Christmas in May!

As with any new job (especially in the fire service), one of the most exciting parts about your first couple days of work is the issuance of new gear. In the fire world, that gear can turn out to be a lot. I know a bunch of you back home were wondering what kind of equipment I work with on the wildland side of things so I've combine showing you my new gear with showing you the gear I personally added to my pack(s) to better my life on the fire line. First, the gear that goes in my line pack:



It seems like a lot but I'm able to cram it all into my pack and at a decent weight. Asides from what they issued me, I added to my pack a Fireline Handbook, the Appendix B to the Fireline Handbook (for advanced weather calculations), two pens, a sharpie, a small spanner wrench, duct tape, eye wash/drops, a couple of granola bars, a can of Vienna Sausage, an MRE, and a couple packets of Claritin. One thing I found that I like about the wildland side of firefighting is that a lot of what we do and what's mandated of us, can be found in small pocket guides. On top of a lot of policies and guidelines we have to follow, we also do a lot of writing on fires, hence:



On top of all of the "hardware" I've received, I received a bunch of uniform items:



And finally, what Zion National Park employee would be without:



On top of all of those goodies, I also received a tent, sleeping bag, bivy sack, space blanket, sleeping pad, and a few other things to survive out in the wilds for 14 days. I also have an employee pass into the park (I think) and a free membership to a gym that's open 24 hours a day. Asides from the PT and the elevation, this week is going to be pretty exciting...