Best Price on Buoys

[skinut]

We need to purchase quite a few buoys for the upcoming season. I know there has been a lot of discussion on turn buoys but I don't hear much on the boat guides. Other than Overton's are there other places to purchase boat guides? BTW Overton's wants $7 a ball.

[kstateskier]

get with Ed@ez-slalom.com he has competitive pricing and ships fast. Plus he's good dude!

[klindy]

I'd also check with Wally at wallyskier.com. Good prices, soft buoys that hold their color forever.

[Jdubs]

2nd for wallyskier.com

 

[Edbrazil]

Gotta add a little here.

 

Apparently, for some buck$, the Wallybouys are good. Also, for even more buck$,

there are the Goode buoys for skier buoys.

 

If you are not grazing and running over buoys, something simple should be OK,

esp. if you are not running wicked short line. Just keep them pulled down.

 

Meanwhile, back in the Olde Daze, it was a bit of a challenge to get buoys. I remember

going to the local hardware for beach balls, glue, and suction cups. This was before

there were official AWSA buoys. An alternative was double-folded half-filled inner tubes.

No joke. On my local lake, the guys found hard foam buoys that they used. They were

boat mooring-type buoys with a pigtail of wire sticking out.

 

You could tell who was running slalom by the scratches on their thighs. But, you can

forgive them because they were jumpers at that time.

 

At one time, the WWSU (now IWWF), had a spec. for buoys, esp. endgates, that were

HUGE. Mid-1970's for "Record" events. I remember inflating AWSA buoys to attempt to

get them to the 35cm diameter. Every once in a while, they would explode like a

shotgun blast.

[ntx]

@skinut For boat guides go with the Overtons inflatable boat guides. I know they are about 20.00 each but they will last FOREVER. I have some on our course that have been in the water for at least ten years. They will last much longer than anything else and over time will be cheaper also. I know it is tough to bite the bullet the first time, but if on a private site where they are not subjected to the weekend walley, they are the best.

[MrJones]

Just went to Ed's web site. Cancelled an order I had elsewhere and ponyed up for the polyform inflateable cylinder buoys for the boat guides. I have used them on a jump course in the past and they did last forever. Hopefully the kids handle won't yank them out as much as round bouys either. He was really nice to talk to and his price beat Overton's by a fair bit.

[MrJones]

This is kind of a follow up. I would much rather use the polyform buoys (round or otherwise) than the Overton's buoys. They seem to hold up better and the eye is actually big enough to pass shock cord through without a struggle. I orded round greens for the 55's from Ed along with the cylinders. I think they were $5.50 per.

[skinut]

Thanks for your help. I order some buoys and buoy lines from Ed. Great guy, easy to work with.

[Zman]

Just bought a 26 buoy set from Ed, arrived yesterday. Thanks for the quick shipping Ed.

Baller Index of 96 today in south GA!

[Ed_Obermeier]

Thank you for the kind words and recommendations guys, always sincerely appreciated. We work hard to be as price competitive as is possible.

 

I just try my best to treat people the way I want to be treated when I'm on the other end of the deal. We usually get it right... Always good to know it's appreciated, thank you.

[Wish]

OK, so stumble on these at Walmart the other day. They are the correct size and color as is. The attachment point will obviously last forever! The rubber ball material is extremely thick..bullet proof even. One would think it must be hard. Not the case at all. Very pliable and soft....squishy. Seems to be holding little to no air. Not all that expensive ($12 bucks) considering how long it would last. I may be crazy but that would last on my lake for 20yrs. I say that because someone on the lake had a bigger one exactly like it on the lake for 15+ and it's only slightly faded. Now consider them water filled for safety....... Hmmmmm...

[Wish]

Forgot the photo And @Horton.... I deleted the little photo... Wooooohooo....

[ntx]

I refuse to shop at Walmart

[bbirlew]

@EdBrazil,

I hear you about the difficulty finding course balls back in the day. At our home lake growing up the boat guides were plastic 4ltr jugs filled with spray foam as recently as the early '90s.

When you lost a turn ball and had to replace it with a boat guide it was bruised shins for everyone for weeks!!

[MrB]

Get them from Ed at www.EZ-Slalom.com. Best price I've ever found and of COURSE it's @Ed_Obermeier.

[east tx skier]

There is a recent thread on the MC forum about spongex boat guides from fishing outlets for about 60% of the price of the typical boat guides. Like under $8 versus $10. They are slightly smaller, but I think we'll be giving them a try this season.

[LeonL]

If you're on private water, don't even consider anything but Polyform s-1. Even at $20 they're the cheapest option. I have Polyform boat guides that are 18 years old. When they fade, just dye 'em.

[jdarwin]

In 12 years of running my site, I have learned that paying a little more for a good product is well worth the investment. The Polyform round buoys that Ed sells last MUCH longer than any others. The Wally buoys are a good alternative and last very well also. We use the Bubble Buoys for tournaments and pull them afterward. Too expensive for daily use IMO. Therefore, don't always focus on the price - focus on value.

[sunperch]

We use Wally bouys, they sink much better than our old bouys when I (accidently) run over them. The only problem with them is they do not hold up to ice very well in the winter. We lost a lot of them (sliced open and filled with water) the first year, now we change out to old bouys at the end of the season.