[HN Gopher] Halligan Bar
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Halligan Bar
Author : mhb
Score : 77 points
Date : 2022-08-22 12:16 UTC (2 days ago)
(HTM) web link (en.wikipedia.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (en.wikipedia.org)
| mwexler wrote:
| It's so intertwined with firefighters in media (well, US TV of
| the 70s on up) that I assumed it had been around as long as the
| axe, originally carved from stone and flint :-). Surprised to
| learn that it was only invented in 1948. It'a a classic
| multitool.
| euroderf wrote:
| I would expect to see it used by TV drug gang members too. And
| IRL.
| i_am_proteus wrote:
| See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulaski_(tool)
|
| For wilderness firefighters.
| stickfigure wrote:
| ...and of course https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McLeod_(tool)
| MisterTea wrote:
| My father used to have his small machine shop down the road from
| Merrill Brothers in Maspeth NYC who were a big forging outfit he
| sometimes did work for. They made Halligan bars among other
| forged tools and I guess they had a bunch of rejects or leftovers
| as my father took about a dozen of them. I still have six of them
| in total. They certainly come in handy from time to time.
| dvh wrote:
| Burke bar (mostly in construction use):
| https://youtu.be/5JnMO6-ql8o
| mindslight wrote:
| His listing of uses and the video of him taking apart that post
| covering didn't really convince me. I feel like a flat pry bar
| and a 3 pound sledge would have performed just as well, and
| they're smaller and more generally useful. I would have liked
| to see a video of the Burke bar in action on a bigger job,
| perhaps the additional scale would have demonstrated its niche.
|
| Also the springiness of the pry part doesn't seem like a
| helpful feature (you want to transfer your shock force, not
| smooth it), but rather a necessity to prevent it shattering.
| stormdennis wrote:
| Before I even clicked on the link I knew it would be Essential
| Craftsman!
|
| I love his videos as much for his universally applicable life
| wisdom as much as for the specifics of what he's covering.
| [deleted]
| martin_a wrote:
| POV of a German firefighter: I like that tool.
|
| The versatility of the different ends/heads of the Halligan tool
| makes it much more useful than classic crowbars in combination
| with an axe.
|
| For that reason we see more and more Halligan tools as default
| equipment on new cars or additional loadout if you find a place
| for it. Also training is focussing more and more on this type of
| tool.
| Prcmaker wrote:
| Also no power required. I loved the hydraulic tooling I got to
| use, but almost every time we would turn to the manual option
| for simplicity.
| martin_a wrote:
| Yeah, indeed. We had a crashed car (persons could be rescued
| without forceful entry) and had to we get to the batteries.
| We just went down on it with the Halligan tool, much easier
| than getting the hydraulic instruments. Car was done anyway.
| :-D
| spanktheuser wrote:
| As a teen I once demolished a single story 10'x30' wood frame
| building with one of these and a sledgehammer. Took less than
| half a day at a leisurely pace.
|
| If it wasn't for having to haul the debris away I would have done
| it for free. Demo is so satisfying.
| teknolog wrote:
| That seems to be a common feeling, that I somehow don't share.
| I gutted and rebuilt my last house and everybody wanted to come
| help me demo. I didn't want to deal with the liabilities
| associated with that so I generally declined.
| mod wrote:
| I hate demo. I hate wearing all the gear required to prevent
| the debris and dust from entering my eyes and air passages.
| stormdennis wrote:
| Training video in its use
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it91mJyo6ao
| ortusdux wrote:
| I really enjoy Adam Savage's tool tips on youtube, and he was
| just espousing the utility of these bars a few days ago.
| Apparently he relied on one quite heavily during the filming of
| mythbusters.
|
| https://youtu.be/GAcFR3-CHXQ?t=471
| _fat_santa wrote:
| HN's interest must have been piqued after the forced entry guide
| from FDNY was posted here the other day.
|
| But very cool tool. There's something I really like about
| brutally simple tools, theres a certain art form to making them.
| In retrospect a tool like this is pretty obvious, but it would be
| cool to be able to see the thought and design process around
| tools like these.
| clone1018 wrote:
| As a volunteer firefighter in Pennsylvania the halligan is
| generally the tool I reach for when doing interior operations.
| Besides the obvious uses of breaking a door in / breaking glass,
| it actually can be used for near anything. Searching for a
| victim, poking small holes in the wall to check for fire
| extension, using it as a ladder to get out of a tall window, etc.
| I haven't found much personal use in carrying an axe in, but a
| common set of tools is called "irons" which is your halligan and
| a flat head axe.
|
| For forcible entry the halligan is _the_ tool to use, check out
| how quickly it can pop a lock when combined with a flat head axe
| and a k-tool: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLCAcCuLKE4
|
| Exterior is a completely different story, where the pike pole or
| pike pole + multitool really shines. You'll use it to check the
| roof for stability, poke holes to find extension, and after
| cutting a hole using it to open up the roof and poking your way
| through the drywall / insulation.
|
| Bunch of very interesting tools (both conventional and
| unconventional) that firefighters use can be found here:
| http://www.vententersearch.com/tips.htm
| TomMasz wrote:
| There aren't many things you _can 't_ open with a Halligan bar
| as long as you don't care how much damage you do.
| dreamcompiler wrote:
| But as my chief taught us back in our newbie days, "Before
| you swing the Halligan, try the doorknob."
|
| This has turned out to be excellent advice.
| systemvoltage wrote:
| I still can't stop laughing. What would be the software
| engineering equivalent of this? Something to do with
| Kubernetes I suppose.
| sph wrote:
| Before designing a distributed serverless architecture on
| EKS, try a LAMP server.
| zasdffaa wrote:
| 'before using Apache Spark on a cluster, try using a
| single decent server and programming it properly'
|
| bit nerdy but from experience
| BizarroLand wrote:
| Before buying a server, prove the concept in VirtualBox.
| bombcar wrote:
| Amusingly enough they're opening a lock _on a glass door_ - I
| can think of faster ways than the halligan for that heh.
| drewzero1 wrote:
| True, maybe faster, but there are considerations other than
| speed at play. Responders have to make decisions quickly
| about the best way to gain entry depending on the situation.
| Paraphrasing from the NYC Fire Department forcible entry
| guide, discussed here[0] earlier this week:
|
| - Broken glass creates an additional safety hazard for rescue
| workers, people being rescued, and people cleaning up
| afterward.
|
| - Breaking the glass would greatly increase cost of repairs
| for the building owner/insurance (professionalism)
|
| - A door without the glass is harder to secure afterward
| ("Who will provide security for the occupancy after you
| leave?")
|
| 0: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32546810
| Acidium01 wrote:
| Also a volunteer firefighter here, if possible (and
| especially if not during an active structure fire) we try to
| keep property damage to a minimum. So it maybe that we could
| cause less damage to the door than breaking the window which
| is not always a guarantee. But always try (opening) before
| you pry (it open).
| bombcar wrote:
| Yeah, it's a tricky tradeoff - glass may be cheaper/easier
| to replace than a torn out lock or broken frame.
|
| I guess if you worry about it you could always install the
| fireman's key box you see on commercial buildings.
| sklargh wrote:
| This, a Halligan and a thermal imager were my go-to for
| interior operations.
| personjerry wrote:
| Strangely enough I first learned about this tool through the
| zombie roguelike game "Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead"
| naltun wrote:
| Nice shoutout to the classic
| kbos87 wrote:
| This thing reminds me of the "cat claw" that is popular in
| construction, which is essentially a modified crowbar.
|
| I had never heard of one until I did a project with a family
| member who does construction. He mentioned to me he has one in
| hand almost all day long and I can see why - it's beautifully
| simple, but engineered to provide leverage in exactly the right
| way.
|
| Love to see the appreciation for simple things that provide
| outsized value (er, leverage?)
| mindcrime wrote:
| During my firefighting days the Halligan bar was the "go to" for
| SO many things. Forcing doors for entry into structures, opening
| (slightly) stuck car doors, helping make a "purchase point" to
| insert the Jaws of Life (hydraulic spreader) tips into very stuck
| car doors, opening car hoods on vehicle fires, etc. These things
| are iconic among firefighters for good reason - it's a great
| tool.
|
| One thing I always found really handy was a down-sized Halligan
| bar, one that was only about a foot long instead of the normal
| sized ones. For very light prying / twisting / poking activities
| it was great, and much easier to carry around without getting in
| the way.
|
| All of that said, don't underestimate the utility of a nice long
| straight prybar either. Between those and the Halligan (and throw
| in a sledge hammer for good measure) you can open a lot of
| things. If that fails, it's pretty much time to break out the K12
| saw.
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(page generated 2022-08-24 23:03 UTC)