Nozzles & Equipment
Handline
A handline is an attack line small enough for a crew to advance and hold by hand, as opposed to a master stream aimed by hardware. Its flow and nozzle reaction are kept within what firefighters can physically manage.
Handlines are the everyday attack lines a crew stretches into a building or around a fire. They come in a range of sizes, but all of them are limited by what people can carry, maneuver, and hold against the nozzle reaction the flow produces.
Pump a handline by the same recipe as any line: nozzle pressure plus friction loss plus any appliance plus elevation. The smaller the line and the longer the stretch, the more the friction loss climbs at a given flow, which is why handline pressures are worth knowing cold.
Where this shows up
Calculator
PDP Builder