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
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
posted by wingssail at 3:23 AM
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