Can a Fireman use a metal flashlight

Any fireman out there?

I have a friend who just got into the Australian Firebrigade.

I wanted to get him a light as a gift. Then I thought maybe one of those surefires with the composite body might be better than a metal light.

Any thoughts?

I'm not sure about the regular fire brigade, but I know that the bush fire brigade were changing to more intrinsically safe equipment a couple of years ago. My guess is that play it safe and get a nitrolon surefire to keep it safe.

Cheers

I don't see firemen avoiding metal equipment. The Surefire "fire/rescue" flashlights use metal bezels and tailcaps, albeit with the Nitrolon body.

Streamlight and Underwater Kinetics also make flashlights rated for use by firemen.
Streamlight's fire rescue page:
http://streamlight.com/market/market.aspx?mkid=2
Underwater Kinetics fire page:
http://www.uwkinetics.com/market/fire

Get properly safety rated flashlights, not just what you think is suitable!

Geese those lights are all pretty underpowered.....

Lights with approval for use in explosive environments seem always "underpowered". There are two problems:

1. Classic metallic lights can cause sparks if they fall down, therefore the manufacturers use plastic for the bodies. Plastic doesn't offer the cooling necessary for a light with 200 or more Lumen from an LED.
2. The certification is very expensive, You can't release a new light every Year because every little change (LED-type) requires a new certification.

Fire brigades should provide lights for use in explosive environments. On many missions it is no problem to use normal flashlights, so it would be no problem to gift a metallic flashlight to a fireman.

Ok

Perhaps some sort of surefire with an XML nail bender drop in then

I just got a UK 4AA eLED CPO, and it's very bright -- around 120 lumens to start, dropping to around 70 lumens after heating up.

Safety ratings: CL I, II, III DIV 1 GROUP A-G, T4 Exia

Erzengel said:

1. Classic metallic lights can cause sparks if they fall down, therefore the manufacturers use plastic for the bodies.

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Yeah, We have the same problem with equipment underground in coal mines. Aluminium is strictly forbidden due to the nature of the spark when it is struck against something (creates a "hot" spark) however steel is okay. Still creates a spark but is generally considered a "cold" spark.

So you may be able to get a SS light running AA's or something, or more likely a polymer light with a low to medium powered dropin, but a full power aluminium light running lithiums may be out of the question. Best way to get an answer would be to call up the local station and ask, someone would know

How about a G2 Nitrolon and then a Malkoff M61 drop in ....

That way RCR123s can be used....

I would be loathed to buy something with no rechargable option....

stoli67 said:

Geese those lights are all pretty underpowered.....

Click to expand...

There is a simple rule for intrinsically safe equipment. Under 24V. Less than 1A. Otherwise the heat may be enough to ignite flammable gasses.

XPG run at 1.5A. SSC-P7, MCE, XML all run at 3A. SST-40 at 5A SST-90 at 9A. So most of CPF's current favourites are too powerful to be safe.

Most of the fire lights have very tight beams to cut through smoke. So in a smoky environment can outperform lights with more lumens.
The floody beams from P7, MCE, XML would just reflect off the smoke and blind the user.

Im in the Australian fire brigade (Victoria) and, here at least, we can only use lights on a fireground that are approved by the CFA.

Any light you give him aside from a Streamlight Propolymer (which he probably already has) he wont be able to use unfortunately.

Maybe you should ask him out of curiosity what are the restrictions (if any) for flashlights in his brigade, then you can offer a 100% perfect gift.

If he has a lot of non-fire missions like traffic accidents, disaster relief or search and rescue, he will have a lot of possibilities to use a high power metallic light. If he is on a fireground, he can still use the officially provided light.

Didn't they use headlamp? I don't think they got free hand to hold a flashlight.

Their are specific flashlight models designed by both Surefire and Streamlight. I would suggest sticking with one of those to play it safe. Can't go wrong with either one.

For a nontheoretical answer to this question, one could always ask the particular fire service involved. Just don't use 911 and I'm sure they'll be glad to tell you. Drop by a station if you can't reach someone by phone, which can happen.

stoli67...Is this a flashaholic's "gift"? If so, perhaps focussing on what your firefighter friend might consider..."Now THIS is a BAD*** flashlight!"...should be considered.

Of course they can use metal flashlight when they search the survivals.