VALPARAISO, INDIANA – Task Force Tips new FlipTip nozzle, a revolutionary product that changes use with a simple flip of its twist-lock pivoting tip, was a big hit with firefighters even before it started shipping out.
“Last fall when I was out showing a prototype (of the FlipTip) to fire departments, they were like ‘This is great. I’ll take it’,” said Doug O’Donnell, TFT Northwest Regional Manager. “The only problem was that the FlipTip I had was a prototype that I wasn’t even supposed to leave behind with them, and here they were trying to buy it out from under me.”
Now in full production, the FlipTip is the latest addition to TFT’s New Force innovative product line. There are three different series of FlipTips available, each designed to fit unique needs and budgets:
• FlipTip Only (with Two Smoothbores)
• FlipTip Integrated Shutoff (with Two Smoothbores)
• FlipTip Integrated Shutoff with One Smoothbore and G-Force Combination Nozzle (with the G-Force nozzle offering 18 model choices of fixed, selectable, or automatic nozzle combinations) The FlipTip Only series, at $435 plus shipping and handling, is an ideal addition to any ball valve shut off.
The front tip is easily removed, allowing for quick line extension. This model also features multiple smoothbore choices for both the front and the rear tip orifices, and quickly allows the initial attack team a choice of flows, as well as outstanding stream performance.
The FlipTip with Integrated Ball Shutoff, at $655 plus shipping and handling, features a high volume ball shutoff, providing a single nozzle that offers a choice of hard hitting straight streams. Optional Color Coded pistol grip and valve handle covers make for easy identification in the field (at no extra cost), while the detent style ball shutoff offers positive operator control in a compact, integrated design.
The third option is the FlipTip with Integrated Ball Shutoff and G-Force nozzle has a fixed price of just $855, plus shipping and handling.
“What’s special about this model is that the front part – the part you flip down – integrates your choice of fixed, selectable, or automatic G-Force nozzle,” said Rod Carringer, TFT’s Chief Marketing Officer. “It also offers a choice of 75 or 100 psi operational pressure, as well as all of the fog tooth designs. So you can go from a high flowing, integrated smooth bore in the back to a combination nozzle with just a flip of the hand. It’s a pretty neat concept.”
But your options don’t stop there (a simple matrix found in the New Force catalog or at newforce.tft.com makes ordering easy). The FlipTip’s front component accepts one of four different orifice choices: ½” 5/8” 15/16”, and 1”. While providing flows from 50 up to 200gpm, the tip can be easily removed, allowing hose to be connected and extended.
Similarly, the FlipTip’s rear component accepts one of five different orifice sizes: 7/8”, 15/16”, 1”, 1 1/8” and 1 3/8”, providing water flows that start at 150gpm. These uniquely tapered tip inserts are designed to offer high performance water or compressed air foam streams, and are held securely in place during rugged initial attack operations. (If your needs change, additional tip(s) can be easily ordered by contacting TFT’s service team at newforce.tft.com.) To ensure maximum stream performance, TFT has incorporated a removable stream straightener into the FlipTip’s rear coupling design.
“The VIT, or the valve integral nozzles, that we’ve used for quite a while, taught us a great deal about stream quality and the importance of having a stream straightener,” explained TFT Senior Design Engineer Dave Kolacz.
“For high-rise operations, where debris can be an issue, or for maximized compressed air foam performance, this insert can be very easily removed.” The FlipTip, which spent nine months in development, is Kolacz’s brainchild. Carringer, one of the early field testers, destroyed three of the engineer’s prototypes while putting them through some arduous drop, drag, and stomping trials.
“The biggest challenge we had was in creating the FlipTip’s rotational lock mechanism,” Kolacz said. “We had to make sure that the lock had robust positive locking while allowing easy unlocking in both the stowed and deployed position. And that was a challenge. We ended up going through a number of different designs before we came up with a twist lock that is easy to use with a wet or foamy gloved hand.” The final design of TFT’s innovative FlipTip includes 21 new parts, many of which would be impossible if it weren’t for the state-of-the-art Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines TFT uses in producing both its New Force and TFT legacy products at its Northwest Indiana Plant.
Like many of TFT’s products, the FlipTip was born of necessity, designed in response to firefighters’ requests. “The need for the FlipTip has been there for years, but we just didn’t have the technology to build it at an affordable price,” O’Donnell explained. “When a firefighter is out in the field and he unscrews a tip, what the heck is he supposed to do with it? The FlipTip is the answer.”
TFT has already had to ramp up production at its Valparaiso, Indiana world headquarters to meet the demand for the multi-tasking nozzle.
“Not since 1896 has there been a nozzle that’s this innovative,” Carringer said. “That was the year that the patent originally came out for a concept that was similar to the FlipTip. Of course, that’s like the great, great grandfather of the one you’ll see today. TFT’s FlipTip features a new, patent pending design that solves a lot of problems that firefighters have been battling for years. New Force dealers keep telling us that once people try the FlipTip, they’ve got to have it.”
As with any product in TFT’s New Force or Legacy line, the FlipTip enjoys a full five-year warranty, as well as 24 hour technical and service support. For more information on the FlipTip or other items in TFT’s New Force product line, as well as a list of authorized New Force dealers near you, please visit newforce.tft.com.
