Rarified Air

A few days ago on March 27^th, we were reminded of the 6^th anniversary of the Firegeezer blog. It’s crazy, but I thought they had been around longer than that. It sure seems like it.

When I say “they”; of course I am referring to Bill Schumm and Perfesser Mike Ward. They complement each other very well. Bill is soft-spoken and a student of the history of the fire service and Mike Ward is an academian who can fire off articulated rants like a gangster’s machine gun.

 Firegeezer is a blog that I visit daily and it is the quality of the blog that keeps me coming back.

Do we have a point here?

Yes.

I have been writing articles; in essence, “blogging” since 2003. I started doing articles for the Memberszone at Firehouse.com and from there, I went to IACOJ. I’ll come back to this later.

Then, Dave Iannone was starting up FirefighterNation.com and invited me to come and blog for him. In the meantime, he and his partner, Chris Hebert started FireEMSBlogs with the idea that they would bring the best fire/EMS bloggers together at ONE website. I wrote somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 blogs for Dave and Company. I also wrote some articles for FireRescue1, but most recently, I have been blogging for FireEngineering.com.

I would venture to guess that I have written and posted over 500 articles over the years and some of you might remember that I also wrote and posted “The Adventures of Jake and Vinnie”. Currently, I am in the final phases of scrubbing Jake and Vinnie for a launch as an E-book. Those of you who read the series might remember that I didn’t end it with a final episode. Now, it has a final episode! Stay tuned.

My title for today comes from a small website that, in its heyday, had around 1000 members. A couple of server crashes later has seen membership drop. The IACOJ was born out of the discussions that some of us were having at Firehouse.com. In fact; we were so vocal that they created the “Off Duty” forums for the Jakes. One thing led to another and with the guiding vision of Ron “Da Gonz” Ayotte and the IT skills of Steve Gallagher, Dave LeBlanc and Matt Kivela; the IACOJ went on-line as a  website where you could engage in respectful debate and avoid the flame-throwers with their name-baiting.

But, something else came out of this distinguished group of jakes…BLOGGERS!

There may be others, but the bloggers that I follow to this day are Mike Ward at Firegeezer, Bill Carey at Back Step Firefighter, Dave LeBlanc at A View From the Front Seat, Ron Ayotte at Chief Concerns, Grant Mishoe at Sconfire.com and Mick Mayers at Firehouse Zen.

There is one more blog that I visit on a regular basis and that is Dave Statter at Statter911.

Dave LeBlanc recently wrote a blog about the proliferation of training articles and the importance of verifying the information and the “street cred” of the person posting the article. I couldn’t agree more.

As we all know; any person with a computer and an Internet connection can be anything that he wants to be and say whatever trips their trigger. Just because they say it doesn’t make it so and with all of the social media that is available; it extends the reach of what could be bad information.

But, with the aforementioned bloggers, trust and verify is certainly not an issue. They are well educated, experienced and would never dispense bad information. And on matters of opinion; they will leave no question as to where they stand with their respectful and well-reasoned reply. They all have “street cred”.

In the past several months, I have not been very active with my blogging. There have been a series of family events that have taken priority and I haven’t been in the right frame of mind to write.

I will find my groove again. Bobby H. gets concerned when he doesn’t here from me.

I hope to get to FDIC this year and perhaps I will get to talk with fellow bloggers.

In the meantime, I would encourage everyone to visit any of the bloggers mentioned in this article.

You won’t be disappointed.

Take care and stay safe.

Take a Bow, Bowring™!

Disclaimer: This article is NOT an endorsement of the product that is mentioned throughout the article. I am suggesting that it should be given a closer look and make your own decisions based upon your personal experience with the Bowring™. I have not been compensated in any way for my comments.

Whenever I go to a trade show or conference, I will hit the exhibitors’ booths and look for that ONE tool that might have an impact on how firefighters do their jobs.

FDIC is just around the corner.

In this “super-bowl” of fire service conferences, registrants can participate in the HOT programs, classroom programs and cruise the exhibits in the Exhibition Hall and at Lucas Oil Stadium.

In short; FDIC presents a golden opportunity for firefighters to train, hang out with like-minded people, and take a look at fire equipment; some new /some not-so-new.

If you’re lucky, you will get to see and to talk to some of the brightest stars in the nation’s fire service in one of our country’s shining cities-Indianapolis.

This year, much to my dismay, I will go on Friday and come home on Friday, because of a prior commitment.

If I have any time left, I want to hit the exhibits to look for the tool that I think will be a “game-changer” for firefighters.

Last year, as I walked the exhibits and hung out with the likes of Erik Estrada, I came upon the Paul Conway booth, where I saw the most amazing hand tool-the Bowring™. This multi-purpose tool immediately caught my attention and as I listened to Tony Mack describe its many uses, I was completely blown away. It was also an honor and pleasure to meet and to talk to THE Paul Conway.

Then, Tony called Clint Bowring over. Clint was this tool’s inventor. To hear their excitement as they talked about this tool was infectious. You can get the story of the Bowring™ from their website at www.thebowring.com.

You are probably asking yourselves, “Why would I bring up a tool that I saw at LAST year’s FDIC”?

Because, as I watched Clint Bowring, Tony Mack, Evan Fenton and Ryan Lujan literally GIVE their tool away to firefighters to try, I thought that I would at some point see an article written by one of my blogger friends who assured this group that they would try it and report on it.

But, to date, I have not seen ONE blog written on the Bowring™.

I want to be clear that this tool does not replace firefighters, but it does allow a short staff to do more by simply reaching into their pocket for this tool. It will definitely save trips to the truck or at the very least will eliminate the need to carry several tools in addition to a charged hose line.

When I think about it, I would have to put this tool right up there with the Halligan bar. Note that I didn’t stutter.

I watched video footage of firefighters using this tool and I shook my head in amazement. A tool that could fit into pockets on turnout gear; rescuing a down firefighter, taking out a windshield, shutting off gas, forcing entry and so much more was mind-boggling!

Finally, I looked at Ryan Lujan and said, “Basically, only your imagination limits the number of uses for this tool”.

He said, “Exactly”.

These are Oklahoma City firefighters who clearly believe in their tool. Hopefully, they will be at FDIC again this year. I would be curious to know if business has been good for them.

If seeing is believing, then I believe that the Bowring™ is going to find a wide audience.

Go to www.thebowring.com and check out the videos and the testimonials. It can also be found at www.paulconwayshields.com.

I will be on the floor at FDIC 2012 in search of the next revolutionary tool.

See you there.

TCSS.

The opinions and views expressed are those of the article’s author, Art Goodrich, who also writes as ChiefReason. They do not reflect the opinions and views of www.fireengineering.com, Fire Engineering Magazine, PennWell Corporation or his dog, Chopper. All articles by the author are protected by federal copyright and cannot be reproduced in any form without expressed permission.