r/Firefighting • u/JruePeakcock hose toucher • Feb 24 '25

Ask A Firefighter So I did a thing

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Anyone ever seen this before?

661 Upvotes

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u/Paramedickhead Feb 24 '25

Yes.

Guy got tired of drunks constantly crashing into his pipe fence.

So he rebuilt it out of thick wall drill pipe.

When we inevitably had to go for the next drunk, I broke two sets of blades before realizing what we were up against.

Also, the halo in an INDYCAR is so stout, the largest Holmatro cutter available will make two cuts, then the entire tool requires rebuild or replacement.

10

u/ip_addr Feb 24 '25

The halo is titanium, and I believe the cutters are also titanium, right? So its kind of an even match.

7

u/Paramedickhead Feb 24 '25

I can’t say for sure. I just know that the tracks where I work the touring safety team guys tell us that our cutters aren’t up to the job.

It isn’t so much an issue with the blades from what I understand, it’s more of an issue with the pressures inside the tool.