Performance Advantage Company (PAC) has spent three decades focusing on one deceptively simple goal: keeping tools exactly where firefighters expect them to be when every second counts.
From its headquarters in western New York, the family-owned manufacturer designs and molds a full line of positive-locking brackets that hold axes, hydraulic cutters, battery saws, and hundreds of other items in place – no matter how hard a rig corners or how rough the road becomes.
The company’s products look modest next to a million-dollar ladder truck, yet they solve a problem every firefighter recognizes: gear that shifts, disappears, or becomes a projectile at the worst possible moment.
PAC’s catalog now lists more than 180 part numbers, but the philosophy behind each one remains consistent – reliable retention, fast release, and a design that outlasts the tool itself.
To understand why something as humble as a bracket can affect safety, budgets, and even morale, Fire & Safety Journal Americas spoke with Tom Trzepacz, PAC’s Vice President of Sales & Customer Relations.
Trzepacz joined the company in 2008 after a decade as a career firefighter and still rides volunteer calls on weekends.
His dual perspective – user and manufacturer – offers an unfiltered look at what happens inside the compartments we usually pass without a second glance.
Two problems show up again and again.
First is cost.
When gear is tossed into a compartment, sooner or later something slides out a door or gets left at a scene.
If every tool has a dedicated spot, the empty bracket tells the crew right away that something’s missing, and the department doesn’t need to dip into its budget for a replacement.
Second is injury.
I once watched a 30-pound hydraulic ram come loose because the driver braked hard coming off an overpass; it missed the firefighter opening the door by inches.
Even when nobody gets hurt, loose tools delay the crew’s work – someone has to restack everything and check for damage.
Our positive-locking brackets clamp the handle or frame and won’t release until a firefighter pulls the lever.
That lockout keeps the load secure through vibration, sharp turns, and rough roads.
Proper mounting also builds accountability. After a call, one glance at the compartment shows whether every tool is back on board.
If something is missing, the crew knows immediately – not two shifts later when someone finally inventories the truck.
Versatility matters more than perfect tailoring. Twenty years ago we built tool-specific mounts.
They fit like a glove, but as soon as the manufacturer changed a handle diameter or battery location, the bracket no longer worked.
Now almost everything we make adjusts – through a sliding base, a reversible shoe, and a nylon strap with several inches of range.
A mid-size bracket, for example, can shrink to grip a ¾-inch broom handle or open wide enough for a three-inch rescue strut.
We also focus on life-cycle cost.
If a department expects a bracket to stay in service for 15 years – the normal lifespan of a pumper – the materials have to survive 15 years of UV, salt spray, and diesel exhaust.
That means UV-stable resins, stainless or zinc-nickel hardware, and fasteners that can be serviced without special tools.
Finally, clear instructions matter. A bracket may be intuitive in our shop, but if the installation guide isn’t clear, the customer will struggle.
We now add QR codes to every package that link to video tutorials and downloadable CAD blocks so installers can plan layouts before the truck even arrives.
The Handlelok was one of our founder Jim Young’s first inventions, and it hits the sweet spot for everyday hand tools.
The pivoting arm has a one-hand, gloved-hand release; the pad is over-molded so it won’t scar fiberglass shafts; and the base can sit flat on a shelf or stand vertically on a tool board.
Because of that flexibility, the same part secures an axe, a pike pole, or the grip of a battery recip saw.
Durability seals the deal. We load-test every Handlelok to nine times the weight of the rated tool because that’s what NFPA 1901 demands.
Firefighters remember gear that never lets them down, and purchasing officers remember brackets that don’t need to be replaced.
Over time we’ve built a family around the original – a low-profile version for shallow compartments, a wide-jaw model for demolition bars, and a quick-release mount that drops the same Handlelok onto a detachable plate – so the design stays useful even as tools change.
Everything starts with field feedback.
Firefighters tell us when a latch is hard to open with structural gloves or when the foot of a spreader no longer lines up with the base.
Our engineering group meets every Tuesday to sift through that data.
Sometimes the answer is material – switching from standard nylon to a glass-filled blend that handles colder climates.
Other times we add an extra mounting slot so the base lines up with European pre-drilled boards.
Prototyping happens fast because we mold everything in-house.
If an OEM calls Monday and says, “The new HURST cutter is two inches deeper,” we can ship a 3-D-printed adapter by Friday.
Once the design works, we cut steel for production tooling.
That responsiveness lets us tweak products without rolling out a whole new part number each time a tool gets redesigned.
Our target is to reduce the number of SKUs a fleet has to stock.
If one adjustable bracket covers five generations of battery saws, that saves warehouse space and training time.
The biggest myth is that brackets eat space. When gear is stacked on the floor, the pile looks small.
Spread those tools on a bench to mount them properly and the load feels bigger.
In reality, mounted tools reclaim vertical space on walls and inside cabinet doors.
At trade shows, we build a mock compartment: one side organized, the other side jumbled.
The organized side almost always leaves room for another saw or med bag.
Another misconception is that installation takes forever.
A medium rescue might need 60 brackets, and crews picture a week of drilling.
Our bases come with self-locating ribs that drop into standard tool boards, and we supply all hardware.
A shop that plans ahead can finish the job in a day. We also include QR-coded layout guides to cut guesswork.
The up-front effort pays off every time the truck leaves quarters with everything in its place.
Finally, some departments assume brackets are optional.
NFPA 1901 treats loose equipment the same way it treats loose firefighters: if it weighs more than nine pounds, it has to stay put in a collision.
Proper mounting isn’t a luxury – it’s compliance.
Adjustability is step one, but we also pay close attention to footprints.
Ferrara’s heavy-rescue bodies use a one-inch-on-center grid; E-One favors inch-and-a-half.
Our bases have both patterns molded in.
We ship each bracket with stainless hardware and let the installer pick what lines up.
On aerials where depth is limited, we offer low-profile versions so the tool sits closer to the wall.
Every variant is tested to the same NFPA retention standard, so an apparatus builder can use the Handlelok-LP on an aerial and the standard Handlelok in a deep rescue without juggling paperwork.
Consistency keeps life simple for fleets running multiple brands of apparatus.
The core need – secure the load, access it fast – doesn’t change. What changes is exposure.
Law-enforcement units often mount rifles inside the cab, so ultraviolet isn’t an issue, but temperature swings are.
We use an elastomer rated from –60 °F to 250 °F so the arm won’t lose grip during a Phoenix summer.
Marine customers fight salt, so we switch to 316 stainless pins and a resin that resists constant moisture.
Industrial safety teams might mount a cutoff saw on an open flatbed, so we add an elastomer bumper beneath the engine housing.
Crossover happens because firefighters work second jobs.
A volunteer might secure a chainsaw on an engine Friday night and the same saw on a landscaping trailer Saturday morning.
When people trust a product in one role, they bring it to the next, and word of mouth builds markets faster than any ad campaign.
Battery tools top the list. They’re lighter but bulkier, and the balance point shifts when you swap a five-amp-hour pack for a twelve.
We’re prototyping brackets that cradle the battery pocket and lock the center of gravity.
Next is data. Fleets want RFID chips embedded in the bracket so the onboard computer logs when a tool leaves and returns.
We’re working with a sensor company on a pilot now. Finally, recyclability matters.
Departments expect a bracket to last 20 years but also want it recyclable at end-of-life, so we’re testing resins that meet both goals.
We also expect more standardization across industries.
The same positive-locking strap that holds a spreader on a quint could secure a hydraulic pump on a utility-line truck.
As budgets tighten, being able to spec one part number across fire, public-works, and utility fleets reduces training time and spare-parts inventory.
