Each year at Christmas I buy my brothers and sisters and spouses a token Christmas gift together. I try to do something a little different each year. Before covid, sometimes it was a gift card to a restaurant I knew they both loved. After covid started, it still includes a gift card for food, but usually something drive-thru to make sure it can be enjoyed without going in if they choose.
I try to put some other tangible item with the drive-thru cards. It can be anything from a homemade pinecone/peanut butter/birdseed feeder to another fun or useful doodad.
This year I accidentally came across a type of home fire extinguisher that I didn't know existed. It is just a simple spray can ! No pin to pull or large squeezy handle. I was enamored with the idea and it's simplicity.
Below is the existing extinguisher I already had in the house on the left and the new spray can on the right.
The classic one has a meter that you are supposed to check now and then to make sure it is still holding it's charge. They can somehow loose that charge over a period of time without being used it seems. Shame on me, but I had to google it to see how often you are supposed to check the meters and found that you are supposed to check them monthly ! Who knew? I certainly never checked mine that often.
The older type is heavier and has a pin that you need to pull out before using it. It normally keeps you from accidently squeezing the handle before you mean too. In taking these photos I realized that this tag that gives you the fast instructions, is attached through the handle and pin. I had never taken it off, so if I had needed it, I not only would have needed to pull the pin, but cut off the tag first ! LOL... good grief, I had not noticed that before, so of course since I already know to pull the pin, I cut the tag off after I took this photo.
That is one thing you don't need to do on this new spray can type extingisher and even though it is a good sized can, it is definitely lighter weight. I decided one of these would be a good thing to give to my siblings and spouses along with the drive-thru gift cards.
Here you can see close up that it has a regular spray can top. Hopefully you would never have to use it, but if you did, you would just flip off the clear cap and push down the sprayer.
Of course you remove the clear seal wrap that is on the can as soon as you get it so that it will be as ready as possible if needed. The thought also crossed my mind that it would be much simpler for children to use for those families that have children in their homes.
The cans do have expiration dates of about 5 years. I did see on a review though that one man said that in 2021 they used one that expired in 2016 and it still worked perfectly. I thought that was a pretty good testimony for them. They are considered a one-time use item.
It's funny how sometimes when I see something I have never seen before, I think it is new to everyone. Before Christmas and without telling my sister I was buying one of these for everyone, I asked her in a messenger if she had ever heard of such a thing. She said she had only heard of them recently and had ordered one to give to our Mom for Christmas as an "add on" to her main gift. My sister said one of her grown sons keeps one of these by the stove (in a cabinet of course) all the time. She then said she thought it was something she might would like to have. Shhhhhhhh.... I didn't tell her she had one coming and was hoping she might not buy herself one before Christmas.
After I gave them out, I found my brother was familiar with them and had exchanged the extinguishers in their home to this type some time before. Part of his job where he works is being a safety engineer, so he is up on all the latest in the industries on things like this. I told them if they already had too many to feel free to pass it on to someone they knew that didn't have one. He said he didn't think you could have too many. He is nice like that.
I also gave one to my Aunt & Uncle next door. When I went over, they were gone, so I left it for them and later when she called to thank me, she said she loved it. She said they had a couple of extinguishers, but they were very heavy and so stayed out in the garage ! She also said she thought she'd steal the idea for her own family as they were always looking for gift ideas that would be useful. It made me feel good
Anyway, just thought I would share. These may be very common in some places and we could be the last to know, but just in case YOU didn't know, you might be interested in this option.
Hope you are all doing well and that you NEVER have a reason to use a fire extinguisher in your home. 😊
