Here is my red bag which is supposed to be able to hold 14 days worth of gear including my tent and sleeping bag. Next to my 5.11 Responder 24 which I love for larger loads or multiple days away.
The one at guy at work that I've asked about the red bags and fire line gear uses three red bags. One for his sleeping bags. One for about 2/3 his gear and a slightly smaller one he can grab with about 3 days worth of gear. All are bigger than the one I got. They have changed suppliers recently and the new bags are smaller.
It looks like I will end up buying a bigger red bag. Which isn't a problem. I know 5.11 makes one.
This is the Mystery Ranch Hot Top. Drawstring closure top load design. The blue pouch on bottom is my fire shelter.
Love this shoulder harness and the way the bag rides. Even for a medium yoke, it is a very comfortable bag. Wish it had a little more modularity so I could remove a pouch or two if needed, but, that isn't a major issue.
This is the drawstring opening on the Mystery Ranch. Website says there is room inside for 3 100 ounce hydration bladders. Which, I plan on putting one Camelbak Antidote military 100 ounce in. The Antidote because it has a sleeve over the tube and a bite valve cover. That is the biggest complaint I have heard about using bladders in fire packs. Getting dirt on your bite valve.
This is the Coaxsher that is smaller and more modular than the Mystery Ranch. May keep it as a every day work bag and mount a bladder in the dedicated pocket. This one rides quite well, also. Not sure the model as I haven't found the exact one on the website. May be a discontinued model.
For those that haven't seen a fire shelter before, here is how you deploy one quickly. Keep in mind, the green is the practice shelter, a real shelter is multiple layers of mylar and foil. So, when the guys have to deploy them, it looks like a bunch of baked potatoes in a row.
Mmmmmm.... baked taters with butter, sour cream and bacon..
Ok.... damn youtube video won't insert right. I'll see if it will go in a separate post.
Signal mirrors. Bottom is glass and was issued by work. Top two are lexan or polycarbonate and I bought. Middle one is supposed to float. 3x5 spiral notebook for scale. Glass one is the size of the notebook
Update kinda. Ordered my fire boots since the issued ones suck balls. Thorogood Hellfires aren't a bad boot, just don't fit my feet well. So, I ordered my White's tonight. Only $480 plus shipping. Had to measure my feet with socks on and then make a few other measurements to fine tune the fit. There is a 10-14 week wait on custom fitted fire boots. So, I guess the Hellfires will be well worn in by then.
On another note, I get to be on standby for the summer. Which is an extra $75-100 a week in pay. Just went on high alert because there is a fire in northern Nevada that the boss just got called about. So, I could leave at any time for that fire. Hooray for overtime on fires. Will pay for the boots.
Hellfires are a little tight with one pair of socks. But, they are a heavier sock. Need to oil them up again soon. I know that will help a little, too. But, the Hellfires were out of the cache and I grabbed the largest size they had. Wish there had been a 15 instead of the 14.
I have a lot of moleskin in the truck and in the cache. Found out that there may be an additional charge of $175 if White's has to custom make a form to make my boots. Work will reimburse me $150 max on the White's but they would have bought me a pair of Kosmas Hercules if they would have had my size available. Maybe after the first of July I'll see if the Kosmas got any larger sizes added. I sent an email request asking them if they could get them.
That would be cool. Do you have a youtube account? If you could, also get video of responding units and maybe do a breakdown on the trucks and other equipment used.