Which Slalom Buoys are the best?

[Jibbo]

We are looking to get some new slalom buoys for our course and want to know which ones are the best. We purchased some last year and within a month half of them started going flat. This was mainly due to the fact that there were melting on the top surface due to the sun and then deflating. How long should a set of slalom buoys last?

And which make or supplier of turn buoys would you recommend?

[Horton]

Wally Sinker gets my vote

[Creeker]

We put Wally Buoys at our lake. Very nice, clean up easy and don't fade

[Orlando76]

So far we average about 1.5 months on overtons and polyform. We switched to Spongex style for boat lanes which are amazing. Honestly, a milk jug 3/4 filled with foam last longest for a turn buoy.

[Than_Bogan]

Super-impressed by wallys. Safer than most other options AND the longest lasting buoys we've ever used. And a public lake near Boston isn't the friendliest environment.

[GOODESkier]

Insta-Slalom call Lisa. I leave mine in for 12 months. Range in Temps is 100+ in the summer with LOTS of son (Over 300 days of blue ski). Winter temps into the single digits. Never have any issues, they all make it the 12 months.

[gmut]

wally buoys, going on third year,do not fade.

[Ed_Johnson]

We Love our Goode Bubble Buoys....Over 5 years old and going strong..We run right through them and keep on going..Safest system I have ever seen !!!

 

I repaint them once a year and they look like brand new !!!

 

 

[BG1]

3 full years with Wally Skier buoys with no fading or flats. We leave them in year round.

[Than_Bogan]

@Orlando76 My shins hurts just thinking about that.

 

@Ed_Johnson Oddly enough, I didn't find the Bubble Buoys very safe for my particular class of mistakes. More than once I found myself coming to a very sudden stop because my shins went into the side of the buoy and with that large profile it doesn't give at all in that sort of impact. Of course, I never lost more than a few days to injury as a result, so perhaps they make a good tradeoff and prevent more dangerous scenarios.

 

I didn't spend a ton more time thinking about the safety comparison because we found in one season that Bubble Buoys really couldn't stand up to public lake usage.

[eleeski]

The consensus I've seen has the Bubble Buoys are the safest and best for really deep shortline skiers but are quite expensive. Personally, I prefer to ski them (and do have lots of time with them) but maintenance (and proper maintenance) are a bit of a pain.

 

Water filled buoys are reasonably safe and good enough for most skiers. I'm cheap so that's what is in my lakes. I get my buoys from @Ed_Obermeier and have reasonable longevity in extreme desert sun.

 

I do use noodles for boat guides but they don't last very well at all. The course I ski most ended up with spongex guides and they have lasted 10 years there. The hunters made life shorter at the other site - hence the noodles.

 

Do not ski a course with milk jug turn balls for safety reasons.

 

I've experimented with other turn ball ideas and can assure you there is potential.

 

Eric

[markchilcutt]

Bubble bouys all day long.

[Orlando76]

Why the safety issues with milk jugs? What am I missing here? My experience is in two weeks they become so brittle that the slightest impact at all and they're Powder. Not my first choice but prior to the spongex for the boat lane it was literally impossible to keep up with all the inflatable buoys.

[Than_Bogan]

@Orlando76 Starting at roughly -28, it becomes very common to hit the buoy with your shins. At -38, it's almost a surprise if you don't. Any remotely hard surface becomes brutal.

[skialex]

How about the Butt Buoys they look durable and might help to get that extra buoy!

[JohnN]

@Than_Bogan I've run into that scenario with Bubble Buoys where they feel too hard or push too much water when hit at or below water line, particularly with the rear leg on an offside turn. What seems to happen is they get filled full, then adjusted down so there's no give. For our lake, I bring the sub-buoy up just a little and taking some air out makes them all nice and soft again while sitting perfect.

[Ed_Johnson]

You just have to periodically "BURP" them, which keeps them soft...You can tell when one builds up to much air pressure, because it will rise up slightly..Just squeeze, "BURP" it, and your GOODE to go !!!

 

We keep ours low, below the equator, and you can easily see when it rises up midway..Time to burp.... Been doing it for over five years now and it's no big deal.

 

 

[Edbrazil]

For those with the buck$, the Goode Bubble Buoys or the Wally Skier top of the line buoys seem

to be preferred.

I remember when the AWSA came out with official buoys, which were a great step up from what

we had been using. Which could have been double-folded partly inflated inner tubes, or more

likely used Clorox bottles. I did some work gluing suction cups to play-type beach balls. With

sort of results; maybe lasting a couple of months.

About the strangest 'solution' was a course on my lake where they used boat mooring buoys.

Good, solid foam, didn't absorb water, but they had a metal curly pigtail on top. You could tell

who had been running that course by the scratches on their thighs. They could be forgiven, as

they were jumpers at heart.

[jrs]

My vote is for Wally Skier. Color fade is a big issue here in Florida and we have 5 slalom courses to maintain. The Wally buoys do not fade above the water line. At Okeeheelee, we keep ours low for safety.

[lcarnes]

Another vote here for Wally buoys. Our only problem is that the local otters and muskrats think they are candy.

 

[Chuck_Dickey]

Once they are burped and feel soft, the bubble buoys water line is suppose to be 1" above the mold line around the outside circumference. This way they are legal size and height and you can easily ski right over them without issue. I see a lot of folks adjusting the height to the mold line and that is too high or they have too much air inside and fee hard.

 

Dave Goode put out a Youtube video which explains the how's and why's.

 

[LeonL]

According to what kind of course you have. If you have a floater/cable course, you won't have much lick with Goode bubbles. Wally skiers buoys have the best color retention. I too had a problem last year with, I suppose, muskrats chewing on them at the loop. Made small holes that took on water. Never had that problem with other buoys.

[schafer]

@lcarnes @LeonL I've lost about a dozen buoys to muskrats in the past 6 weeks. They were all polyform and they would mostly just chew the loop and then they would take on water and sink. I'm now trying some overtons which have a much tougher loop on the bottom hoping that might work better. What have you found best to combat the muskrats?

[Orlando76]

Dynamite.

[skierjp]

The Overtons buoys are terrible. They come pre faded.

[lcarnes]

@schafer One thing that helps a little is to wrap the part that is under the water with duct tape. That has slowed them down, but I recently had them chew right through the tape on a new one. They like the new ones the best. Besides trapping, we haven't found a true solution.

[DmaxJC_ski]

@schafer @lcarnes what if you were to slide an 6 or 8" long peice of hollowed out noodle over the chain so it floats up against the link and the bottom of the buoy to cover the loop?

[LeonL]

Well I did have some small amount of chewing on the Overtons, but due to the fact that there is no air in the loop it was no problem. Muskrats are only managed well with a .22. Still hard to devote the time and patience to sit and watch for them.

[ToddL]

@skialex - Buttbuoys... I already have some difficulty not looking down at the buoys on my off side. I don't need any additional reasons to look at them. LOL!

[lcarnes]

 

Here's all that was left after one got after it in the spring.