Fire extinguisher mounting locations

[sharpsicle]

As long as your cabin mounted items are installed properly and in good repair, there is minimal risk.

Isn't that also your opinion? And I'm not saying that's a problem. Just stating it is what it is. I was simply trying to show you that you were missing the entire intent and benefit to the safety-related posts. We don't need to argue about that or call someone else's post invalid just because you don't share the same concerns.

Myself, @dcmdon and @ShadowsPapa are considering the potential risks of injury if you're careless with your mounting solution. You are stating you don't think it's worth worrying over. We all have our opinions. Nothing wrong with that. Why argue and try to call out others because they're trying to help?

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[ChrisNLA]

Other groups say "as long as it's secured with a stout holder or bracket", and not where a passenger tossed about, even in their belts, don't come in contact with it.

So - all one has to do is imagine the possible accident scenarios, figure a place that a properly secured passenger is not likely to come in contact with it (note how the roll cage in Jeeps is designed - a lot of LARGE radius and flatter surfaces) and the bracket you use can hold the force of a heavy metal mass (if that's your choice of extinguisher) when hit by another vehicle doing 40+ mph.
Sit and think it out. Very possible to do it safely. But at least one firefighter group says "under the seat" so the driver can reach it. They are captain of the ship and responsible for safety of all passengers and others in the area of their Jeep fire. Think physics, objects in motion and so on, and where will your head by if hit by someone else from various angles.

To this point - I think the mount I am running is entirely safe with front seat passengers, or with my occasional rear seat passenger (and she always rides on the passenger side).

But,

I'll have my girlfriends kids in the truck this Saturday (three across) and so the extinguisher will probably ride in the rack box for that day, because it does have the potential to be a head whacker for a driver side rear passenger.

It's not the perfect solution, but it keeps it secured and accessible until I come up with my permanent location for it - because truth be told I really liked using this location for my 4" camp knife, backup flashlight, and lock keys I'll figure out V2 upon my return from Texas while we prepare to head to Colorado.

 

[HooliganActual]

Isn't that also your opinion?

And that's why I was trying to use the physics and math to remove opinion from the concept:

A 5 lb fire extinguisher in a 65mph crash exerts 325 pounds of force.
F=m * a = 5 * 65mph = 325 pounds force. Even if the hose clamp someone used was half as good as the ones tested in the link above, there would still have to be 5-6 times more force generated to break that hose clamp.

I agree that having a bunch of potential missiles in the cabin is a bad thing. But let's be realistic about saying that mounting a fire extinguisher is any more or less dangerous than mounting your CB/GMRS, Vortex Dock, BulletPoint Mount, ARB Compressor or any myriad of other things that people mount in the cabin.

Generally, I tend to agree with what you and @dcmdon and @ShadowsPapa have said over your combined 1000's of posts and respect your facts AND opinions, but let's not make it sound like everything is breaking free from it's mount during an accident.

Actually, the biggest risk in an accident is what Papa alluded to and that is the humans in the vehicle being tossed around and banging into things that are harder and pointier, like the fire extinguisher and the CB radio, etc.

So, we can shake hands and be done.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

PS - at the larger, better car shows, you can't be on the show field without a fire extinguisher sitting on the ground, just behind the left rear tire.
No extinguisher, you are told to buy one from the hosts, or leave.
Not only that, but when my SX4 was at one of the last shows, because of the placing I held and the points I had, I was invited to the limited space inside a building. Not only had to have the fire extinguisher, but the battery negative had to be disconnected and I had to show I had no oil or gas leaks of any sort - and they still put special mats down under the cars.

Not to start yet another fuss or tussle, but to try to see how far off I might have been ( as the safety chief for On With Life facilities back in the 90s, I went through a lot of fire and other safety training for vehicles, inside and outside fires, evacuations, etc and spent time with the IHP training officer) - anyway, something I'd not thought of - some extinguishers are fine for a place like my shop where I have them for fuel and electric fires as well as wood for my wood shop upstairs, but they'd not be fine for a vehicle because of plastic parts or "necks" and valves that could easily break in an accident. Hmmm - don't take my shop extinguishers with me in my truck. Watch that if the thing DOES get loose, it's not going to get anything broken off and become a danger in that way.

And this reminds me - time to check my shop extinguishers! Been a while and with the oil, gas, torches, welding, and the woodworking upstairs, I have multiple extinguishers to save my butt - allowing me to get down the stairs and out that door.

 

[Freebooter]

I can assure you, 3 - 1 1/2" industrial velcro straps will hold a fire extinguisher.

 

[dcmdon]

I can assure you, 3 - 1 1/2" industrial velcro straps will hold a fire extinguisher.

I'm not sure I'm buying that.
How is the velcro secured to the vehicle? With a screw and a washer under the head?
What kind of screws?
And if the passengers head slammed into the bottle.

Sorry. For the cost of an extinguisher, just mount it in the bed and if someone steals it, you buy another one.

 

[dcmdon]

Myself, @dcmdon and @ShadowsPapa are considering the potential risks of injury if you're careless with your mounting solution. You are stating you don't think it's worth worrying over. We all have our opinions. Nothing wrong with that. Why argue and try to call out others because they're trying to help?

I don't think my truck burning to the ground is worth worrying over.

Major fires in generally stock vehicles are EXCEEDINGLY rare. I have seen one in my life first hand.

I'm not talking about custom cars with questionable engine installations. I'm talking about factory, modern cars.

Oh and the one car I have seen catch fire, it happened because the guy parked on top of a pile of leaves and the cat caught the leaves on fire. Ha.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Major fires in generally stock vehicles are EXCEEDINGLY rare. I have seen one in my life first hand.

I've seen more than one personally. At least 3 live as it happened. Along I80 and I35.
I've seen the results of a couple of others after the fact. They were not Jeeps, they were ordinary cars, not all that old.
More than 80% of fires are in passenger vehicles.
The National Fire Protection Agency estimates that 33 cars catch on fire every hour in the United States alone.
One source says over 100,000 passenger cars catch fire every year in the U.S.
About 1/5 are caused by electrical malfunction. My F250 had a recall because the brake light switch could get hot and start a fire. But only a fraction are caused by defects.
Overheated engines, overheated converters (think of how hot those get normally anyway)

The fire in our own car could have been a total disaster if a quick thinking and observant person hadn't seen it.

I agree it's not common, but not uncommon either.

Considering something in the neighborhood of 110,000 auto fires a year - experts do recommend an extinguisher.

Dunno the date on this or any other details at all - the causes or what, but it's sort of interesting.
They say most hybrids catch fire when parked and NOT plugged in.

 

[Freebooter]

I'm not sure I'm buying that.
How is the velcro secured to the vehicle? With a screw and a washer under the head?
What kind of screws?
And if the passengers head slammed into the bottle.

Sorry. For the cost of an extinguisher, just mount it in the bed and if someone steals it, you buy another one.

You are not buying something you don't understand........oh OK! Screws and washers?? There are no screws and washers!! The Bartact nylon mount has 3 nylon straps that wrap around the roll bar and then 3 around the extinguisher. They all are secured with Velcro. No screws or washers!

Everything has trade offs! I have had someone in the back seat only a few times. It would be a concern if I had adults in the backseat all the time. I weighed things out and chose to put my extinguisher in the cab, you can choose where to stick yours.

 

[HooliganActual]

You are not buying something you don't understand........oh OK! Screws and washers?? There are no screws and washers!! The Bartact nylon mount has 3 nylon straps that wrap around the roll bar and then 3 around the extinguisher. They all are secured with Velcro. No screws or washers!

Everything has trade offs! I have had someone in the back seat only a few times. It would be a concern if I had adults in the backseat all the time. I weighed things out and chose to put my extinguisher in the cab, you can choose where to stick yours.

Brother, let it go. I tried using reason and it was not accepted. The reality is that your three velcro straps (which are likely sewn onto nylon webbing) have a breaking strength of between 300 and 5000 lbs force, depending on the strap's width (1/2" is around 440...oh yeah...three of them).

A 5lb object moving at 65mph exerts a force of 325 lbs. As long as the straps are in good shape and not torn or age worn, you'll be just fine. At least that's what the physics and math say. Opinions...well, are opinions.

Personally, I have a rear seat delete so I have no worry about rear seat passengers banging their heads into it and it sounds like you have that consideration, uh, considered (lol).

Rock on man.

 

[Blade1668]

The mounts my fire extinguishers are mounted with are aluminum and S.S. clamped on with S.S. hose clamps. If I was to have a passenger in that seat I would likely pull it out, just banging your head against it from just hitting a potholes would potentially mess you up. As I have commented already vehicle roll over or even coming to a abrupt stop in vehicle really sucks. Any S### not strapped down rapidly flys in the direction the vehicle was traveling. One of the people on my last deployment didn't listen to the instructors on making sure everything was correctly strapped down. His teeth became his learning experience. He had them broken off at gum line. As someone who had been through roll overs and nosed vehicles before I knew already.
In 1989 SFC (E-7) Davis to tell me when hauling cargo in truck or whatever to strap S### down like your running the vehicle off of a cliff or rolling over and don't want anything to move one inch. He was the BN Support Platoon Sgt. a 88M "truck driver" he was another mentor to me during my early years in the army. A pair of glasses or a water bottle can easily F### you up in a roll over.

 

[Guntar]

I'll chime in here. As a former CDL "A" holder, off roader, fire fighter, and general hobbyist who knows nothing... I was taught this, Mount you fire extinguisher low and very securely. Have easy access from a door with simple release catch. This is so when things go south (as they always do) it can be grabbed if needed. In 99% of cases it will be used for the other person not your own vehicle. The safest thing you can do for your own vehicle is get out make sure all occupants get out and have good insurance coverage. That fire extinguisher could safe a life but probably not yours.
This is my opinion and like everyone else, we all have them and they stink.

Just be safe.

 

[Brojave22]

My background includes small airplanes and auto racing. In both of those pursuits fire extinguishers inside the cabin are harshly frowned upon.

This is because an accident may involve over 100Gs of force and that 5 lb extinguisher will be ripped from its mount with 500 lbs of force and will then become a metal projectile flying around inside our car/airplane.

I'd suggest that you all think of this when you are planning where to place the extinguisher. Would it be better off in the bed? Behind the seat at least??

The way I look at it, to increase the risk to humans inside the truck in the interest of reducing the chance of damage to the truck is not worth it.

The chance of an extinguisher dislodging during a crash and hurting someone is much greater than the chance of you actually saving a life while using it inside the truck.

IMHO - if you want one and you don't have an open bed, come up with a way to mount it in back.

my first JT I mounted the fire extinguisher on the rear roll bar, an idiot crossed the yellow line and I got hit head on at 60mph, the fire extinguisher didn't move, not saying it cant happen but it didn't

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