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Fire hoses still useful after the fires are all put out. Photo © istockphoto/Chuck Moser |
We just came across a company based in Denver, Colorado, that makes it easier to be an environmentally conscientious boater. We've seen what looked like old fire hoses around docks before and wondered what exactly it was. If it was fire hose we saw, how would you go about getting it? This new company is promoting the use of old fire hoses as dock edging in order to protect your boat and the dock you tie up to, and they make it easy to find and buy the hose. Let's take a closer look...
How it works
The hoses come in 50-foot lengths and can be custom cut to match the edge of any dock. Flatten and affix directly to the edge or for more padding, fill with sand and seal the ends.
Green Boating
This is not only an extremely cost effective bumper system, but it is an eco-friendly choice for lining your dock. Basically, using an old fire hose on a dock keeps the fire hose out of the landfill. Further, it extends the life of your boat and the dock, keeping them both out of the landfill longer. Not to mention the reduction in the use of plastic materials that are manufactured just for this purpose.
More than hoses
After a quick browsing of the company's site, we found a couple of other items that might be interesting to many boaters.
Tarps
We recently discussed boat covers here on the Daily Boater, so the "tarps" on RPM's site caught our attention. The company collects old billboard signs and re-sells them as heavy duty vinyl tarps that are 100% water-proof, anti-mildew and flame retardant.
Boxes
Flight cases from old airplanes are used to store and protect very valuable items in the rough and varied conditions of airline transport. Since they are both lockable and water resistant we thought they could be used as either a dock box or for storage onboard larger boats.
On the web
What we liked about this company is that they are promoting these green boating ideas, and they make it easy to contact them and purchase these reusable items. We sent them an email to inquire about the price of the fire hose ($50 for 50 feet of hose plus shipping if you're not in Denver), and they responded within 30 minutes. Sure, you can do a google search and find these items elsewhere. You can also call your local fire house and ask them if they have any old fire hoses you can have, but I'm not sure that calling an airline manufacturer would have the same results in obtaining the flight boxes. And where would you even start in looking for the old billboard signs? You can try to find this stuff yourself, or just contact Repurposed Materials (RPM), on the web at www.repurposedmaterialsinc.com.
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