If I had a Hammer

The subject of this BlogSpot is the Hammer (shot mallet) and other variables that influence your performance on the Keiser Force Machine. The Trusty-Cook hammer is the perfect tool for this job. If you attempted to strike the beam with an all-steel hammer, the recoil effect would significantly reduce your effectiveness. The head of the official hammer contains thousands of tiny BB.'s. At the point of impact, there is a one-two punch effect: the mass of the hammer head quickly followed by the shot. When the beam is hit in the “sweet spot” a distinctive ringing sound is heard. 

I’m not convinced that alternating hits from edge to edge is effective. But, I can assure you that anything other than a 90° strike is directing force in a plane that is less effective than a square hit. 

Heat is generated by the friction of the BBs hitting each other and this heat can increase to the point where the urethane will actually disintegrate. For this reason, we are only selling hammers in pairs. If you wish to purchase a single hammer, they will be available for purchase at our store. To prolong the useful life of the hammer, it’s best that it be used in temperature greater than 60°F, and not more than 100°F. And, it’s a good idea to rotate use between firefighters. 

As you no doubt know, we added heaters to the trays of the Keiser Force Machines last year. This year, we’ll be adding a hammer heater. From the survey responses, several people remarked that the heaters were not working. Yes, they were “on” for the duration. But when the temperature dipped, the hammers were no longer pliable. In my conversations with the manufacturer, I was told of roughnecks in Alaska carrying the hammer in the back of their pickup- and the shattering of a perfectly good hammer because they didn’t keep it in their cab prior to use. 

We warranty the hammer for defects, not normal use. It is not a lifetime warranty. Take care of the hammer and you’ll get reasonable use. 

Heating the trays of the Keiser has had a profound effect on creating consistency. So, the bottom line is that we cannot guarantee a laboratory-controlled pristine environment everywhere we go and every time you mount the machine. We are very much attuned to the quality control required to clean the sleds. We rely on volunteers to perform a fairly low-skilled job: spraying the tray and the runners with a 50/50 mixture of alcohol and water (to aid evaporation) and wiping the runners and tray with a clean cloth. Does this happen every time? Almost; at least 99%. 

Other than a few "short" Keisers, and hammer placements, there was only one race that I'm aware of where the competitor lost the hammer. We edited the rules to address this safety violation. 

Rules and Procedures for 2012

As is our practice since the 1991 inception of the Firefighter Combat Challenge, the Rules Committee met during the recess and reviewed the prior year’s practices with an eye towards addressing any need for changes in the rules, protocols and procedures.

To spare you the requirement of reading the document from stem to stern, here’s a quick synopsis of the tweaks that we have made.

1. Keiser Force Machine
Although a rare occurrence, sometimes the Competitor looses his grip on the mallet, creating a dangerous condition. Actually, it’s only dangerous if someone is struck by a flying hammer. Subsequently, it will be a disqualification if the hammer travels past the footprint of the Force Machine. This is similar to the hammer being in contact with the Lion mat. Language has been added to address this situation.

2. GNC Categories
A competitor can only win in one Individual Age Category; i.e., membership on a team or a relay is not affected.

3. Retention of Equipment
As written, the rule is already reasonably clear. However, the definition of equipment is expanded to include anything that you have on your person, be it sunglasses or an iPod. If you drop it, it must be picked up prior to advancing to the next task. Parenthetically, for years we produced the ESPN coverage of the Army’s Best Ranger Challenge, a grueling 60-hour non-stop event. One of the Rangers lost his cover (hat). They kicked him out of the competition- a pretty serious consequence as the rule is you could not lose anything. Period. Wow. [Add to the list of Disqualifications]

4. Penalties
We reviewed the penalties for the four days of the Wild Cards and the finals and compared them to last year’s numbers. There did not appear to be any statistically significant differences, with the possible exception of False Starts (jumping the gun) had gone down. We also reviewed the seriousness of the 5 second penalty and agreed that is it appropriate for two reasons. First, it’s easily remediated; i.e., “just don’t do it.” The requirement to stand still for 2 seconds is not an arduous expectation. Unlike Sprint Track Events, the competitor is not disqualified. Secondly, jumping the gun affords a significant, unfair advantage. Since we don’t have gradations of seconds of penalty, the 5 second rule should be a reasonable deterrent. We’ve repeatedly gone over the justification- and the objectivity of the penalty and believe that attempting to game the start is reasonably penalized. There is a subjective component to the start: identifying those who touch the Hi-rise pack before the siren. Our starter will continue to be responsible for this judgement call.

5. Team Defined
The language has been written and a reviewing body created. We’ve been over virtually every combination and permutation in an attempt to be fair and consistent. Because of the widespread nature and composition of how fire departments are configured, exceptions will be vetted by a 7-member committee. Fire Departments in North America range from tiny all-volunteer departments to the ≈13,000 member FDNY. And, we’ve seen both in the competition. The collective size of a department has little to do with the finish order. The intention is to outlaw attempts to go outside of the rules to create a team of Allstars.

6. Registration Fees
No change in the prices for the Regional Competitions will take place in 2012.

7. Lion’s Den Criteria
Women over 40 may be inducted with a time equal to, or less than 3:30.

Challenge on the Mall

Our first appearance on the US Capitol Mall took place in April of 1994. In the mind of the US Department of the Interior, this is sacred ground. The number of hoops through which one must jump are significant. Forms have to be filled out and submitted in triplicate. Preference is given to ethnic types of displays and activities, and we sure didn’t meet that criteria. With the assistance of the Congressional Fire Services Institute (CFSI) we were able to cut through a lot of the red tape and arrange for a $5000 bond. We had to hire a couple of US Park Police officers for reasons that we couldn’t quite figure out until later.

This was the first year that Scott Safety joined the tour and their contributions included supplying the bleachers and the scaffolding through their then affiliate Safway Scaffolding company- a part of the Figgie International group.

Every competitor who participated in this event remembers with fondness the hose drag on the grass. No one would ever have believed that pulling hose in tall grass could be so difficult. Many opined that this is one of the most difficult tasks that they’ve ever encountered. I can recall seeing several guys nearly horizontal in their attempts to stretch the line to the gate.

But, the incredible backdrop of the Washington Monument to our event was well worth all the effort. The photo array in this month’s Flickr account is testimony to that grand and glorious day. The Challenge looks pretty sparse- completely understandable since we had no truck for transportation of our equipment until Hackney stepped up and sponsored the Support Vehicle. Prior to that everything was done by North American Van Lines. Coordinating arrival times in the pre-cell phone days was a daunting task.

Look over the photos and send along your thoughts- especially if you were there. We’d love to hear from you. By the way, the purpose for the Park Police was to issue tickets to the firefighters. That’s like hiring your wife’s divorce attorney!

Why We Test

To my knowledge, the Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge is the only sport in the public safety sector that conducts drug testing. We do this not because it is easy or that we even want to do it. We do it because people who cheat undermine the very ethos of what we’re all about.

Drugs in sport has permeated professional and scholastic ranks for decades. With seemingly so much on the line, people are willing to cut corners or cheat to win. In the Tour d’France, it’s virtually impossible to win without the aid of a pharmacopeia of supplements. One wonders if baseball will ever really recover from the abuses of the past.

In our sport, it’s not money, but the prestige of the fire service that’s at stake. Professional athletes have publicly rejected the notion that they serve in any capacity as a role model. Like it or not, Firefighters are held to a higher standard. People allow us, even command us to enter their premises when they’re not there. We are afforded a level of confidence that’s a sacred bond. And in all but the most infrequent of circumstances we meet their expectations.

In our early years, we tried the voluntary compliance route; i.e., “I affirm by my signature...” Regrettably, that did not work. Testing appears to be the only true remedy. As Ronald Reagan said, “Trust but verify.” A drug might be legally prescribed, but might also be a banned substance for the purposes of sport.

And so, we will at considerable expense continue to test at the World Challenge and other random locations. Presently, we’re revisiting the protocols for sample accessions and the consequences for violation. Again, it is your responsibility to know what you’re taking. Labels on some products can be misleading or downright inaccurate. There are respected brands that have submitted samples for assays and have posted bonds to validate the purity of their products.

Hose and Nozzles

This is the first in a series of BlogSpots that will be written in response to the survey that was extended to all of our Challenge Competitors. We greatly appreciate your input and expressions of interest. Please feel free to add your comments and questions.

All-American Hose

Four or five individuals commented on the hose provided by our new sponsor, All-American Hose who joined us on short notice at the end of the 2011 season. The respondents thought that we should have announced that we were changing to another product.

While we welcomed All-American in Fort Pierce through a number of public address announcements, we did not make mention of their arrival on the website.

We were virtually out of attack hose and are overjoyed to have them on board. Yes, this hose is different; we just didn’t know how different. You think that attack line is pretty much a generic product, but we were wrong. The difference between All-American and other brands is that it’s a true 1.75” interior diameter- one of the few products that is as advertised. It’s also a lot tougher than any other product out there.

Over the course of a season, it was not unusual to go through 50+ sections of hose. At ≈$250/section, well, you do the math (it's ≈ $12,500). That's a pretty big line item for a consumable that never fought a fire. We're saving a lot of landfill space by using a product that's "green" in an unintended way: lasting far longer than any competitive product. 

The hose that we used in Myrtle Beach was first placed in service in Fort Pierce. It performed admirably. Admittedly the broom-finished concrete added significantly to the friction that was required to overcome in order to move quickly. That's going to happen no matter whose brand of hose we use. 

What is different about All-American Hose is the fact that it does not kink. Kinking accelerates the demise of the hose because wear-points quickly form and compromise the integrity of the hose. One bright spot is that we may no longer need the protective carpets where the hoses are staged. When we first employed them, our hose degradation was cut in half. 

We’re keeping tabs on the durability of this product and you should look for a major advertising campaign extolling the virtues of All-American. Right now, we’ve accumulated 99,525 dragging feet without a failure. That‘s for 1327 competitors over 9 days of competition. Impressive.

Nozzles

One competitor commented that the blue side target would not fall down. On reviewing the replay, we noted that hitting the oval with the FCC Trademark was never intended to trigger the slide. One must hit the fire target. In the C.A.B. meeting, one of the members remarked that the nozzle does not deliver a straight stream. That is correct; if you don't pull the bale all the way back, a ball cock nozzle will distort the spray pattern because there is not a straight line from the hose to the tip until the ball is fully opened. We place a quarter inch washer in the bore to restrict the volume, thereby reducing the potential for water on the course. 

The fastest competitors can open the nozzle, knock down the target and close it, all within 2 seconds. That burst of water takes less than 1 gallon, and perhaps even less. We maintain a constant pressure of 125 psi (≈3.5 bar) that allows reasonable precision, assuming that the operator aims at the right target and fully opens the bale. 

Beating the Grim Reaper

I just came across this study and couldn’t wait to share it with you. The article speaks for itself. Of course, in our crowd, I can see guys still running into their late 90’s!

Men Who Step Lively May Outpace Grim Reaper
Tongue-in-Cheek Study Determines the Reaper’s Walking Speed
By Cari Nierenberg WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD Dec. 15, 2011 --

Older men who walk at least 3 miles an hour need not fear the Reaper. They stay ahead of him and tend to outlive guys who move along at a slower pace, new research reveals. In the study, published in the Christmas issue of the journal British Medical Journal (BMJ), Australian scientists attempted to nail down the Grim Reaper's walking speed. (The usually straitlaced journal loosens up this time of year with offbeat scientific papers like this one.)

 While the Grim Reaper is a fictitious symbol of death, other studies have shown that how fast older people walk helps predict how long they may expect to live. Slower walking speeds in older age have been linked to a greater risk of death, while swifter strides have been associated with a longer life. Older men and women who can pick up the pace are likely healthier and fitter than adults who move more slowly.

So the Concord Hospital research team in Sydney set out to predict the pace of the skeletal figure in the long black robe. By knowing this, they reasoned, they'll find out how fast men need to hoof it to stay out of the Reaper's grasp. To do this, they looked at data from more than 1,700 healthy Australian men who were 70 or older. Roughly half of them were born in Australia, about 20% were Italian, and the rest came from other countries. Each man was asked to walk at their usual pace for about 20 feet. They were clocked twice over this distance with their best time recorded.

During the five-year study, 266 men died. When the researchers looked at the walking speeds of these men, they were able to estimate the pace of the cloak-shrouded Reaper. They suspect he's likely to catch up to those fellows who amble along at about 1.8 miles an hour or less.

"We predict that this is the likely speed at which the Grim Reaper prefers to [walk] under working conditions," write the researchers. Their results also found that older men who could walk faster than 2 miles an hour were 1.23 times less likely to meet up with death. But the men who had the biggest leg up on the Reaper were those with the quickest steps. All 22 of the men who walked at a pace of at least 3 miles an hour were still alive five years later. "The faster speeds are protective against mortality because fast walkers can maintain a safe distance from the Grim Reaper," say the researchers in a news release.

Kamloops, Eh?

Not everyone has heard of Kamloops. And I would have attached no special significance to the place had my wife and I not driven through it on the way back from Alaska four years ago.

I even got a sort of strange going over from the Immigration Officer at the Vancouver Airport when he asked me my destination last Tuesday; “Kamloops” I replied. After a considerable pause, he remarked, “...Why?” (This is not to say that I was oblivious to the concept of a team from there, but had not yet met the individuals that comprised that team.)

Actually, they’ve got a great ski resort just a half hour outside of town: Sun Peaks. Shawn Davidson and I spent Wednesday on the slopes and we took video with my iPhone. Shawn was a ski patroller there during his idle youth and hasn’t lost much of his fearless skills. You can check us out on YouTube.com/ffcctv ((http://youtu.be/fXRAR8e6TQ4)). He’s the very fast guy.

Thursday, there was a very special presentation of the Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge World Championship Trophy in the Kamloops Convention Center (a place with an arena large enough to hold an event).

All the city government department heads and key personnel were present to observe the presentation of the trophy. I made some very complimentary remarks about the dedication and hard work that it takes to come out on top. We had a great buffet lunch following, and I also did a stand-up interview for their local TV station. The piece aired twice and I believe that we’ll be getting a copy.

Later in the afternoon, I visited the number one station and looked at their training course- the hose tower and front apron. The guys in the hall were very complimentary of the TV and were planning to get an AppleTV for next year’s broadcast.

Later that night the team took me out for a great dinner at Earl’s and I spent time talking mostly to Graham Mackenzie. He had completed the survey and provided me with some comments on subjects that I was not aware of. That’s one of the great things about feedback. We can’t think of everything and the competitors have a perspective that is different from our own.

So Kudos to Graham Mackenzie, Don Clarke, Mike Brown, Scott Leslie, Shawn Davidson and Mark Brise for a job well done. This has been a journey of significant perseverance.

So, over the next week or so, I’m going to provide my responses to your feedback. This is the relentless pursuit of perfection, or at least perfection that we can afford!