I did a bunch of searching here and found a lot of partial answers, but I thought I'd throw out a summary of my results, and some observations on how/what I bought and mounted. Having a fire extinguisher in your truck should be a no-brainer. The rig -- or life! -- you save might be your own 
The general consensus is that most folks will end up with a dry chemical type (so-called "ABC"), as opposed to the more exotic halogen or CO2 types, purely for cost reasons. If you're expecting an engine fire and don't want the residue or have a really expensive/clean engine compartment, you might consider the other varieties.
I wanted a step up from the 2lb cheapos with the plastic head that you get at the hardware store, without breaking the bank. A good quality unit will have a metal head, a gauge, and will be rechargeable rather than disposable. The ones I got have a snazzy machined aluminum head with slots for the bracket, nice fit, and a hose to direct the spray, not just a nozzle.
I found a dealer for Amerex five minutes away from me, on their website http://amerex-fire.com/where-to-buy/ . I believe it was our resident fire extinguisher dealer, Shawn "Supersize75k5" who mentioned Ansul ( https://www.ansul.com/en/Distributor/LookUp_Dist_us.asp ) as another good name, but their dealers were farther away.
You might spend some time with the dealer, ask about the various chemical types and options available.
I got a 5# unit with the snap-lock vehicle bracket for ~$70 out the door (it was like $10 less with just a wall bracket for the home or shop.) Some folks prefer the larger 10# capacity, but it was a bit too big to fit around my rollcage. I may end up carrying two 5#'s in the Blazer, as I bought a couple of the 5's (multiple trucks and a welder/torch in the shop, lots of fire risk at Dremu's
)
And no thread is complete without pix. On the Blazer, I attached the bracket to the rollcage with hose clamps:
And it fits neatly behind my seat and can be removed quickly and easily -- when you're in a rush you don't want it snagging on anything!
Next time the seats are out I might drill and tap the cage for actual bolts, but aifinkso these are solid enough to stay in place even when the truck bounces.
Finally, you should know how to USE your extinguisher. I've had cause to use them three or four times over the years, ranging from greasy rags on the shop floor
to a busted transmission line spraying fluid on the manifold. I don't claim to be an expert, but I recommend reading up on extinguisher use -- AND I say you should learn hands-on.
Set up a SMALL *CONTROLLED* fire of some newspaper or cardboard in a safe, detached area like a metal garbage can or the like, with your garden hose handy Just In Case ... and learn to spray the base of the fire, learn how the stuff sprays, etc.
This might be a good use of your old cheapo extinguisher. One of these weekends I'm gonna go all pyro and teach my GF how to do it, use up the old crap extinguisher I have in the garage.
Let the comments (dare I say "flaming"? ) begin!
-- A
The general consensus is that most folks will end up with a dry chemical type (so-called "ABC"), as opposed to the more exotic halogen or CO2 types, purely for cost reasons. If you're expecting an engine fire and don't want the residue or have a really expensive/clean engine compartment, you might consider the other varieties.
I wanted a step up from the 2lb cheapos with the plastic head that you get at the hardware store, without breaking the bank. A good quality unit will have a metal head, a gauge, and will be rechargeable rather than disposable. The ones I got have a snazzy machined aluminum head with slots for the bracket, nice fit, and a hose to direct the spray, not just a nozzle.
I found a dealer for Amerex five minutes away from me, on their website http://amerex-fire.com/where-to-buy/ . I believe it was our resident fire extinguisher dealer, Shawn "Supersize75k5" who mentioned Ansul ( https://www.ansul.com/en/Distributor/LookUp_Dist_us.asp ) as another good name, but their dealers were farther away.
You might spend some time with the dealer, ask about the various chemical types and options available.
I got a 5# unit with the snap-lock vehicle bracket for ~$70 out the door (it was like $10 less with just a wall bracket for the home or shop.) Some folks prefer the larger 10# capacity, but it was a bit too big to fit around my rollcage. I may end up carrying two 5#'s in the Blazer, as I bought a couple of the 5's (multiple trucks and a welder/torch in the shop, lots of fire risk at Dremu's
)And no thread is complete without pix. On the Blazer, I attached the bracket to the rollcage with hose clamps:
And it fits neatly behind my seat and can be removed quickly and easily -- when you're in a rush you don't want it snagging on anything!
Next time the seats are out I might drill and tap the cage for actual bolts, but aifinkso these are solid enough to stay in place even when the truck bounces.
Finally, you should know how to USE your extinguisher. I've had cause to use them three or four times over the years, ranging from greasy rags on the shop floor
to a busted transmission line spraying fluid on the manifold. I don't claim to be an expert, but I recommend reading up on extinguisher use -- AND I say you should learn hands-on.Set up a SMALL *CONTROLLED* fire of some newspaper or cardboard in a safe, detached area like a metal garbage can or the like, with your garden hose handy Just In Case ... and learn to spray the base of the fire, learn how the stuff sprays, etc.
This might be a good use of your old cheapo extinguisher. One of these weekends I'm gonna go all pyro
and teach my GF how to do it, use up the old crap extinguisher I have in the garage.Let the comments (dare I say "flaming"?
) begin!-- A
Last edited:
