needle nose pliers(bent needle nose pliers work best). Additional itemswhich make the hosepacks tighter and more durableare two Mark 3 type hand vacuum primers, an 1 double male, and a 1 reducer.

A general concept with all forms of hosepack is that tighter and more compact is better.The packs will last much longer in storage aboard an engine if they are packed tightly.Loose packs also tend to fall apart and become tangled when deployed. Using the handvacuum primers to remove air from within the hose dramatically improves appearanceand function. In general a hosepack, which looks sloppy, will deploy that way.

In the Appendix A of this guide there are instructions for the correct knots used in thevarious hosepacks. A word of caution is warranted at this point because the knots,especially on the Gansner hosepack, make or break the pack. A bad knot can becomemore than an inconvenience during an aggressive initial attack, it can become downrightdangerous. Study the knots carefully and build several practice packs before ever puttingone into service. It is also a good practice to carry a knife where you can get to it quicklywhile deploying hosepacks.

J. Ramsay2.1


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The Gansner Progressive Hosepack

Employees at the Gansner Bar Guard Station on the Plumas National Forest developedthe Gansner progressive hosepack. It is currently the most common hosepack used bywildland fire agencies. The Gansner is basically one length of 1 supply line and onelength of 1 attack line. The 1 attack line is coiled and ready for deployment next to thegated wye, this tends to reduce the possibilities of snagging it on sticks and rocks when itis being deployed. When properly constructed the hosepacks can be connected likeLeggos, each one connecting to the last until the fire is encircled.

Components:1 100 section of 1 single jacketed forestry hose

1 100 section of 1 single jacketed forestry hose1 1 gated wye1 1 NH to 1 NPSH reducer1 1 dual gallonage aluminum barrel type nozzle

Step 1

The first step is spinning the 1 attack line into a coil; this is done on the spinnerillustrated in 2.1. Attach the primer to the female end of the hose. Attach the nozzle to

the male end and make sure it is closed, and then use the vacuum primer to remove all theair in the hose. The primer pump can remain attached until the pack is completely tied.The nozzle is placed between the two pegs on one corner of the spinning table. Thespinner is then rotated until the entire length of hose is neatly coiled around the pegs onthe board. When this is done, carefully lift the coiled hose from the spinner and place iton a flat work surface.


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Place your hand at point A andpush the coils of hose together.Make sure the female coupling ispositioned as shown.

Push down on either side of the hose to form a horseshoeshape. Make sure the nozzle is centered in the pack, ifnecessary flip it over and move it to the center.

Holding the hose at point B, pull the slack from the inside of thecoil. Use the slack to create the shoulder straps as shown at theright. If there is not sufficient slack hose to pull without totallyremoving the hose at point B you can pull the slack from theother side of the loop. Maintain sufficient hose in the loop atpoints B and C to tie them securely into the pack later.

AHB

AHB

AHB

AHB

C

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4.2

4.3


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Loop the parachute cord around the top of the pack.This is a critical knot for the pack tofunction properly. Tie the slipknot andleave sufficient slack on the loose end to

pull it past the center of the pack.Remember to tuck the 1 loop downbetween the layers of hose using the smoothrounded end of the slip joint pliers.

Once the topknot is tied securely putthe second loop of parachute cordaround the pack above the nozzle.Remember not to include the shoulderstraps under the cord. After that knot istied securely move the loose end downthe center of the pack with the onefrom the topknot.

AHB

AHB

For details on theslipknot see AppendixA, Knot 2

5.1

5.2


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Tie the lower cord below the nozzle. The

object of tying above and below thenozzle is to prevent the hose fromrotating around the round surface of thenozzle and allowing the pack to fall apart.Make sure to include the shoulder strapsinto the lower cord.

Tie the trailing ends into a square knot. Tie 3half hitches onto either side of the square knot.This prevents the square knot from cominguntied and provides an easily recognizablehandle for deploying the pack.

AHB

AHB

For details on theslipknot see Appendix A,

Knot 2

See details of thesquareknot inAppendix A ,

Knot 3

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Step 2

The next step in the process requires thepacking box. The box works best on a tablebut can be used on the ground. First takethe gated wye and attach a reducer to the leftside and a vacuum primer to the right side.Attach the gated wye to the male end of thehose and the other hand vacuum primer withthe double male adaptor to the female end.Using both vacuum primers evacuate all theair from within the hose. When that iscomplete, close the valve on the wye and

remove the primer pump. Leave the primerpump on the female end until the pack iscomplete. Place the wye in the box wherethe section has been cut out of the sidewall.Make sure the hose is turned so that it willlay flat along the edges of the box. Startingwith the hose at the wye, begin to lay thehose around the edge of the box in ahorseshoe pattern. Make sure the hose staystight to the edge of the box. Alternate theloops with long and short sections, differing by approximately one inch. Conform the

hose alone the wye by starting the first loop at the coupling and progressing down theedge of the valve. By conforming the hose in this way the gated wye becomes part of thepack and does not protrude so badly. This facilitates fitting the hosepacks into thecompartments on an engine.

When the hose is completely packed into the box,carefully slide it out onto a flat work surface. Firsttie one loop at the top of the pack. Then tie a secondat the point where it can be placed in the groove

between the male end of the hose and the femalecollar on the wye. Pulling these knots very tight willtend to keep the pack from dumping its hose duringdeployment.

AHB

AHB

AHB

7.1


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The two halves of the pack are ready to be joined at this point. Take the 1 side and

turn it so that its knotted deployment handle is facing the same on the 1 side.Knots to Knots. Now attach the female fitting on the 1 pack to the reducer on the

gated wye. Should this pull the loop from the center of

the pack it will not interfere with proper function of thepack.

Lastly tie two more loops of cord, using the sameslipknots that have been used on the rest of the pack.Tie the ends in a square knot with 3 half hitches on eachside. This facilitates the separation of the packs shouldthey be needed for other purposes.

AHB

Step 3

8.1

8.2


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The Travis Progressive Hosepack

The Travis progressive hosepack was developed somewhere in the desert southwest. Atthe time this guide was compiled the author does not know where or who actually

developed it. The Travis pack shares similarities with both the Gansner and the LakeGeorge packs. The 1 attack line is coiled like and deployed like a Gansner pack but it isbuilt in a bag like the Lake George.

Components:1 100 section of 1 single jacketed forestry hose1 100 section of 1 single jacketed forestry hose1 1 Gated Wye1 1 NH to 1 NPSH reducer1 1 dual gallonage aluminum barrel type nozzle

1 Hose knap sack (example used is GSA Packsack NFES # 0744--$37.28)

The first step is to attach the nozzle and evacuate theair using a hand vacuum primer. Then rotate the hoseon the Wheel of Fortune just like the Gansner pack.

When the hose has been properly coiled, carefully liftthe hose from the spinner and place it on a flat worksurface. Once placed on the work surface, flatten thecoil into a long flat shape as indicated below.


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Now attach the gated wye to the femaleend of the hose. Form the hose into an Sshape. Tie a single loop of parachute cord

around the center of the hose. Use aslipknot and leave a long tail. This cordwill be removed as soon as this portion ofthe pack is placed into the packsack.

Place the gated wye on top of the 1 hose bundle and

attach the 1 hose to the female collar. Then slidethe entire unit into the bag with the wye at the bottom.When the hose is securely in the bag, pull on theslipknot and remove the cord from the bag.

Now flake the 1 hose over the gatedwye in a horseshoe fashion. Make sure totuck the ends of each flake down as far aspossible. The flakes must be tightlypacked or the hose will not fit in the bag.At the end of the hose remove the primerpump and lay the female coupling on thetop of the bag. Then close the top flap ofthe bag and tightly secure the straps.Remove one strap to remove the couplingand deploy the pack.

AHB

AHB

AHB


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The Lake George Progressive Hosepack

Employees at the Lake George Ranger District on the Ocala National Forest developedthe Lake George progressive hosepack. One of the key features of the Lake George packis that it does not require the tools and equipment needed to make the other packs. Oneindividual with a roll of flagging and a hose bag can build this pack. It shares the samecomponents as the other progressive packs in this guide. Unlike the Gansner, which istied together with parachute cord, the Lake George is packed in a hose bag.

Components:1 100 section of 1 single jacketed forestry hose1 100 section of 1 single jacketed forestry hose

1 1 Gated Wye1 1 NH to 1 NPSH reducer1 1 dual gallonage aluminum barrel type nozzle1 Hose knap sack (example used is Cascade Fire Equipment Part #50313$48.)

Attach the gated wye to the section of 1 Hose. Make sure that the hose lays flat fromthe gated wye. Attach the reducer to one side of the wye and a hand vacuum pump to theother. Attach a second vacuum primer to the female end of the hose and evacuate all theair.

AHB


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Lay out the 1 hose and attach the 1 nozzle. Remove the vacuum primer from the gatedwye and install a 1 double male and a 1 reducer. Then attach the primer to thefemale coupling of the 1 hose and evacuate all the air from the hose.

Then attach the female coupling on the 1 hose to the side of the gated wye with thereducer. Now carefully lay the 1 hose along the top of the 1 hose. At the halfwaypoint carefully fold the 1 hose over on itself and lay it back up to the gated wye. At thistime the nozzle should be resting on the gated wye between the valve handles and the 1should be folded over the 1 hose neatly. Use flagging to tie the hoses together every3feet. Make sure that the point where the 1 is folded over is securely tied with flagging.If the 1 does not deploy out of the bag neatly with the 1 the pack will fail.

Place the gated wye outside of the bag.Begin layering the hose across thebottom of the bag 2-3 widths wide, andslowly begin to fill the bag. As youprogress you must pull the sides of thebag up, as they will fall as you areworking. Continue doing this until all ofthe hose is within the bag.

Once the bag is filled take the gated wyeand the female end of the 1 hose andplace it outside of the bag in the middlebetween the two clasps of the top batflap. Cinch the top flap down to holdthe appliances in place.

AHB

AHB


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The Jarbo Supply Hose Pack

The employees of Jarbo Gap Station, California Department of Forestry, developed the

Jarbo supply hosepack. The pack consists of 200 of 1 hose. It can be used to lay atrunk line to fire a long distance from the pump, to lay a line between pumps or add ontoa simple 1 attack hose lay. The Jarbo hosepack does not contain a nozzle and is notdesigned for use in a progressive, attack hoselay.

Components:2 100 sections of 1 single jacketed forestry hose1 1 Gated Wye

Step 1

The first step in building a Jarbo supply pack is verysimilar to building the supply side of the Gansnerprogressive pack. The Gated wye is attached to themale end of the hose, then hand vacuum primers are

attached to one side of the gated wye and to thefemale end of the hose and all the air is evacuatedfrom the hose. Once this is complete close the valveon the wye and remove the vacuum pump and placethe wye in the hose packing box as shown to the right.The main change for the Jarbo pack is that shoulderstraps need to be made on the 1 side of the pack.To accomplish this, lay the first flake of hoseapproximately 18 out of the box. All subsequenthose should be packed to the edge of the box usingalternating long and short flakes with approximately

1 of difference.

To make sure that the wye fits snugly into the pack,contour the flakes of hose along the edge of the valve.

AHB


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When all the hose is packed in the box, carefullyslide the hose onto a flat work surface. Then pull

the slack from the first flake up to create theshoulder straps. At this point use the string on astring (see Appendix A, Knot 4, for more details)method to put a cord over the top to hold the centerof the shoulder straps in place. This cord can be tiedwith three half hitches to the cord at the front of thepack. Do Not tie the top of the pack in the same wayas the Gansner, as this will prevent the hose frombeing drawn from the middle of the pack duringdeployment. Tie the bottom of the pack in the samemanner as a Gansner, making sure the wye valve is

tied in tightly. Tie the long ends from the top andbottom slipknots into a squart knot at the center ofthe pack. Follow up the square knot with 3 halfhitches on each side for a good handle.

Step 2

Building the second half is very similar to the firsthalf except that there is no wye valve and this halfdoes not require shoulder straps. The male end ofthe hose should be left hanging out of the boxapproximately 12 to facilitate attachment to thewye on the first half of the pack.

AHB

AHB


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The second portion of the pack only needs to be tied at the topand bottom of the pack. To maintain consistency, and to

facilitate other uses of the hose, continue to use the slipknotand the squareknot handle.

Step 3

The last step in the construction of the Jarbo supplypack is to connect the long tail with the male fittingto the female coupling of the first pack. Turn thetwo packs knots to knots by turning the secondpack over the first. Then tie the two halves securelywith two more cords using the slipknot andsquareknot arrangement. AHB

AHB

See Appendix A, Knot 3for details


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Appendix A

To build hosepacks there are several types of knots which must be learned. Of thedifferent types of hosepacks the Gansner is the most susceptible to failure caused byimproper knots.

To prepare for hosepack construction individual sections must be cut from the roll ofparachute cord. These sections should be cut at approximately 40. A typical Jarbo orGansner type hosepack requires 7 individual cords to complete. These sections ofparachute cord can be burned at the end to facilitate future reuse.

Each individual cord must be tied so that it has a loop at one end. This is most easilyaccomplished by a simple overhand knot. This is created by doubling back the first 5 ofcord. Then bend both sections over into a knot and pull tight. This should result in aloop of approximately 1 .

After the knot is tied each cord should be approximately 30 long with a loop on one end.This is the basic component of all string tied hosepacks.


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Knot 2, The basic slipknot

The basic slipknot is the most critical knot. It allows rapid removal of the cords duringhose deployment.

The first step is to circle the cord around the pack with the loop on the far side.

Tighten the cord around the hosepack by pulling back on Loop A. When the cord is astight as possible, use the needle nose pliers to grasp Point C. Use only the very tips of thepliers to grasp the cord. The needle nose pliers prevent the knot from slipping whilebeing tied.

Now insert Loop B through Loop A.

This endaround pack

This endaroundpack

Free end

Form a loop in free end and then pass the loop

through the overhand knot

Loop A

Loop B

Point C

This endaround pack

This endaround pack

Loop A

Free end

Loop ALoop B

Point C


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Pull knot tight by pulling Loop B towards needle nose pliers and wiggling slightly.

Finish knot by adjusting Loop B to approximately 1 inch. Hold knot with fingers whileadjusting the loop to prevent the knot from coming undone. Tuck Loop B down into thefolds of hose to prevent accidental deployment of hosepack.

This endaround packThis end

around pack

Free end towardscenter of pack

Loop B

Loop A

Slipknot

Pull here to

deploy pack


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Knot 3, The square knot

The square knot is used to connect the slipknots and create a handle, which is used todeploy the pack. The square knot is simply the old Right over Left, Left over Right. In

the case of the 1 inch side of the Gansner pack, the two top cords are held together andtreated as one unit.

Once the square knot is complete 3 half hitches are tied on each side by one of the freeends. These prevent the squareknot from slipping and coming undone, and provide ahandle with which the pack can be deployed.

The squareknot and cord handle should be tight to prevent accidental deployment of thepack while in storage. Cut the free ends to approximately 1 inch.


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Single half hitch

3 half hitches, as used on theshoulder straps on a Jarbo supplypack

Cord securing

This earounpackThis end

around pack

Slipknot

This end towardscenter of pack


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Shoulder strap String on a String

This endaround pack

This endaround pack

This end secures the shoulderstraps and is secured in the frontby 3 half hitches

Wildfire Suppression Hose Packs Guide

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