Soft Buoys

[ral]

We use Goode bubble bouys, but they are a bit of a PITA to get purged/at the right level, especially now that our whole friggin duck population learned to sit on them...

 

Where can I get the Turnsoft (or something like that)? How do they stand compared to the Wally Skiers?

[John Brooks]

We have been using Wally buoys for several years, really like them and highly recommend.

[ral]

Thanks @OB.

[thager]

Ditto what @OB said!

[Horton]

you should ask @skidawg what he thinks

[Wish]

I've also heard skiers messing up ski parts and body parts as the ski strikes what's below the 'bubble" with the BB system. If ski goes to the inside and the tail hits the under gear of the BB you would be hitting a large column/tube filled with water that will not displace much if at all. Ouch.

[Horton]

@wish how would that happen

[Gloersen]

Had a similar conversation with Brian at our October tournament - I’d placed BB’s in at Victory this summer. Our experienced skiers all appreciated the compressible aspect of the dome; some noting how they could be run over with the ski, yet stay in the pass. Others noted getting launched upon striking. IMO it depends on how the ski strikes them. Skiing an easy 13m pass, got cocky at 6BB ended up carving back in hard and early striking with the front of the ski just ahead of the FB. It was on a high edged carve, felt like hitting a brick, blew out the front Achilles. 8 days later, in a post-op splint, driving for my cohort, at 12m he had a huge 2BB, struck the BB on the inside , exploded out of his bindings, blew out his rear Achilles. Sure that’s anecdotal evidence but when the stitches came out, I replaced the BB’s and put back the Turnsofts; they are without doubt safer on our weighted buoy system here at Victory.

 

When the BB’s were in place, we found their maintenance easy (no fowl issues) and floated them with the top of the cylinder about 1” below the waterline. However, the column of water held by the submerged cylindrical portion of the BB’s gives them much too much inertia so if struck below the water line from the inside (a lateral impact), that impact can be detrimental.

 

[Wish]

@Horton.. see above. That's the story I heard and the conversation I had. Seemed to be a reasonable analysis. Not saying BB are bad or not worth it or anything of the sort. Just giving food for thought. As always.....the only 100% guaranteed safe buoy is the imaginary one.

 

Was going to have my daughter do her 9th grade Science Project on displacement analysis of BB vs Wally vs Turn Soft vs water filled regular vs water filled Wally/Turn Soft vs pure air filled. But was gone the weekend she made her choice of topic. Curse you tempered chocolate experiment...

[Edbrazil]

A couple of years ago, I ordered something like these:

http://www.sportsauthority.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1820676

 

So-called Rhino Skin balls. Probably mainly for 'gentle' dodgeball. Like a Nerfball,

but with a waterproof skin.

 

One immediate need was an attachment method, which took me back into the Old Days

of attaching suction cups to beach balls, before the AWSA-type buoys. First try with

the suction cup deal, I put it over the breather hole in the buoy. Left outside overnight

in a cool climate, that led to serious Shrivel Factor. So, changed the attachment location.

 

Eventually, I think I gave them to a ski site to try out, but pretty much abandoned the

idea when the Goode Bubble Buoys were getting popular, and the WallyBuoys came out.

[Chuck_Dickey]

The important step that many overlook with Bubble Buoys is to burp the majority of air out before adjusting the height. If the dome and cylinder are full of air it makes a harder shell than a regular buoy since the material is thicker. When burped first, then adjusted they are much softer and are easily pushed down or out of the way when struck.

[Wish]

a baby is for burping... just sayn..

[A_B]

We went to Wallys this year and blew up so they were hard for a few days in the garage, then took some air out so they were a little wrinkley when installed. Had a couple ran over and skier didn't feel them at all. Not saying it was a tip down lateral hit, etc.., but they seemed to work ok, and color fade was almost nill.