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Fire Extinguishers


Boomer

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Ok, while I was out running my son around town this Sunday, leaving my wife out enjoying the lake in the 'Bu, she got checked by the game warden for life jackets, required safety equipment, etc... This happens to use about once or twice every summer, especially if out on a holiday weekend.

Well, he asked her to show the fire extinguisher, which is required in TX. She looked around, and told him the boat was new, so it must have a fire extinguisher, but she didn't know where it was. Innocent.gif

Thankfully, the officer bought the (true) story, and since I had all other safety equipment in the boat, nothing came of it. No ticket.

I emailed my dealer this morning asking where the fire extinguisher was located in the '05 VLX, and got a nice surprise that there is not one installed from the factory!

Wow man, I've had the boat now all summer and never realized that! My Supra came with a fire extinguisher mounted near the driver's feet, so I assumed all new boats came with them. NOPE, not the case!

Again, my dealer (Central TX Watersports) is coming through and giving me one for some help I'd given them, but I'm sure glad I figured this out before I needed it, or got a ticket!

So, if your state requires one, be sure you buy one, they aren't installed in the factory on a Malibu. This is not a bash on anyone, just showing my ignorance and maybe tipping someone else off who may not have known either.

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The dealer gave me one at point of purchase along with misc. vests, throw cushions, etc. The extinguisher was such a POS that I ended up replacing it with a really cool chrome one - for a little bit of the bling factor.

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Well, I suppose if I came across as a newbie boater, the dealer would have taken me under his wing to make sure I had all my safety equipment, but I came across as experienced, and already had a fairly new boat, so they assumed I had everything I needed. It's not their responsiblity to give you all your boating necessessities -- jackets, anchor, yada yada.

I did have everything already, but I just didn't know the Malibu's didn't come with FE's. My '04 Supra was the first brand-new boat I'd ever bought, and it came with one, so I assumed all did.

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I don't have any experiance with a new boat, but when we bought our jet ski years ago it came with an fire extenguisher from the dealer. Oregon law requires that you carry one. If Texas law requires that you carry one I would have assumed like you did that they gave you one.

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Agreed. Again though, I made it clear during my boat buying process that I didn't need any boating equipment, so it was just miscommunication.

Since my previous boat came OEM with a FE, I assumed the VLX did also. Since they knew their boat didn't come with them, they probably assumed I knew and had one already since I told them I didn't need anything.

Oh well, I am getting one now...

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If I added all the items required by law to be on the water boating, my customers would throw it all in a box, hand it to me and demand a refund (or discount) on the boat.

It's just us conservative penny pinching Northeasterner's I guess....

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ps - regarding fire extingushers, and more.

Fiberglass and Resin is basically about the best material on the water to make a fire grow in size. It will do so in a very rapid manner. A 20' boat can disappear in 5 minutes.

Please, if your boat is on fire, get out. Do not look for the fire extingusher if it is not handy, and even if it is and you want to be a firefighter, throw every person overboard before you play the hero.

Second, know your extingusher if you plan to attempt to use it. Dry chemical extingushers need to have the material jarred loose before being used. (It compacts while riding around in a vehicle)

And lastly, don't be in such a rush every time you get on the boat that you don't bother to lift the engine box (or lid) and give the engine and bilge a visual, physical, and sniff inspection. Turning on your blower will not inform you of an problem or issue. Using your eyes, hands and nose will.

Thank you!

Peter

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ps - regarding fire extingushers, and more.

Please, if your boat is on fire, get out.  Do not look for the fire extingusher if it is not handy, and even if it is and you want to be a firefighter, throw every person overboard before you play the hero.

Thank you!

Peter

My advice exactly. My 14 yo son got pulled over for a safety check this summer and the warden told him he should practice with the fire extingisher. I told my son to forget that. Get the people off the boat and bail out. We've got inurance. Worry about yourself, not the boat.

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When I bought my boat it didn't come with the safety package. I didn't realize it until i got a flyer from the dealer several weeks after I ordered the boat that said if you come to their open house and order a boat you get a "free" safety package. The dealer ended up throwing it in for free.

The point here is that I assumed it would be ready to hit the water and all I needed to bring were my prefered life jacket and my wakeboard. I was wrong. If I hadn't read the flyer I would have been SOL and had to buy everything or would have been in the same boat as Boomer.

Peter....thanks for the info. We'll jump overboard and not play fire fighter. I did not realize...nor do I want to find out that they burn in 5 minutes.

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OK, Please dont take this the wrong way, I'm just curious and not directing this at anyone.

Why do so many people think that all this safety equipment would be included with a new boat? I've always known that when I got a boat, I would have to "outfit" it with what was required by the state I was boating in. I never expected an anchor or oar included with my boat (one or the other is required, I believe), just like I never expected life vests or FE or skier down flag, etc... to be included with a new boat.

When I buy a motorcycle, I know that it will not come with a helmet (also required by law in many states).

I know that many dealers may throw the safety equipment in "for free" and I think that is a good idea, just not expected.

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To me there is a big difference between a FE and other safety equipment. The biggest difference being that the FE should be mounted. From a dealers standpoint, do you really want just anyone that buys a boat to try to pick a place and appropriately mount (drill) a FE? Still not saying the dealer has to do it but they should definetely offer it. Or in the case of my dealer, they just do it and dont even say anything about it. 10 bucks and 5 minutes. Value add...

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Man Tracy, I remember that. Wow is all you can say.

ZZButler, you have a point. My initial point was really asking why Malibu themselves don't mount FE's in every boat in the factory. It was a glaring omission to me since my '04 Supra came with one mounted.

I made the ignorant assumption all boats had FE's from the factory, and went all summer without one.

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I think that what it comes back to is that requirements for this stuff varies by state & sometimes even by lake/region. Like Peter said, there are people that would say, "I don't need that, I want a refund". So be it. As consumers we all need to be educated going into a purchase like this, even though the vast majority out there are not.

Catastrophic events like what happened to Jill that have been posted here have really made me think about what I would do in certain situations. Before reading some of those threads I think that I would have frozen up or flipped out, but after really giving some thought to it I think that I'm now better prepared, at least mentally. With that said, it's always the thing that you don't plan for or think that could happen that will bite you in the @ss. Dontknow.gif

Edited by WakeGirl
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