Historical information

After the 1939 bushfires the Forests Commission placed orders for 130,000 feet (nearly 40 km) of 1½ inch canvas hose in Britain to accompany over 200 new pumps of various types.
The Altona workshop became a major centre for fabrication, repair and storage of hose.
But lack of standardisation of hose couplings plagued Australian firefighters for decades

Physical description

Tools used to clamp canvas hose for testing.
Canvas hose needs to be washed, dried, rolled and stored properly after it has been used otherwise it will rot.
Unrolled hose is notorious for becoming tangled.

Inscriptions & markings

FCV