Nozzles & Equipment
Booster Line
A booster line is a small-diameter, rubber-jacketed hose on a reel, used for light duty such as overhaul, brush, and trash fires. Its low flow makes it quick and handy but unsuited to a working structure fire.
Carried on a reel and always charged, a booster line is the fastest line to deploy for small jobs. It trades flow for convenience: the narrow hose moves only a little water, so its knockdown power is modest.
That same narrow diameter means heavy friction loss at any real flow, so a booster line is never the answer for a serious fire. Recognizing when a job has outgrown the booster line — and stretching a proper handline instead — is part of sizing up the attack.