It’s a small thing, literally. Just a hinge. One used for securing the livewell lid or hatch cover aboard thousands of boats.
Made by a name manufacturer with a good reputation, this item’s success “hinged” (pardon the pun) on the pin upon which its operation depended. For reasons beyond the scope of this article, the pins used in these hinges were failing to corrosion. That meant boaters were having to replace the hinges. Lots of boaters.
Problem two: This ubiquitous hinge went out of production by its maker. Now, those faced with replacement would need to find a substitute hinge. It’s not the worst fate, having to fill old screw holes, make things fit and look good, but, really, who needs the aggravation?
The fact that so many boaters have to deal with this sub-standard hinge is one result of a marketplace reliant on a few big suppliers. That, too, is a topic beyond the scope of this article.
Enter Boat Outfitters. As this video above shows, they decided to have a replacement hinge manufactured to superior, non-corroding specs. In so doing the company gave all those boaters with failing livewell lid hinges a better alternative to boat surgery.
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Obviously, Boat Outfitters is making money on the sale of the hinges. That’s what they do (we’re pretty sure one doesn’t get rich on profits from replacement hinges, though). To us, the important thing here is that the company saw boaters having a problem and stepped-up to solve it. Whether you need this new replacement hinge or not, we just wanted to applaud Boat Outfitters for so directly addressing boater’s needs. Bravo Zulu, Boat Outfitters.
