This is the one I carry in my truck, a 5lb capacity dry chem, $38 from McMaster Carr with a mounting bracket. VCCA rules state that it will be on the passenger side floor while on the field at any VCCA sanctioned event.
http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2997684780098611668ddwvQM I doubt if I am going to leave the engine running with it on fire, that is, if it’s still running while it’s on fire so the fear of the engine ingesting chemicals doesn’t present a problem with me. I don’t know this for sure but I would think that as long as you rinse it off right away it wouldn’t corrode everything. You just wouldn’t want to store it for any length of time with the powder on it. I’ll check with the fire department next time I’m out at my old job at the Accelerator and see what they have to say.
A 5lb CO2 bottle will run you around $100 that’s the weight of the bottle not the charge and is too big to mount on the kick panel. It can be ineffective in a wind and only gives you a few seconds to get it right. It leaves nothing behind after you use it, so you pretty much have one chance at it.
Halon is out now but there are replacements, Halotron is available for B/C fires leaves no residue also but a 2 1/2lb Is going to run ya around $85 and a 5lb gets up to around $150 vs. $25 for a dry chem. So it depends somewhat on how deep your pockets are and how much clean up your willing to accept. If I remember from the hands on fire safety classes that I had to attend annually for 27years, if you only had one choice the firemen recommended grabbing the dry chemical
The passenger side kick-panel is a popular place for storage because of the VCCA rules. If you choose to mount it there, then you need the smaller 2 1/2lb. size dry chemical.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL
