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WallySkier Turn Balls - Evidence of Their Safety


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Please do not put water in a buoy, it adds mass and keeps the buoy from moving, making it more like a rock. It is worse. It is better to deflate, and any soft buoy plastic can then displace and move as needed.
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We have ours barely inflated and sunk pretty low. Under the water there is a crease in the ball from low air pressure. Wally balls and slowing my speed have made for a great 2019 on the water.

 

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I don't know about Wally buoys so can't comment about why you can't put water in them. However, @coach3 your comment about water adding mass to a regular buoy is not is not entirely thought out. This was discussed and demonstrated years ago, ad nauseam, and I really hope we won't have to go back to that argument again! Let's just say that handle guards and anything better than regular buoys cranked down to be half under the surface will both keep you safer. ;)
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Oh yes, even though a buoy filled with water is in a water medium, it is encapsulated and therefore it's own entity. Additional mass will deter movement and trip up a skier. I have experimented with both when we had that old discussion. Do as you like, but water mass will make a buoy more dangerous. There are easier ways to submerge. It is well though out.
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The Wally's have saved my bad ankle many times. The guys in our club did not believe the marketing hype and did not want to pay the price. So another person and I in the club purchased them due to we have the bad ankles. Some of ours are four years old and still look pretty good.

oldmanskier

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I understand that wallyskier buoys need little air pressure for use.

When new, Should you fully inflate to make them round, for a few days first, then let air back out, or is that overthinking it and just put some air in and put them to service?

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@skimtb, just put a minimum of air in them initially. They should be semi-crumpled after you add air. Then, when you push the bottom of the buoy together with your hands, the top should fill out into the round shape. It will do the same thing when you put it in the water. And, the sun will help smooth them out a bit over time. Do not try to make them fully round with the air.

 

The theory is the bottom will collapse in with water pressure and fill out the top. Then, when you hit the top, it pushes the top down and moves the air into the semi-collapsed bottom. This is how the buoy absorbs the force of your ski without pushing back against you with a lot of buoyant force. That buoyant force is what knocks your ski off edge or stops it, potentially leading to crashes and injury.

The worst slalom equipment I own is between my ears.

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@MISkier Thanks. I was a bit unclear. They have a funny ring around them from packing / shopping / Mfg.

I was asking to blow them up fully to try and work that out while sitting in my floor. I’m doing this now, may go put in sun too.

Then, I’ll deflate as you describe above for 1st use. They won’t go in use fully inflated.

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@skimtb they are “spun moulded” buoys so the buoys is moulded to the finished size and shape. That’s why it takes minimal air to hold its shape. So I’d recommend using as little air as possible to prevent the buoy from collapsing due to the water pressure or being held down by tension. You should not have to put air into the buoy to get it to a specific size just to hold its shape.
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Upon taking from the box, Putting just a little air in them resulted in them being roundish with a little halo around it, kinda like planet Saturn. This is Likely from Mfg / packaging.

I should have taken a pic...

I inflated it fully and put in the sun. It’s round, as it should be.

Next will deflate as everyone is saying so it functions properly.

Sorry if this is still confusing.

 

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@Wish Maybe the second test. We purchased a new set last summer. Our existing set were just discolored after 5 years in the southern sun. We also noticed the "crease" in the new set, so we inflated them almost fully, still quite soft, and stored them until this summer. When we were ready to install them, we let the air out until they were only about half inflated and the "crease" was pretty much gone, and is not at all noticeable as installed on our floating course.

We certainly didn't have to let them sit all winter, but we didn't need to install them until this summer.

Even after 5+ years, the old ones are in great condition other than much of the top having turned black. We will probably paint these and use 4 of them for gates once our current Polyform gates need replacing. Or, just have spares.

uf4grmylc04p.jpg

 

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Coming from someone that has broken his ankle twice clipping a ball, I love the wally balls. We have had them for a couple of years, and I have hit them numerous times without issues. We keep them low psi and low in the water.

 

Not sure why I am still in jail?

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@TEL I’m thinking the recommendation is for in service use.

@Zman Thanks, “crease” is a decent word although understated a bit in my opinion.

I need them to look good as I miss them....

Pics attached “fully inflated” as they sat in sun for 6 hours, then deflated which was letting air out naturally, then squeezing more out.

They seem nice with the air out and like they would function nicely as per design intent.

Went with orange for visibility. Not sure if there is a rule that they should be red?

 

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@skimtb, you need to remove more air.

 

@Wish, I have these at two different sites. One uses a rope loop and then connects a regular plastic hook to that. The other uses a cable tie loop with the plastic hook connected. I'm thinking about a different method of just running the surgical tubing through the buoy "handle" and securing it to itself with a double barrel cord lock. But, I need to verify this design will hold well and release the buoy for severe impact (like a fuse). Still in the early stages of thinking about it.

 

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The worst slalom equipment I own is between my ears.

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@Wish We added a small loop of 1/8 rope to the Wally attachment, then connect to that with a plastic hook with safety latch (from Skier-to-Skier). But, the plastic hooks are large enough to just connect directly to the buoy. Either way is fine.

If your buoys are anchored to the lake bottom, and water level changes some, those clips shown above by @MISkier might work as a quick means to make adjustments.

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I’m considering using 2 loose zip ties. Then a beaner clip to them attached to up lines from float course. It’s been our experience that 2 black zip ties allow the buoys to break away from float course if snagged by something (ocasional tubers or walley skier) leaving course in tact. Concerned loose zip ties may wear into the buoy loop and cause a hole to develop with wave action over time.
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@MISkier , gotcha that makes sense. Our subs are adjustable. We had some adjustable bungee clips that worked well too. Its always surprise when you dive down to see what you will find!

 

"give me three zip ties looped together and I think I can make it work for the rest of the day.....we can fix it right later"

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@MISkier I would not use the chord lock unless the springs are stainless steel. I only use the hooks and remove the clasp. The buoys come off when someone hits it in most cases. The hooks are about the size shown above but the clasp is thinner with sharp edges, which is another reason I remove it as I lost a few buoys due to puncturing. I got the hooks from Wally as well.
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