Catching up and a simple "Trick of the Trade"

Well, the good news is that I lived 12 hours following my last post  and made it to 4-day break. As usual, I’ve been just as busy at home on the farm as I am while on the job.

We’ve been lucky enough to have been getting some much needed rain.

Our hay fields are once again green and have responded well to a few drinks from mother nature’s cup.

Of course, that means the Buckaroo and I are putting in some long days again.

If we can get a few thousand more  square bales in the barn, we may just break even this year.

***WARNING*** If you are a member of PETA,  if images of dead animals or children with firearms may be disturbing to you … DO NOT READ FUTHER. For a more urban oriented, feel good, warm and fuzzy blog, CLICK HERE  instead.

The Buckaroo doesn’t mind working long, hard hours because I usually reward him with a little “creek time”.

Unfortunately, the weather or water is not warm enough this time of year to let him play / swim so we’ve had to spend our “breaks” on other activities…. like hunting!

Despite our best efforts, we have a huge ground hog and coyotee problem on the farm. You would think that the coyotees would get the baby ground hogs and eliminate that problem for us but I guess there are just too many to get. You know what they say … if you want it done right, do it yourself!

 

We got us a spot up in the loft of the barn….

I had my  17cal.  riffle while the buckaroo carried his trusted cap pistol.

Every time I took aim, so would the Buckaroo.  When I shot, he did.

Of course I missed and he was dead on …LOL  

I wish I could have got some video. After each shot, he’d look up and ask “did I get him?”  LOL … yea … “you” got him Buckaroo!

 

It wasn’t long before he wanted to trade guns….LOL

Although he is around firearms pretty regular, I think 3 may be a little young yet for his first “real” gun.

I have picked  his first one out though…. Yea … tha’st how we “red necks” think …LOL

It’s a youth model 22cal.  …. a ” Crickett ”  check out the link … AWESOME!

I can’t wait till he’s old enough for me to get it for him …  Until then, I guess  he will  just have to settle for posing with mine.

 

We’ve had a good week and the Buckaroo has racked up some impressive numbers.

I don’t know which one of us enjoys it more. 

I hope he’s old enough to remember our hunts when he gets older. I hope we have thousands more for him to look back on.

I know I remember my first time out with dad as well as the first time I took my girls out (yea … I took both of my girls out hunting when they were younger). Of course they didn’t “take to it” as well as the Buckaroo has.

 

Ok …. on to fire department stuff …….

In my last post, I told you about our  Fired Up For A Cure  event at the Roanoke Civic Center. Our IAFF Local #1132 and the Department have teamed up in an effort to extinguish breast cancer. The event seemed to be a huge success.

View more pics from  “Fired Up For A Cure” over @ Roanokefirefighters.com by clicking HERE

In that post ( found HERE ), I mentioned how our very own Rhett Fleitz (aka The Fire Critic) participated in the 5k run.

I failed to mention that Station #8-C Captain Mike Armstrong motivated his entire company to run!

 Mike is a great Captain who has always built strong companies. 

It was good to see an entire company out together for an event like this. Ffor me, it says PRIDE … well done guys!

In the post, I also mentioned that Chesapeake brought down their “pink” Engine. This truck is not part of the “Pink Heals Tour” but rather is an actual “reserve” piece from Chesapeake!

Well, after reading my post and seeing the truck, my good friend and Brother Firefighter Bill Schick from Charlotte, NC Ladder #1 sent in a photo.

Apparently, Charlotte has also opted to paint one of their reserve pieces pink for the cause of Breast Cancer awareness.

 

Of course the most popular photo from that post was yours truely wearing a pink duty shirt. I mentioned in the post that the shirts were issued to our members to be worn on the middle day of our cycles durring the month of October.

Well, apparently; our Brothers from over in Salem have out done us again.  They too have been issued pink shirts and they look GREAT! I caught a short story about their shirts the other morning on WDBJ 7 . This was the best pic I could grab from their site but I have some better shots of their shirts on the way.

 Ok … on to a pretty simple “Trick of the Trade” .. . WEBBING.

I’m not a big fan of loading down my turnout gear pockets with lots of tools and gagets. For one, it weighs you down. Also, when your pockets are full of this and that, it becomes more difficult to find what you’re looking for at the time. Over a period of time, some of these items / tools carried  will even wear holes in the pockets.  There are however a few lightweight and usefull items that are worth carrying and just may save your life.

One of those items is webbing.

I prefer 1 inch tubular webbing. It’s strong, durable, light and stores well.

Firefighters will find many uses for webbing while operating on an emergency scene. It can be used for hoisting a hose line or tools as well as for emergency egress if necessary. I carry and reccomend a 25 foot section.

Tonight’s “Trick of the Trade” is how to store or carry your webbing.

Here in “The Noke”, we wear Morning Pride turnout gear. Randy has an older style with removable knee pads.

This makes for a GREAT place to store and carry your webbing.

We start by placing a “loop” on one end of the webbing .

With the loop held above the knee pad, the remaining webbing is laid flat and evenly across the knee.

After all the webbing is in place, the knee pad is secured back into position with the loop remaining outside the pad and accessable.

The key here is to make sure the webbing is packed flat and even so it’s not uncomfortable or hard on your knees while crawling.

It’s also important not to pack too much webbing behind the pad which will take away from the flexability of the knee.

Another key point is not to leave too much or too large of a loop hanging out as it may easily “snag” and deploy unexpectedly.

Otherwise, this “trick” makes for great storage and easy access / deployment from either a standing or kneeling position.

Again, I prefer webbing ( 1 inch ) over rope because it’s easier to store / carry. I’ve tried rope under the knee pad but found it way too uncomfortable when crawling.

Give it a try … I think you’ll like the advantages.  If you don’t have webbing, you can find it over at The Fire Store by clicking  HERE .

Ok, I’m going to stop here for now. I have a lot more to fill ya in on but I’ll wait until next day. The Buckaroo and I have a full day tomorrow and then I’m back here on Saturday. We have a high rise drill among other things planned so I should have some good pics for ya if nothing else.

Little Randy is going to be enjoying his first “day off” since he’s been assigned to companies and that is a whole post in itself..LOL!

I’ll catch ya Saturday .. until then, Stay Safe and in House!

Captain Wines