Fire, rescue, police, and military personnel are required to make forcible entry in many circumstances. It is necessary to practice the skills required for entry into buildings, including the use of tools that are utilized for and/or are specifically designed for forcible entry. However, the nature of forcible entry is such that it requires the destruction of part or all of the structure through which entry is sought. Various methods require the destruction of locks, door panels, windows, hinges, frames, and other associated structural members.
Traditionally, forcible entry training simulations have been accomplished using abandoned and other structures when and if they become available. In the alternative or in addition to utilized abandoned structures for training, doorway and window mock-ups have been built so that the skills could be practiced and the destroyed portion of the structure replaced.
However, abandoned structures are not a reliable source of training for the simple fact that the ability to train is restricted by the available of such structures. Further, abandoned structures often will not provide a trainee with a full set of possible forcible entry scenarios. For example, and abandoned house may provide an opportunity to practice using lock-pulling techniques, but will not provide the opportunity to train with tools and techniques for opening metal doors in commercial buildings.
In addition, existing training devices and mock-ups universally have the same flaws: they utilize expensive hardware that must be replaced after each training exercise. Locks must be bought and re-installed, hinges must be replaced with new, uncut hinges, metal door panels must be changed, door frames must be repaired and or replaced, etc.
What is needed is a device that allows for real-world training exercises in forcible entry that provide a trainee with exactly the look, feel, and performance of specific tasks and utilizing specific tools, the in real scenarios will result in the destruction of some or all of a building's entranceway, window, or door, but that will be reusable at low cost and without destroying expensive hardware structures.