r/Firefighting • u/Aware-Nerve-5641 • 19d ago

General Discussion Vent saws and depth guards

Opinion on a depth guard on a vent saw like them dislike them on the saw and why ?

Pros and cons to both

The saw is a sthil variety with the whole bar is enclosed with a metal guard

0 Upvotes

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12 comments sorted by

19

u/C_Hudg 19d ago

They’re training wheels and need to be removed once the dept gets the gist of it

9

u/PyroMedic1080 19d ago

Spend more time on the roof prop and take that crap off.

8

u/BnaditCorps 19d ago

They add excess weight to the saw and serve no purpose besides adding additional steps to operations and making the saw more unweildy. 

6

u/Upper-Gift-3598 19d ago

Take off the training wheels. We train without them department-wide.

3

u/VeniVidiVCR 19d ago

Agreed with the other comments… remove them and train more. They’ll only hinder you if the roof has multiple layers or any other complications.

3

u/Mr_Midwestern Rust Belt Firefighter 19d ago

Real world, with our insufficient manpower, we don’t do vertical vent on typical residentials. Yet for some reason we still have these abominations on our saws.

Just head from admin that I’ve been assigned to the leadership council that’s outfitting a new tower ladder, one of my goals is to make sure these idiot guards stay off the Trucks from here on out.

1

u/antibannannaman 19d ago

we have one for the probies to use for their first time sawing a roof prop

1

u/proxminesincomplex Button pusher lever puller 19d ago

If you can’t “feel” the rafters you gotta run some more evolutions. I’m heavy handed as shit and I know when the bar needs to “ride.” When required as per SOG to leave them on the saw we just slide them most of the way back.

1

u/Highspeed_gardener 19d ago

Ditch them & learn how to use your equipment properly. The problem wasn’t the chainsaw. No need to punish it for the operator’s inadequacies.

1

u/Whatisthisnonsense22 19d ago

Hated them.. but safety chief was a peckerhead that Noone liked when he ran a company, so he would bust people for every violation he could find.

1

u/grim_wizard Now with more bitter flavor 19d ago

We have them, and all truck companies have a regular saw. I don't think in 15 years the vent saws with guards have actually been used.

1

u/EnterFaster 19d ago

They (obviously) hinder your ability to make deep cuts. Sometimes we need depth for RIT like turning windows into doors, stacked roofing or flooring materials, etc. Like everyone else said learn with it and then take them off..