Fire Extinguisher: do you carry one and where do you mount it

Absolutely indeed. Mine lives in the front with me, between seats on transmission tunnel. Dont care how much room it takes up or how cumbersome it is, its just like a seat belt, might be a bugger at times but its there to save your life. Wouldnt travel without one.

Four all up.

One in front of drivers and passenger seats.

One on tray cargo barrier.

One in camper kitchen area.

Having had one engine fire and found that one 1kg extinguisher was not enough we now carry 4 1kg extinguishers.

Never know which side you might need to access it from.

Cheers
Ross

2 are better then 1 for sure. I also wrap a material strap around the extinguisher holding bracket with a Velcro closure. I have found that the metal clips are easy to open by knocking them if the extinguisher is close to other items that are in regular use (or your feet). The Velcro strap is easy to rip open when required.
Also, in case of a roll over an extinguisher could be a rather dangerous missile hence the additional Velcro strap. This happened on a mates truck !

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dont forget the shaken can of beer if you run out of extinguisher. Any soft drink for that matter but beer is best.

owen

Hi Patrol22,

I would absolutely recommend to carry a fire extinguisher, better two of them if you have the possibility.

An engine fire is very hard to put out with only one extinguisher. I even did not manage to put out an engine fire using two small fire extinguishers two weeks ago - came across a burning car on the Autobahn. The car burnt out completely. No one injured, so no worries about it. But being a volunteer fire fighter as well as a professional fire protection engineer, I imagined what would have happened if it had been an accident and people had been trapped inside the car. Therefore I will not only keep one small fire extingiusher in the front of my car, but also equip the trunk with a big one instead of a small one.

A fire blanket for the camp kitchen would also be a good idea.

If you really go bush via tracks, you should think about carrying a 5 litre pressurized garden spray as well. This becomes very handy if you have a spinnifex fire under your car. This type of fire is not rare, I saw quite a few burnt out vehicles on photos in my outback guide books. I will travel the CSR late in May this year together with some friends with two cars, we will equip both cars with garden sprays in addition to fire extinguishers.

When you think about emergency equipment for your car, also think about an emergency hammer. This can be mounted near the door. You can use it for smashing glass, and it has a built-in cutter for safety belts. Becomes very handy if you have to help a trapped person. Becomes even more handy if you are trapped yourself. ;-)

If you are going on a bigger trip and if this contains real outback it is absolutely necessary to carry an advanced first aid kit as well. I know from experience that it can happen quite quickly in Oz that you have to help other people who are in trouble. In densely populated Germany I can rely on the ambulance to arrive within 10 minutes - the outback is a total different story, therefore I carry plenty of first aid equipment. Of course, every person in your group should hold a valid first aid certificate.

Stay safe,

Cheers from bloody boring Dortmund/Germany,

Juergen

German by Birth, but Aussie by Heart!

One mounted on the outside of the O/H centre console and a second one in the rear drawers.
B-T

2. One (1KG) on the floor in front of the drivers seat, and a 2KG on the cargo barrier. Also a fire blanket in the pocket of the back door.

You are better off having 1 x 2kg rather than 2 x 1 kg.

If you mount a Fire Extinguisher vertically in a vehicle, there is a danger that powder will compact over time and not blow out when needed.

Mounting it horizontally means that powder can "slosh" around with vehicle movement.

Being a volunteer firefighter myself, I make sure I have adequate fire protection. I also strongly agree with carrying an advanced first aid kit. One thing, I didn't buy a cheapie extinguisher, but bought a quality one from a reputable company. The reason being the powder quality used. Cheapies use bi carb of soda as the extinguishant, where the better brands use proper powders. I also agree with poder caking over time. A simple shake from time to time should correct this. Hope this helps.