Why Hippool
You’ve heard this before: a steel frame that rusted out, a seam that split in the sun, support that vanished when it mattered.
Hippool is a drop-stitch pool brand built specifically to fix what makes cheaper pools fail: frames that rust and split in the sun, after-sales support that disappears once you’ve paid, and pricing that either cuts corners on the build or jumps straight to the price of a professionally installed pool.
“Protection built in, not bolted on.”
Where Hippool sits
Here’s how the three options stack up — not spec-sheet numbers, but how each one actually behaves once summer sets in.
| Classic inflatable & tubular pool | Hippool drop-stitch | Semi-permanent pool | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price, roughly | Lowest upfront cost | Mid-tier — priced for the technology, not the packaging | Highest — professional install and ongoing filtration |
| Wall rigidity | Flexes and bows under the weight of the water | Rigid once inflated — walls hold their shape. No steel frame to rust or warp in the sun, full stop. | Rigid, but it’s a fixed structure |
| Setup time | Quick, but flimsy | No tools, one pump — set up the same afternoon it arrives | Days, usually a trade booking |
| Weight & storage | Steel frame stays bulky even packed down | Folds flat, stores away off-season | Fixed in place — no storage, no moving it |
| Warranty & support | Support that’s hard to reach once something goes wrong | Your consumer rights in full, plus real spare parts | Tied to the installer who put it in |
| Design | Utilitarian | Designed to earn its place in the backyard, not just hold water | Genuinely impressive — and a permanent commitment |
Category comparison, not a brand-to-brand claim — every steel-frame and semi-permanent pool on the market is a little different.
We don’t just say it. We show it.
Rigid isn’t a word we throw around — it’s demonstrated on the Technology page, not just claimed here. The short version: drop-stitch pools are inflated to a much higher working pressure than a classic single-wall inflatable — typically 8–15 PSI, against under half a PSI — which is what keeps the walls flat instead of bulging. Setup is timed too, not guessed at — no tools, one pump, box to full, set up yourself the same afternoon it arrives.
Same construction as the inflatable paddleboard you already trust your weight on.
Watch the full demo → Drop-Stitch Technology
Who’s behind Hippool
Hippool is a brand of BME Consulting — a company registered in Lyon, France, since 2012. Not a nameless drop-shipper that appeared last season and won’t be here for the next one. That matters more than it sounds: when something goes wrong with a cheap pool, the seller often disappears with it.
We’re not based in your country, and we don’t pretend to be. Your local consumer law still applies to everything you buy from us, and we answer to it.
One thing that comes with being French, concretely: your personal information is covered by the GDPR — one of the strictest data-protection laws anywhere — wherever you live. That’s not a sales pitch, it’s simply how the law works when the company behind the shop is French, and it happens to land in your favour. Full detail: Privacy Policy.
Here’s what backs every Hippool pool:
- Your consumer rights, wherever you buy — A pool that has to be safe, durable and free of defects. That’s your right, not our favour.
- Spare parts, ongoing — This isn’t a one-off import — you can still order parts long after checkout.
- A support line answered by a person — Not a ticket queue that goes quiet after checkout.
“The hippo makes its own sunscreen. We build the backup in — your rights, spare parts, a person who answers.”
Want the full story — the name, the why, the people? Read About Hippool
What we won’t oversell
It needs level ground. Drop-stitch pools do their best work on a flat base — decking, pavers or level lawn. If yours isn’t quite flat, that’s not a dealbreaker, it’s a five-minute check before you buy.
It’s not indestructible. No inflatable pool is — drop-stitch or otherwise. That’s exactly why every Hippool pool ships with a repair kit. The kit isn’t a red flag; it’s honesty about what an inflatable pool actually is.
It needs to be packed away between summers. It folds down small enough to store in a cupboard — but leaving it inflated and exposed to full sun year-round isn’t what it’s built for. Pack it away, or cover it, and it’ll be back for season two, three, and beyond.
It needs fencing, by law. In most places, a pool holding 300 mm of water or more has to be fenced before that first fill — the rules vary by country, state or province, and by municipality. A cost and a step to plan for, not something you find out about after the box arrives.
New brand, real proof
Hippool is a new brand — we’re not going to pretend otherwise, and we’re not going to fake it with reviews that don’t exist yet. What you get instead: the demo you can watch, the construction you can read about, and the commitments above that a brand with something to hide wouldn’t make.
Ready to see it in your backyard?
The people behind it
Two names, two faces, two profiles you can check. Hippool is run by people whose actual profession is sourcing products from factories and holding them to a standard — which is the whole job when the thing you’re buying has to survive three summers.
Olivier Audino
Founder
Twenty years in procurement before Hippool — at Groupe SEB, then founding Sourcing Force. He wrote a book on international purchasing (Eyrolles, 2014) and has taught supply-chain MBAs from Grenoble to Shanghai.
LinkedIn — Olivier Audino. Opens in a new window.
Jérémy Ferrer
Managing Director
Managing Director of BME Consulting, which he joined as European sales director. He runs the group’s day-to-day operations across its nine countries — including the supplier relationships behind Hippool.
LinkedIn — Jérémy Ferrer. Opens in a new window.
Hippool is run by the team behind Sourcing Force, BME Consulting’s procurement business: €20M turnover, 60 people, nine countries. Buying well from factories isn’t a side project here — it’s the day job.