Decent foot pumps?! And would you pay more...

[skodajoe]

Hi all, after browsing this thread www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=23&t=1629963 on Pistonheads, I got thinking.

Modern foot pumps all suck and are nasty pieces of tat.



My question is, if a pump was available, say a modern version of a Kismet, would any of you pay the premium for it? And more importantly, do you think anyone else would pay for it? I realise it's a slightly niche product though.



I don't know how much a Kismet would have sold for back in the day in todays money, but up to £100 for a fully restored one on ebay seems fair. But lets work with £70, +/- £20. Would you buy it?



I ask because I'm a design engineer and I'm fairy certain I could design one and at least get it on to KickStarter or some other crowd funding platform.



However, I'm also thinking that nowhere makes because no-one would be one.



Discuss!



PS, if there were interest, I would seriously consider making a high quality modern Kismet (or similar) equivalent and selling them.

[pistonpopper]

You're right, modern footpumps are rubbish. Whenever i've bought one they're ok for two or three uses, but after that they just start breaking up. I've got a really good (in comparison) RING one, it's a double pumper and was about £20 i think it's been pretty good, but it's starting to come apart now! I've also got several old brass footpumps. They're really old, and very heavy duty, but the never seem to break. They're far better quality than anything that is produced today, basically they way they were built, the quality of materials, and the pride in the workmanship when they were put together is why they're better than anythig built today. They will last until the end of time.

As for would i buy a modern day equivelent? No. Because you couldn't build a modern day equivelent, not even with the best will in the world it couldn't be done. This is because the bean counters would interfere. Theyr'e not that interested in quality, they only want the money, and the more money they can get for a product the better they like it, so in the end it would be built from cheap materials, and would still be an inferior product to it's olden day rivals/inspiration.

I thnk that initially your product would be great, but then after a short while the quality would evaporate, and you'd be left with a product much like the rubbish you can already buy. Many moons ago i had a Hilka socket set. Hilka had not been on the market long at the time, and make no mistake this thing was fantastic, it worked well, and it was built to last. Best socket set ever! Then some ass-wipe nicked it out of the back of my van, along with some other tools, this ticked me right off. So after a while the insurance coughed up and i headed out to re-stock my van. So the first thing that i bought was another Hilka socket set. It looked absolutely identical to my first one, but this was five years after i had bought my first one. This one, the second one was the worst socket set i had ever owned. It was terrible, sockets broke, sockets didn't fit the nuts they were supposed to. the ratchet broke, the T-bar bent. It was dreadful, and this would've been due to the accounts department sticking their beaks in and trying to squeeze more money from the product.

As for having a price of around £70, +/- £20. Thats too much for me, £30 would be the most i'd pay, as it's not like it's something you use every day (hopefully) You only use it once in a blue moon, so it really would't pay to splash out. It's probably not what you wanted to hear, but i hope this helps in some way.

[colnerov]

Hi, My guess is that there're two reasons why not, it's too much like hard work for most people to get up to 30 lb into a car tyre when there're electric ones where they can just stand there. The other would be the cost, even if it's £50, when again electric ones are a tenth of that. Even enthusiasts would baulk at it. Everything nowadays is cost driven even apparent quality.

Sorry to appear negative about it.

Colin

[skodajoe]

Thanks for comments. Pistonpopper, I'd likely be looking at comparably low volumes compared to large companies. It'd be a fairly niche product and with lower volumes I could keep the quality high.

So for price, if it was down to £30-40, would you be more interested?

Part of the premise of this would be that it could be services and repaired by the user, eg, piston seals, hoses etc.

But hey, it's only an idea just trying to gauge interest for a better product.

[highvoltage]

Yep,modern ones are largely junk.

I use an antique Dunlop that was my grandfathers,i'd guess it's 1940's and built like a tank.I had to put a new rubber hose on it but it will outlast me for sure.I still use his old PCL gauge as well,again a quality piece of kit.

Someone gave me a cheap pump a few years ago,thin pressed steel and the arms bent the first time i used it.The second time the footplate broke off the spot welds.
I have a Halfords one thats maybe 15 years old i keep in the boot for emergencys,that one is not bad to be fair but not built like the Dunlop.

I'm all for someone bringing some proper quality to market,i can't stand junk tools !
The trouble it's such a niche item i doubt you would sell many in truth.
You can buy an old Dunlop Champion or something in working order for 15-20 quid if your'e an enthusiast and want a good solid old pump.

Sadly most people today don't seem to recognise quality and want easy or cheap and preferably both,so regretfully i have to agree with Colin.
Apart from myself i don't think i have ever seen anyone on my road using a foot pump in the ten years i've lived here.

I applaud the sentiment though and maybe there are other car related things you could look at where quality is lacking currently?

[skodajoe]

Yeah, you're probably all right. Worth a punt haha.

[joem83]

I must admit after my good halfords one finally broke after about 10 years, I went through loads of cheap ones. Then I bought a decent electric one - again a halfords one and tbh I wouldn't go back to a foot pump as the electric ones are lighter, smaller and require me to do very little manual work lol.

[Ryannn]

Depressingly, I've managed to step it up on the laziness. I've got an electric pump in the boot but I still use the one in Sainsbury's so I don't have to wrap all the wire back up! Lol

[carledo]

Even the electric ones are suffering from poor quality and accountants cost cutting these days. I've gone out to several customers cars lately where they say " I must need a new tyre cos my pump is running red hot but no air is going in" so I couple up my 10 year old, cheap (at the time) £18 from Argos case compressor and up they go! I must have binned a dozen or more electric compressors in the last few months, including at least a couple that were supplied new with the car.

And no, I wouldn't go back to a footpump, no matter how good the quality! I'm too old for that malarkey!

Steve

[melle]

Oct 30, 2016 0:56:39 GMT skodajoe said:

So for price, if it was down to £30-40, would you be more interested?

If that bought me a quality foot pump I'd be interested.

[jaykay]

don't really see any place for a.foot pump these days tbh. Ive got a compressor i nicked out of my company insignia before it went back, had it 3 years now, pumped up lots of tyres with it and its no worse than when i bought it. Why would i want to jump up and down on one?

[chris y]

I bought a Halfords one, decent quality for a good price but very rarely used.

I'm usually one for buying good quality tools when they are going to be used a fair bit but for me there isnt much market for a high end footpump. The Halfords one is a sensible balance of quality and cost for an occassional use tool.

I've got a nice vintage Wood & Milne but its never had a hose fitted while I've had it so I don't know if it will work.

[scratcher]

I've never been a fan of foot pumps. They're awkward to use, either the pump will fall over or I will!
I'd always go for a track pump or a compressor over a foot pump. 

[jiminwatford]

When the 12v socket in my car broke I found a bicycle stirrup pump surprisingly easy to use. You can put your weight over it and they have a nice long stroke

You don't have to balance between pumping and staying upright

[ProjectBobcat]

My Dad's got a great footpump marked 'Kismet lorry'. I had no idea they were known as a quality brand, most of his tools are low grade/unbranded.