Article  Fire Hose: Hopefully You Won’t Ever Need One If you think the only person who needs to have a quality and effective fire hose is the fire marshal, then you need to think again. Hoses are key pieces of safety equipment that can make the difference between nipping disaster in the bud and finding your property in ashes. Whether you are a homeowner, business owner, security guard, or renter, you can sleep easier knowing you have reliable access to a water source in the event the worst case scenario happens. However, there are several types and features available in a fire hose, and before you make the investment it is important you are aware of all your choices. Traditional English fire hoses differ slightly from those found in the States. Instead of being flat, malleable and beige, English fire hoses are red in color and more rigid. They are traditionally located on a wall mounted reel, unlike an American fire hose which is folded onto a square holder. Most hoses located in the UK are around thirty meters long, or around one hundred feet, meaning they are able to be extended great distances to reach fires in hard to reach places, like the top of a multi-story apartment building or the corners of a vast warehouse. There are a variety of reel styles that can be purchased to not only provide the greatest ease of use but also the most storage convenience depending on your available space. The fixed hose real is attached the wall and will only revolve to let out more hose tubing as the tube is extended and pulled. This is considered the most popular form of reel because it keeps the tubing in order without restricting give of slack. When combined with a roller mount, which will allow the whole reel to move side to side with ease, this reel provides one hundred and eighty degrees of effective coverage. Another type of reel is the swing hose reel, which is hung from the top of the reel to allow the entire unit to be pulled three hundred and sixty degrees to provide extra give for the hose and move organically with the user. A final type of reel is the recessed hose reel, which is mounted inside the wall for easy storage. A final element that must be considered before purchasing a fire hose for your business or place of residence is whether to get a manual hose or automatic hose. A manual hose requires the user to turn on the water flow before using the hose. While this can help reduce freezing issues inside the hose for colder climates, it also requires an extra step that needs to be remembered if the fire alarm goes off which can waste time. An automatic hose always has water flow open to be used and all that is needed to extract water from the hose is opening the nozzle at the end of the tube. Neither choice is better than the other, so what you select for your property depends on your climate concerns and access to water. All told, a complete fire hose set which includes tubing, nozzle, reel, and water source gauge is not that big of an outlay. However, this one time investment can make a real difference between keeping your property intact and watching it consumed by an inferno. Compared to the thousands and even millions of dollars that your property is worth, a few hundred spent on a fire hose is a small price to pay to protect your largest investment. Category General Author Anonymous Add To Favorites Print This Article Email Article To A Friend Post Comments   Rate This Article (0) 1 - Poor2345 - Good678910 - Excellent Added On Wed Nov 11th,2009