Wally Balls

[Horton]

[keithh2oskier]

How many times did it take you to record this?

[Horton]

@keithh2oskier yea it is brilliant. I know. Only one cup of coffee and no breakfast was the secret to making me seem slightly drunk at 8 AM.

[MISkier]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoysmfRxPLc

[RGilmore]

The primary trick with preparing ANY brand of ski buoy is to overinflate them and then let them sit for a few hours (overnight is even better). Now, when you let enough air out to get them down to tolerance they are much softer, and the lumpy "fold" line from shipping should be long gone.

[Andre]

Ballers discount coupon?

[wawaskr]

Do these buoys really minimize disruption to your ski's path if you mistakenly tag one of them? Who has had first hand experience?

[Horton]

@RGilmore Wally absolutely does not recommend over-inflating the balls ever. The balls are designed to be soft and supple and exactly the right diameter without ever being fully inflated.

[Horton]

@wawaskr they are definitely the softest conventional balls out there. I've been skiing with them for over 6 years.

[MISkier]

I use them on two different courses and they are great. Underinflate is the key.

[pgmoore]

This comment could be considered off topic... but technically it is not as it directly relates to the video.

 

@Horton - I would like to congratulate you on your Tim Hortons mug. Was that acquired in Calgary when you were here for the Pro Shootout tournament?

[rico]

I think @Horton should give himself a panda for this video

[RGilmore]

@Horton - Opinions vary. Right or wrong, the reason we over-inflate is to slightly force the balls into a spherical shape before removing enough air to make them soft again. Otherwise they come out looking distorted and NOT spherical, as seen in the above video.

 

I would contend that any buoy incapable of surviving slight, temporary over-inflation is going to have real trouble handling the much greater forces of being struck and skied over during a season or two of use

[cougfan]

@rico how about this?

 

[Zman]

How did you guys get @Horton to sit still long enough for that great pic?

[Zman]

Also been using Wally's for 6 years. We underinflate them such that the half that is underwater when anchored is largely collapsed. The half that is above water (actually, less than half) has good shape and is very soft.

[cougfan]

@Zman it wasn’t easy but after @Rednucleus shared some of his assortment of Scotch’s with @Horton he was quite cooperative ??

[Rednucleus]

@cougfan I hope you didn't just get us banned. Finding that panda at Lk Curlew was the best part of the entire vacation!

[aupatking]

Best buoys I’ve ever used. Got a set going on season 3 on our lake. 12 months of skiing a year and no fading too

[NameUnavailable]

These are the best buoys I have found. They are soft, safe, and hold the color. I like the boat guides for some of the same reasons. Also, they are taller and easy to see to line up for the jump course.

[lpskier]

@RGilmore Please don’t over inflate Wally buoys. The come out of the box at exactly the right size and they use less that half the normal air.

[skibug]

 

[skibug]

@wawaskr kept right on skiing

[Horton]

 

[Than_Bogan]

I can't decide if I think over-inflating Wally Buoys, even briefly, is merely totally unnecessary or a really bad idea.

If Wally Buoys look spherical in the air, then they are set up incorrectly and offering none of the additional safety that they should offer.

Once put in the water, the top will look quite spherical. All of the air is forced to the top half.

 

Indeed, this is the entire point: When hit, the air is forced to the bottom of the buoy, allowing the top to collapse. If there is no where for that "top half" air to go, because the bottom half is already full, then Wally Buoys are ... well actually still the best because they don't fade ... but not nearly as great a they are meant to be!

[skibug]

@Horton those turn balls are way over-inflated. You need to let enough air out of them so the bottom half of the buoy "puckers". It will seem like they are way under-inflated but the down force of the bungee (or rope) attached will make the top half of the buoy "crown" when installed. That is what you want so they maintain the softness and provides space for the air displace when they are hit.

[MISkier]

@skibug is right. Way too much air in them.

[Zman]

@Horton What diameter bungee are you using with the plastic hooks? How has that bungee held up for you? I'm done with the surgical tubing.

[skibug]

@Zman it is recommended you use 1/4". The bungee holds up for many seasons of continuous submersion.

[Zman]

@skibug Thanks. Something like this? Bungee

[skibug]

@Zman Yep, looks like that would be fine

[escmanaze]

I have hit our Wally buoys now a couple times and so far so good.

 

I will note, though, that I think I inflated them correctly, in that they weren't even a full round shape when I was done, they still had that little bit of "pucker" that @skibug mentions.

 

To the point that @RGilmore is trying to make, it took months, many months, for the little ridge to go away.

 

I decided not to care, and just let the little ridge be there, but it really did take a long time to finally go away.

[Horton]

Yes guys I know those balls are over. Is fixed

[bbruzzese]

I agree Wally's are by far the best. We had one sliced open about two weeks ago. Didn't have a spare at the time so just put a few pumps of air in to give it shape and clipped it back on...still floating perfectly today.

 

Also, for anyone looking for bungee, I highly recommend this:

 

http://www.proflexmfg.com/Proflex1289.html

 

We have some sections that have been in the water over 10 yrs. We use the 7/32 diameter and THB-4 hooks.

 

[TravisNW]

We had a set of Wally balls a few years back. Maybe it’s the colder water of the NW, maybe they’ve changed since then but we really were not happy with them. The material is really thick and therefore hard. I used them for gate balls just to use some of them but I’ll swap out polyform buoys every year no problem for the softer feel. Yes we had them barely inflated.

[Than_Bogan]

@TravisNW I can't say what was up this the ones you had, but I CAN say we use them throughout New England and love them, so I don't think cold water is a factor.

[lkb]

@TravisNW Not sure if you know but there are two versions of the red wallybouy. One is soft and one is not soft.

[skierjp]

This is what most everyone uses in Florida. Last forever. AMAZON

[skierjp]

 

[Adam Caldwell]

I run the boat guides exactly the same way as I run the slalom buoys. Very little air in them so it takes way less tension in the rubber/bungee and less counterweight to control level.

 

Only fill 1/2 up with air, put a mark on all of them 6" down from the top.

 

Added benefit is skiers can slam into them on accident and not worry about popping out of the ski or having undesired fin adjustments. Further, it will put less stress on the seams of the buoys.

[LeonL]

Taylor made used to mfg Wally buoys to Wally's specs. A Taylor made that looks identical is very hard.

[WallySkier]

The first manufacturer I used was awful. The molds leaked, so they put more material in to compensate. For years now I have a great manufacturer that is particular. I invested many 10’s of thousands of dollars to have my own molds made and have made many improvements to the design. Completely different buoy now.

Btw John.... you like using the term ‘blow up’ for the buoys. You used the term I like ‘inflate’ ??❤️

I’m still not sure how I feel about your great excitement over my balls. ????

wally@wallyskier.com

[Wish]

Ok, I was given a Wally buoy. It was used and I’d say inflated to round. So I painted it (really did not need it) and let air out till I could almost sink 1/3 of a softball in the dimple created. Replaced my water filled standard buoy with it and dimpled the underside so above the water was nice and round. These things a quite remarkable. First thing I noticed was it taking the same weight (almost none) as the water filled ball to hold it just below the equator. Second was how playable the above water portion was. Easy to dimple (displace air to the bottom) and have it pop back to round on its own. This, in my mind, makes it better then water filled (water filled being better then standard air filled buoy). Very very impressed.

[Horton]

I love Wallys balls