About Us

About Handcuffs & Hoses

Most people pick a side. I picked both — and got hazed for it either way.

I spent 10 years in law enforcement. Four in Illinois, six in Colorado. I lived the cop life, I understood the cop mindset, and I had plenty of opinions about firefighters. Then 2008 happened, the market crashed, my pond and waterfall business went with it, and I found myself in a fire academy starting over.

They figured me out immediately.

By the time I graduated, my nickname was The Cop. Not because I asked for it — because you can't hide where you've been from people who are trained to read a room. I spent my fire and EMS career as the guy who'd lived both sides of the argument, which meant I got roasted from every direction and had absolutely no defense.

I retired after five years — the body had other plans — but I walked away with something nobody else in this space has: I know this rivalry from the inside of both locker rooms. I know the jokes that land and the ones that go too far. I know why cops think firefighters are overpaid nappers and why firefighters think cops are glorified hall monitors. I know because I was both.

Handcuffs & Hoses isn't a brand built on the idea of first responders. It's built by one — who happened to be two.

You wouldn't get it. Unless you would. In which case, welcome home.