Fire and rescue boats are incredibly active in Canada. With the Canadian Coast Guard alone, it operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year in some of the world’s harshest maritime conditions. Its area of operations covers 243,000 km of coastline and 5.3 million km2 of ocean and inland waterways. Given that there are so many emergencies, it’s understandable to see why so many people are searching for a fire boat manufacturer.
But with such an active industry comes a great number of boat manufacturers. If you are trying to figure out how to find a fire boat manufacturer, we’re here to help. Read on for seven key things to look for during your search.
1. Find a Reputable Fire Boat Manufacturer
The first tip is the most obvious – don’t go for the first random fire boat manufacturer you find.
With any booming industry, there are always those that are willing to try and use it to make a quick buck. Unfortunately, fire boat manufacturing is no exception. There are some manufacturers that build for profit rather than safety.
Chicago Fire Department – Hike Metal Project
The last thing you want is a discount rescue vehicle. Make sure that you find a manufacturer with a solid reputation, especially in the industry itself.
2. Look at Local Returns
Some boats will come with a warranty or return policy, which is a helpful thing to look into. More specifically, you might want to look into how frequently a fire boat manufacturer has their boats returned.
If a fire boat manufacturer has an alarmingly high return rate, that likely means that their boats have issues. There are a variety of things that can cause this, but none of them point to a reliable, high-quality vessel.
Look into the reasons that these boats are returned or recalled. Likely you’ll find plenty of sailors that are speaking on public forums about their vessel. This not only helps you see what to avoid, but also what to look for in your search.
3. Expected Lifetime of Boats
Many things, unfortunately, aren’t built to last. This shouldn’t be the case with your rescue boat. Look into how long the boats generally last and what you can expect to get out of your purchase.
Most manufacturers may make this something that they tout, so the information likely won’t be hidden. If the manufacturer is hesitant to share the information, look at the materials the boat is made of and compare it with others.
4. Fire Rescue Boat Specialists
Not all boats are built the same, and not all manufacturers are going to be able to specialize in what you want. You likely wouldn’t trust someone who specializes in minivans to design you a Formula 1 car.
The same is the case with a fire boat manufacturer – don’t trust the construction of your vessel to a company that focuses on just luxury vehicles or pontoon boats. You’ll want a manufacturer that knows the fire boat industry, rescue boats, and everything about them in and out.
We focus on custom boat and shipbuilding for a wide variety of industries. Search & Rescue and fire boats are two categories of which we have the deepest focus. Don’t trust your fire boat to a company that doesn’t know what they’re doing – make sure you’re putting your safety and the safety of others into an expert’s hands.
5. Services Past Manufacturing
Some manufacturers will simply manufacture a boat and call it a day. This is troublesome for a variety of reasons.
You’ll want to make sure that you’re purchasing from a manufacturer that you can have a relationship with. If the interaction ends at boat delivery, what happens after? Make sure that you’re looking into the services on offer before you buy a boat and find out they won’t even help you down the line.
Hike Metal offers a variety of excellent services. We’re happy to retrofit and refurbish our boats to bring them into modernity when need be. We also offer custom builds to hone your vessel towards the exact fire rescue boat scenario you expect to encounter.
6. Transparency
If you’ve ever worked with a company that didn’t communicate with you, you know how frustrating that can be. While searching for a fire boat manufacturer, make sure you’re finding one that will be transparent and honest with you.
If the specifics of manufacturing and design are kept from you, you’re automatically working at a loss. You could find yourself wanting to do maintenance and not knowing precisely how something was done, making maintenance more difficult. You could even end up with a delivered product that isn’t what you were hoping for.
Hike Metal details our process and everything you can expect moving forward. Transparency is key, and we’re certain to make sure you know the journey every step of the way.
7. Features
Of course, picking a fire boat manufacturer may come down only to what their fire boats are offering. Some manufacturers may offer only one or two types of boats. This limited stock can make you feel like you’re settling rather than getting the boat you need.
If everything else about your fire boat manufacturer is seeming great, check out their rescue boats and fire boats. Better yet, see if they offer custom vessels so that you can make sure it has all the features that you need. You’d be extremely disappointed to find yourself with a new boat that doesn’t offer the safety features your task requires.
Shipping Out
There are plenty of qualities to keep in mind while searching for your fire boat manufacturer. Focus on trust and a quality product to know that you’re getting the best fire rescue boat you can. Finding a boat manufacturer is easy, but finding the right boat manufacturer can take a bit of time and research.
If you’re interested in more information on how to find a fire boat manufacturer, we’re happy to help. Contact us for more information directly or browse our informative blog.
