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

Used to attach couplers to canvas hose
The tool is held in a large clamp and stretches the coupler onto the hose. A tension bar is used to control leverage.
Attached to the side of the supporting post is a vulcanizing clamp. Adapted from a tyre repair kit the clamp was used to hold vulcanizer patches used to repair holes in canvas hoses.
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

Warren Brown