Can a bigger fire equipment case hit the 30 s target?

Answer: No. Of the 52 s, 26 s was moving gear off the top, and a bigger shell only enlarges the search area.

How much space does a 65 mm, 20 m hose coil need?

Answer: At 380 mm across and 110 mm thick, it needs a 400 mm × 400 mm × 130 mm cell, or 430 mm × 430 mm × 140 mm for a gloved grip.

Can the axe and the pry bar share one cell?

Answer: Not advisable. The 900 mm axe needs the diagonal, which consumes two cells, and a bar beside it blocks the haft.

Is 105 degrees a fixed lid requirement?

Answer: It is a band: below 100 degrees the lid cells block the view, above 110 one hand cannot steady the case.

Fire Equipment Case Layout

Quick answer: A fire equipment case is paced by its compartments, not its size: the same 65 mm hose and breaching tools went from 52 s to 26 s once six cells replaced one trough.

Why first-item access stalls at 52 s
Hose coil volume into compartment size
Tool cells and quick-release straps
Lid angle, one-hand opening, mounting
Converting 30 s into a layout
FAQ

1. Why first-item access stalls at 52 s

Timing covers one stretch: call to first tool leaving the case. The old layout burned 52 s, 14 s of it lifting the upper hose coil to the floor and 12 s pulling an axe from between two layers. Unlatching, lifting and closing the case took 26 s. Half the total was layout, not shell.

Both runs used the same tools in the same 128 L case; a trough became six cells.

Action	Old (s)	Six cells (s)	Delta (s)
Locate, clear 600 mm in front	3	2	1
Release the first latch	6	2	4
Lift the lid to 105 degrees	5	3	2
Move the hose coil off the top	14	0	14
Draw the axe and confirm	12	6	6
Close, check the latches	12	13	−1
Total	52	26	26

Search and shuffle took 26 s; latch count and hinge damping pin the other 26 s to under 3 s of savings.

2. Hose coil volume into compartment size

A 65 mm hose, 20 m long, coils to 380 mm outside diameter and 110 mm thick, near 12 L. That sets the cell: 400 mm by 400 mm clear, 130 mm deep.

Fire equipment case olive green open on a steel bench, egg-crate foam in the lid, kraft paper pouches inside, green boxes in base compartments

In a 400 mm cell the coil leaves 10 mm a side, too tight for a glove; at 430 mm the gap is 25 mm and one motion grips the edge, separating 8 s from 3 s.

The cavity takes two coils side by side: 820 mm wide, 520 mm deep, 300 mm high, 128 L, with 41 L for coils and 87 L for tools.

Hose bore	Coil OD	Thickness	Cell clear size	Coils
65 mm, 20 m	380 mm	110 mm	430 × 430 × 140 mm	1
65 mm, 20 m paired	380 mm	110 mm	880 × 430 × 140 mm	2
80 mm, 20 m	460 mm	140 mm	510 × 510 × 170 mm	1

An 80 mm bore grows the coil to 460 mm, so the cell needs 510 mm and one fits where two did. The lid needs its own arithmetic: 90 mm deep with 20 mm foam leaves 70 mm, pressing a 110 mm coil, so cut a 40 mm relief pocket.

3. Tool cells and quick-release straps

The tool side is set by the longest item: axe 900 mm, pry bar 700 mm, spreader 780 mm × 210 mm × 180 mm. At 900 mm the axe exceeds the 820 mm cavity width and rides the diagonal, where 968 mm corner to corner leaves 34 mm at each end at 45 degrees. Diagonal storage eats two cells, which is why the tool block sits in a corner.

The lining is 30 mm EVA, harder than PE foam, one item per cell; the spreader cell runs 800 mm × 230 mm × 200 mm with 10 mm all round to absorb movement on a drop.

Straps are 25 mm nylon on side-release buckles, 1.2 s one-handed at 40 N, crossing the grip rather than the cutting edge. Four in total, since seven adds three unlatching actions and 3 s. Tongues face up; a downward tongue costs 2 s in gloves.

4. Lid angle, one-hand opening, mounting

A 105 degree lid is enough: wider and the lid mass passes the hinge line, narrower and the lid cells block the view.

Fire equipment case olive green closed on a grey rack shelf, three latches along the side, raised ribs and scuffed walls, empty racking behind

Two latches at 45 N and 18 mm of travel open in one gloved pull, where 60 N needs two hands; the hinge pin runs damped at 8 N over the last 90 degrees, so the lid holds itself in transit.

The test is crude: hold the handle, release, lift, draw, never set the case down.

Mounting uses four M8 tie points under 3 g vertical and 1.5 g lateral, holding movement under 5 mm and foam compression under 15%.

5. Converting 30 s into a layout

A 30 s target reduces to three rules: one item per cell, one exit direction, everything visible when the lid rises. Meet all three and access lands at 20 s to 26 s; miss one and it drifts past 35 s.

The arithmetic: 30 s minus 9 s of open and close leaves 21 s, of which 3 s goes to picking a cell and 4 s to the reach, leaving 14 s in reserve. Under 8 s of reserve will overrun in the field.

Six cells in 128 L average 21 L: hose 41 L, tools 87 L, the axe cell 32 L on the diagonal. At nine cells the average falls to 14 L and the spreader no longer fits.

Conclusion

A fire equipment case earns its speed in the lining, not the shell: the 52 s to 26 s gap came entirely from compartments, while the case gave 2 s of unlatching, 3 s of lid lift and 13 s of closing. Measure the longest tool and derive the diagonal from 900 mm, add 50 mm to the coil diameter for the hose cell, then run a 10-draw blind test and revise any cell off target by more than 4 s. The table maps target time to compartments, so a specification reads off by row.

First-item target	Compartments	Lining build	Case actions
Under 20 s	One layer, one item per cell	30 mm EVA, 10 mm clearance	One lid lift, nothing moved
20 s to 30 s	Two layers, tools on top	20 mm EVA plate, four straps	One lid lift, two latches
30 s to 45 s	Trough with dividers	PE dividers, no cells	Two searches, top moved
Over 45 s	Mixed load, no lining	Single foam pad	Layers lifted, three latches

This article discusses container-side specifications and design implications only, and does not cover any handling, loading or use of the contents.