How many times have you been on the nozzle and been using the pistol grip only to have the nozzle end up in your arm pit? This can waste time and energy when you have to try to stop and reposition to get a better hold on the line. If you hold the line just behind the nozzle, place the line through your arm and hold it between your arm pit and your knee you will be able to control the line a little better. Holding the line like this will allow you to free the nozzle so that you are not trying to control the nozzle but instead you will control the hose. Think about it for a second. What part of the attack line is the most flexible? The nozzle is usually made out of some type of plastic or metal. Not the most flexible material in the world. The hose, made out of a cloth or rubber jacket around a rubber liner. Now that is where you have the most flexibility. Even at pressure you will still be able to control the hose and still be able to control your nozzle. By holding the line here you can move your nozzle in all directions more easily than if you were to hold it by the nozzle. When you hold the line by the nozzle, you will at some point in time have to move your entire upper body just to point the nozzle where you want it to go. If you were to change your method and hold the line just behind the nozzle, you can just “push” the nozzle in the direction you want it to go. This picture was taken from a joint training session and two great instructors, Mr. Jeff Shupe, and Mr. Dave Karn, from Strategic Fire Training, were able to show us some good ways of handling hose lines and streams. We are looking forward to more training with both Jeff and Dave in the future.
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