Mike Snow, president and co-owner of Plastix Plus in Cypress, Texas has been a volunteer fireman for 26 years and uses just about every type of emergency equipment carried on fire trucks and SUVs. That’s where he got the brainstorm to translate some of the heavy-use truck compartments, consoles and equipment racks to his own fabrication business by customizing them out of a tougher, higher performance material. He has found that Vycom’s Hitec HDPE 1/2-inch matte finish black works best for these applications, because it is chemical and abrasion –resistant, easy to weld and fabricate and has a texture that prevents tools from sliding around.
As Plastix Plus has branched out nationally, in addition to local fire and emergency medical departments, the company is now making weapons/gear storage solutions for vehicles for the U.S. Marshals Service, Homeland Security, ATF, DEA, FBI and numerous other local law enforcement agencies nationwide. They have also supplied the U.S. Army with weapons racks for barracks and armory’s in Afghanistan.
The toughness and durability of Hitec HDPE also eliminates the degradation and rot that wood compartments and racks go through. For the same reason, Hitec is the same material being used at the World Trade Center Memorial Site in New York City for below-surface tree boxes and soil erosion barriers.