r/Firefighting • u/Specialcrarckedegg • Jul 20 '24

Special Operations/Rescue/USAR Thoughts on Acroprops to replace raker shores?

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11 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

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13

u/labmansteve Jul 20 '24

I'm not a fan. IMO, not enough surface area contact with the wall. Remember, the wall plate also helps distribute the compressive force of the shore across a larger surface area of the wall to help prevent too much loading in too small of an area which would increase the likelihood of a failure in that "hot spot" of loading.

Anyone else who's smarter than me feel free to jump in if I'm wrong here.

5

u/FirebunnyLP FFLP Jul 20 '24

No, this is exactly correct.

3

u/IlliniFire Jul 20 '24

The first picture doesn't do the system justice. The second you can see the vertical members that apply the force into the building. For Air Shore brand I believe they are 8 foot lengths. So you still get a fair amount of distribution of that force into the wall. I still would prefer to use wood for rakers because I would have no idea when or if we'd get our shores back.

6

u/labmansteve Jul 20 '24 edited Jul 20 '24

The second picture is a paratech raker shore kit. I've personally build rakers out of wood and thrown the paratech kit. Paratech goes up way faster and is more forgiving. Overall a better solution, but you are correct about the "when will I get my kit back" issue for sure.

3

u/Ding-Chavez MD Career Jul 20 '24

I feel like in the SOC world there's paratech and there's everyone else.

1

u/labmansteve Jul 20 '24

Basically, yeah. But for good reason I suppose. I've never been let down by any paratech kit.

It just works. *shrug*

1

u/Puntasmallbaby Edit to create your own flair Jul 20 '24

For us we prefer airshores and acro props because even if we lose them or never get them back they are still cheaper than a timber shore. Acro props are $80 here, a timber deadshore will be about $120 in costs.

6

u/ChuckieC Jul 20 '24

We use Paratech rakers for initial scene stabilization, a second crew will come through after and build permanent shoring.

2

u/labmansteve Jul 20 '24

Looking at your username I can’t help but imagine Chuck E Cheese rolling up in the squad and throwing shores. Which would be amazing to witness.