West Marine Answers

Dear Fred,

Thanks for your comments on the Turbo Foot Pump. While I agree with most of your comments, I do want to give you some background on how we select pumps and on why we ended up with the Turbo in particular.

This pump is intended to compete with other small pumps designed for dinghies and inflatable water toys. There are absolutely higher capacity pumps available for larger dinghies, sportboats, and riverboats, but there is a market for pumps in this price range. The main manufacturer for low pressure pumps is Scoprega, an Italian company, that makes pumps under the Bravo name and who sells pumps to Zodiac and other makers of inflatable boats. The Turbo is made by Sevylor, and it is better than the Scoprega pump in two regards: the exterior shell won’t break if you hit it with a hammer, and it requires fewer strokes to inflate a boat chamber compared to the same size Scoprega pump.

To compare pumps against one another, we use a large thwart and count the number of strokes that it takes to inflate the chamber to “firmness”. We also max out the pressure of the pump and see how high a pressure it can produce using a water manometer. The same test is applied to manual and electric pumps, as well as foot pumps, piston pumps, and centrifugal pumps. This information is reported on the packaging of all of the pumps we sell in the form of a bar graph so that consumers can compare various pumps.

I completely agree with your comment about the kinking of the hose. That’s really a dumb design, and we’ll contact the vendor and ask that they use a kink-free hose. I also agree with your comments on the length of the hose. I use this pump in my 6.5m Zodiac, and since I pump from the inside of the hull, I haven’t noticed the problem, but I can see how it would be a pain if inflating a boat from the outside.

Finally, I agree that rubber feet would be a good addition, and we’ll suggest this to the vendor as well.

Thanks for contacting us with your feedback. It is taken seriously, and we appreciate that you took the time to help us make our products better.

Sincerely,
Chuck Hawley
Vice President, Product Intelligence

West Marine Junk

wingssail image-fredrick roswold
West Marine Air Pump


This is the most unsatisfactory product I have ever purchased from West Marine.

My old Avon pump (13 years) was rusty and falling apart. It had leaks. It was shedding parts. So I bought a new pump from West Marine and regrettably I tossed the old Avon pump into the dumpster before I had a chance to try the new pump. What a mistake.

Here is what is wrong with this piece of junk from West Marine:

A: It is undersized. This pump is approx 60% of the size of my old pump, so it moves significantly less air on each pump stroke than the old one. It is fine for a kiddie wading pool but for a real job like inflating a dingy on a cruising yacht forget it!

B. No rubber feet. This pump has nothing but hard plastic on the bottom. Trying to use it on the deck of a boat is nearly impossible. It slips and slides at every roll of the boat. It is dangerous: You can fall down. It can go off the side of the boat. And that is besides the fact that it is impossible to effectively put any steady flow of air into your inflatable boat because it is constantly moving out of the way instead of pumping air.

C: The hose is too short. With new dingies with decent sized tubes (15" 17") this short hose won't reach from the deck of your boat into the dingy to the air valve.

D: The cheap hose kinks too easily, and leaks at the ends. I cannot image this cheap hose lasting for 13 years like my old Avon pump. This photo is taken after only a few weeks of use and it already is looking tired and worn.

Conclusion: I wrote to West Marine about this product several weeks ago and they never responded to my complaint. West Marine has attained a dominant position in the market and they have little competition but this does not mean that we have to accept shoddy and cheap products. I hope not, and I will not. If West Marine wants to keep its position it needs to ensure that it offers quality marine parts, not just the cheapest. Up to date they have not been doing that, this pump is an example, and their profits are down as customers have started to walk.

That is how it should be.

Fred Roswold