You, brother, are my hero. Stranded in a flaming ship in deep water..hell no! Regards from a structural firefighter sister.

Thank you for your kind words

I'm 15 and am waiting patiently for 21 to be a firefighter but not one that stands outside a burning building one that goes in Anyways sorry to hear about your condition is it cancer or what

Be H why 21? Here it is 18.

Be H Heart related. Thank God nothing as bad as cancer. I hope you go on to have a wonderful and fulfilling career as a life saver! Be safe and reach high.

Thank you @brad penrod @reed Norris I live in New Mexico that's just that way it is I guess

I know this is a weird question but are you christian @brad penrod

Hello Thomas - CMC also refers to it as a "scaffold knot". The main reason it works well for securing the rope to the hook is that it keeps everything more streamlined, which can be important when storing your system for rapid deployment. You definitely could double up the knot and/or leave more tail if so desired - The only reason I don't is that I trust the knot. We have training systems with literally hundreds and hundreds of rappels on them and once the knot loads the tail doesn't slip at all. As I'm sure you know much this (like anything else) comes down to personal preference - Thanks for taking the time to comment!

Jay, You can still purchase the original Flash from distributers if you look on line - With that being said I switched over to the FlashLite quite a while ago and have been very pleased with its performance. The original Flash was light, but the new version is the lightest hook on the market (that I know of at least) - That along with its thickness and lower profile makes it very easy to carry. I am seeing more and more variations of anchor hooks popping up on the market which can make it difficult for guys to decide which is best, but I've deployed the Flash and FlashLite on all sorts of materials on a variety of windows and locations and haven't been disappointed yet - Practice is the key though regardless of what hook or system you purchase - Good luck!

+DALE G. PEKEL Dale, thanks for the reply. I ordered the FlashLite and will let you know how it works out. 10-4 on the training. I help run most of the training at our department and believe fully in you cannot train enough. Thank you again and have a safe and happy New Year

+Matej Hosner FIRE FIRE. Give them Pekel! :D

I currently carry the 2nd generation Escape Artist by CMC - They have come out with a few other variations beyond the one I have, but I still like the older version due to its compact size. As you may know there are a lot of different auto locking/self braking DCDs on the market now - I have variety of others that I provide in the classes I teach including; CMCs latest Escape Artist models, the Sterling F4, The Petzl EXO and the Halo by Xtreme Rescue. In the end each one as you can imagine has its pros and cons. Thanks for your question brother!

Awesome, thanks!

It's a 30 inch ProBar (Halligan) - It weighs around 9-9.5lbs. My personal favorite is the LeatherHead 30" Halligan with the "Stepped" Adz (about 10.5 lbs.) : www.leatherheadtools.com/halligan-bar

DALE G. PEKEL My favorite is a T.N.T Denver Tool axe I think that's how you say it I'm not sure, it looks like a Zombie apocalypse Tool lol.

DALE G. PEKEL doesn't leather head make NY hooks too right.

Yes - I have the Sterling Lightning GT and provide it in the classes I teach - Very nice hook, but my current favorite is the CMC FlashLite due to it's thin profile, light weight and solid performance.

+DALE G. PEKEL copy that, thanks brother

What about the Talon hook from Fire Innovations?

Hello Nathan, thanks for your question. I'm not a fan of training with a front line system. I do feel it weakens the software/rope, especially when training with it over and over. With that being said; Purchasing a training system that duplicates your front line one is not very practical for most FFs.......We have training systems in the classes I teach that have hundreds and hundreds of deployments/rappels on them and they're still going strong, but we always put students on a belay just in the event the unexpected happens - Regardless of the arguments, using your front line system multiple times will weaken the rope to some degree, especially if it gets shocked loaded - The question is how much. Keeping the system 'virgin" helps to ensure confidence that it will hold up in an actual emergency.

Dale, I agree its fiscally not practical to have a second complete VRS. I am currently in the process of gathering the components to build a VRS like yours. With your experience in mind, what piece of equipment would you say takes the most wear and tear? Obliviously the rope would be first, would you say the F4 DCD or the CMC hook would be next? I agree that your front line system should be kept 'virgin' but also feel training with the system is of utmost importance.

If you practice from a low level prop wear and tear on the Hook and F4 is about the same - If you do a lot of full height rappels (2 stories or more) the F4 will show more wear. If you don't abuse either of them (drop or drag them on the ground) both will hold up just fine. The F4 unlike a lot of other DCDs can take a ton of slides and still function just fine - After time (200 - 300 rappels) others like the CMC EA, Petzl EXO, HALO and similar DCDs with an internal bollard, mech or cam will wear out - Especially with Kevlar rope. The braking device will no longer grab the rope causing the rope to slip and slide through the device. The F4s design isn't effected nearly as negatively.

One more thing to add - If you practice a lot of victim rescue techniques using the Flash as a DCD (What I call the Byrne Technique) and lower a load/victim from a 2nd floor or higher you will start to wear a grove in the Flash around the spine and hitching slot - More so if you use Kevlar rope than an all nylon or polyester fiber). This will compromise the integrity and strength of the Hook. Something also to add and note: The anodized coating over the aluminum is actually harder than the aluminum itself and once it wears through is creates a hard edge (microscopically) causing more wear and tear on the rope. Once the anodized coating is gone the aluminum will wear out a lot faster.

Thanks for the great info Dale! One last question if I may... do you think the brand or style caribiner manners for the auxiliary carabiner, as long as it has a lock (screw-lock)? Have you found better luck with the SMC vs another brand? Steel vs aluminum?

Flash* not flashlite

I switched from the regular Flash hook to the FlashLite. I currently use Sterling FireTech 32 Technora rope which is 7.5mm Kevlar, but CMC also makes a great Technora escape line - 7.5mm is all you need. It's incredibly strong and takes up less room than larger diameter escape lines. I'm not a fan of escape webbing, but it does provide for a more compact and lighter weight system. You have a ton of choices now a days and in the end it really comes down to personal preference.

Thank you so much!

One more thing how many ft would you suggest I've been told you should have between 50-100ft should I go with 75ft, and I love your videos I've been learning a lot from them and I keep going over it.

I carry 40 feet - When using the hook as an anchor in the corner of a window it will easily get you down to the ground on most 4 story buildings. Anymore than 50 feet takes up a lot of room in your gear or requires a larger bag to carry and in my opinion it's way too bulky. Look at it this way: Most window sills (in living areas of residential buildings) are 2 - 3 feet of the floor. The distances between floors in residential buildings is usually around 10 feet - Taking these numbers into consideration: A 2nd floor window sill would be around 13 feet off the ground - If the window sills were equal all the way up (lets say in an apartment building) the 3rd floor window sill would than be 23 feet off the ground, the 4th floor would be 33 feet, the 5th floor 43 feet, etc. etc. If the window sills were 4 feet off the floor and the distance between floors was 12 feet your numbers would look like this: 2nd floor window 16 feet off the ground, 3rd floor 28 feet, 4th floor 40 feet, etc. etc. Also remember that when your reach the end of your rope (if you have a safety stop knot tied in the end your rope) it will terminate at waist level which adds another 3 - 4 feet of length to your rappel - So a 40 foot system is actually a 43 - 44 foot system. Now add in the fact that you can easily drop (feet first) another 5 feet w/o serious injury a 40 foot system will cover a lot of distance! This is why I only carry 40 feet and why I would say don't bother with anymore than 50 feet.

Try Bendlin Fire Equipment in Butler Wisconsin - They have a website and gave us a quote of $87.00 for the FlashLite

Sterling FireTech 32 (7.5mm Technora)

thank you

We Carry rope is a pouch on your belt that sits under your turn out coat it stays protected from heat our snags works good

Apperantly it is also called a poachers knot. A barrel knot alone is called a stopper knot. What you are doing is creating a slipped loop so I don't think that would be a propper name for what you are doing. You're right though, there are many names. As far as the longer end, it probably is irrelevant but It's better to be safe than sorry in my opinion. If your hand slips you than have extra rope to grab, if the knot isn't tight enough and slips you than have extra tail to allow it to tighten. I am thinking along the lines of you having to make the knot quickly and exit a building. You're not going to have the time to make a perfect knot and so mistakes could happen.. Thank you for your response.

Not sure if you understand. Escape systems are intended to be pre-rigged; Meaning the knot is prettied on the hook. We have training systems that have hundreds and hundreds of rappels on them and the knot once cinched gets so tight you have to cut it off to replace the rope. It really is the BEST knot to use for this application. This isn't just my opinion - Consult some of the top rope rescue instructors from CMC (the same company that makes the Anchor Hook) and they will tell you the same thing. In the end if you prefer to use a different knot in your setup that's up to you.