Fenders

[Arcadyus]

Mission Sentry fenders vs Babz fenders. Some of the docks we use are kinda shitty. These seem to be on the top of most people's lists. Which are better overall if you had to choose one type?

[rdlangston13]

The Mission sentry look nice but I like how big Babz can get, maximum space between the boat and dock. And the Mission sentry are expensive and do not deflate for storage

[haknslash]

The Sentry don’t offer a lot of protection simply because they aren’t thick to keep the boat far from the dock. They would work fine in a calm area or slough but I would not want them for areas where it can get rough or docks where you want to stay away from. If you tie up with other boats it’s always best to keep the distance as far as you can especially if one of the boats doesn’t have swivel board racks. Ask me how I know :D. The Sentry look cool but that’s about it for me.

I’d go Babz or Exile balls. Exile is running a buy one get one free in their hot deals. It’s nice being able to deflate to not take up space plus they keep you at least 18” away from the dock vs a contour shaped Sentry or even standard 8-10” traditional gender.

[jason1973]

BABZ offer more protection than the mission. And less money too. Also deflate to save room in the boat.

[larry_arizona]

I have a set of missions and they are sweet, but work best tied up with another boat, they are a bit low profile to cover docks that have poles that are outboard of the dock edge.

Example: although poles are here are not this big.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190626/f26c8b1d5286f7f5116818d2e9bc6324.jpg

I just ordered a couple exile buoy balls to work with the outboard pole style docks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rdlangston13]

I’d go Babz or Exile balls. Exile is running a buy one get one free in their hot deals. It’s nice being able to deflate to not take up space plus they keep you at least 18” away from the dock vs a contour shaped Sentry or even standard 8-10” traditional gender.

I believe wetsounds is also selling bouy balls as well. I think they may have partnered with BABZ on them.

[larry_arizona]

I believe wetsounds is also selling bouy balls as well. I think they may have partnered with BABZ on them.

Exiles are 18” and WS are 24” for reference.

If you don’t want advertising on yours, these are just hippity hop toys.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Prospersigman]

I buy colored Hippity Hop balls off of Amazon that match my boat. They come in all different sizes and are the exact same thing without the advertising and many of them come with a little hand pump to pump them up. I use Velcro straps to loop through the handle and the cleat to keep them in place when tying up to another boat or dock.

example here:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00P2YHX5Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011WGG18A/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Arcadyus]

I buy colored Hippity Hop balls off of Amazon that match my boat. They come in all different sizes and are the exact same thing without the advertising and many of them come with a little hand pump to pump them up. I use Velcro straps to loop through the handle and the cleat to keep them in place when tying up to another boat or dock.

example here:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00P2YHX5Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011WGG18A/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I was thinking about these when I saw the exile balls at the dealership. I thought the balls we bounced on as kids were more robust than these. Does anyone use the adult xlarge 30" balls? Or are those just too big? I'll stay away from the missions.

[Prospersigman]

The 22" ones that I bought are more than enough in my opinion...I see no need for 30" balls:rolleyes:

[KnoxMojo]

I use the small hoppy balls, they're still really big.

[larry_arizona]

Received my Exile Buoy balls today, slight issue with one, but Exile Audio customer service is OUTSTANDING and more than took care of it.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[z28ke]

This season I’ve switched to these:

Jolly Pets 10-Inch Tug-n-Toss, Blueberry https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001C4CHX6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_UUufDbFYP1TTB

Smaller and easier to stow. I glued a vacuum cap into the hole so they don’t collapse.

[BABzUSA]

Hey guys! I'm the owner of BABz Boat Fenders here in Austin, TX. I try to make myself available to all the forums by periodically scanning the interwebs for activity. Today that led me here! I'm not here to push product. I'm simply here to answer any questions you might have about BABz.

First off, we have just released our Version 2 variant of BABz. These offer some pretty awesome improvements over the previous model. We just shipped out all preorders on Friday. So these should be seen hitting the water starting this week.

I will go ahead and touch on the comparison to the children's hippity hop balls as it's something we hear often. These are 100% where BABz were born from. Long ago I used the Disney Princess balls to tie up in the cove. The worked ok. But I soon became obsessed with boat fenders. I just couldn't believe there wasn't a better option out there for our wake boats. After being extremely dissatisfied with the current offerings, I decided to start BABz and create an inflatable ball style bumper that could not only serve the purpose of the Disney hopper balls, but also act as a full on replacement to traditional fenders. I could write a lot of info on this subject. But the short version is they have a very similar exterior shape and features of the kids hopper balls. We are actually already working on our Version 3 variant that will have some new exterior design elements. But the honest truth is there just aren't many ways to redesign a ball. However, the exterior shape is where the similarities stop. We are constantly tweaking the plastic blend and other features to make BABz the best fenders on the market. Many features we work on like the plastic blend or UV coating are hard to see. But other features are more noticeable. The easiest way to see the difference is having one in your hands. They are much more durable than any competitor out there. The standard kids hopper balls you find on Amazon or toy stores aren't even close. I really try not to bring the Exile balls up on the forums as they make a fine product that suits many customers. But since they are specifically being mentioned, I will say that the photo below is of a handle of a BABz and Exile ball. Again, they work great for many people. But BABz are much more durable and probably more importantly, considerably larger. On that same note, many boaters still use the kids hopper balls! They can work great for tying up in a calm cove. As I said before, I used them for many years. But I would never trust a 100k+ boat to them in just about any except the calmest of conditions.

With the release of our Version 2 line, we're working on a comparison video of several different fender products. This will include cross sections like in the photo below. I think this will really shed some light on the hopper ball issue. Until then, if you're on the fence, I would invite you to order a single BABz on Amazon and see for yourself. We've done away with the package discount. So you aren't missing out on any price breaks by ordering 1 or 10. We've also started to roll out our dealer program. So these will also be in many dealers around the country in the very near future. So hopefully you will be able to go check these out locally very soon.

Attached are two photos. One is the handle cross section I referred to earlier. The other is a post on wake world awhile back where someone compared the BABz and the Exile balls.

Again, I'm not here to push product. I'm here to answer questions or concerns about not only BABz, but just about anything on fenders! I've pretty much tested them all!

-Caleb

https://www.planetnautique.com/vb5/filedata/fetch?id=591449

https://www.planetnautique.com/vb5/filedata/fetch?id=591450



EDIT: As far as the Mission Fenders go, this was my response on a facebook post awhile back asking about the same comparison between BABz, the Mission fenders, and traditional Taylor Made fenders...

"Mission is a fine company. I’ve owned both their Delta wake shaper and their large inflatable mat. Both are well built products. I have not seen their fenders in person (I have now). But I’m sure they are built just as well (they are). That being said, on my boat I want separation from whatever I’m tied to. Those and the other pad style just don’t do it for me. In calm conditions they will work great. But when the rollers come in I just don’t trust them. They also aren’t the best at contouring to different hulls. For me a ball style just works better. The Taylor Made traditional style commercial fenders are extremely heavy duty. They are nearly impossible to damage. But they WILL eventually scratch your boat’s gel coat. Usually sooner than later. It’s why a lot of people run the cloth/nylon sleeves over them. But those too will start scratching when they get dirty. The sleeves will work, you just have to make sure they stay very clean. When I see these tied up at public docks where they’ve been beat up for years without cleaning and people have their brand new 100k+ wake boats tied up, I legitimately get the shivers. Those are my quick thoughts..."

[larry_arizona]

Soooooooo you are sure you are not pushing products???

That was like a 30 minute infomercial.....
Lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[KnoxMojo]

Soooooooo you are sure you are not pushing products???

That was like a 30 minute infomercial.....
Lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Didn't even give a discount code for a few bucks off a $40 dollar hoppy ball. Lol

[BABzUSA]

Soooooooo you are sure you are not pushing products???

That was like a 30 minute infomercial.....
Lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sorry! Truly didn’t mean to come off that way! Was just trying to share information. Didn’t realize I’d typed a small novel until I looked back just now.

[jason1973]

I am certainly not mad about what he posted. It was informational and helpful. Its great to know more about the products we order. I was an early adopter of BabZ and they work great. We used the to tie up multiple boats on the lake at the sand bar. They offer maximum spacing which is what is needed.

[larry_arizona]

I don’t think anyone was mad, I just thought it was funny that he wasn’t trying to sell any bumpers......lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Shoebox]

Holy crap those Babz balls are huge. I've never needed bigger than the Exiles I have. Keep me as far off the dock as I need to be, and the sandbar we hang at gets some rollers and I've never had an issue with boats touching, aside from having to remove boards from same-side racks to keep them from banging together.

[Arcadyus]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190813/5a47a6009a84b3b7b3a9756a1b97a720.jpg

They work great. Deflate and inflate very fast. And are fucking huge. Well worth the price compared to a child's hippity hop balls or the exile balls that seem half as thick. These are now the only fenders we have in the boat. The mission fenders we tried and took back. They simply don't protect our boat with so much freeboard.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Matt0520]

We went with Exile during one of the BOGO deals. $24 for two fenders is unbeatable. I like that they’re a bit smaller, we throw them in the OB and never deflate.

Only problem I’ve found is that these boats are widest at the tower. The BABz balls are better for tying up due to the increased clearance provided. You can see how I had to throw in another fender on the tower:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190813/ebcbd5831993411a81de980101f39fe9.jpg

But we rarely tie up and I like that the Exile balls don’t keep my boat really far away from the dock.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190813/86b27a8ed078375f601b6c34505f3c59.jpg

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[larry_arizona]

I will say exile has outstanding customer service.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Shoebox]

We went with Exile during one of the BOGO deals. $24 for two fenders is unbeatable. I like that they’re a bit smaller, we throw them in the OB and never deflate.

Only problem I’ve found is that these boats are widest at the tower. The BABz balls are better for tying up due to the increased clearance provided. You can see how I had to throw in another fender on the tower:

I just hang an Exile ball from the tower.

[Matt0520]

I just hang an Exile ball from the tower.

Good idea


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BABzUSA]

I am certainly not mad about what he posted. It was informational and helpful. Its great to know more about the products we order. I was an early adopter of BabZ and they work great. We used the to tie up multiple boats on the lake at the sand bar. They offer maximum spacing which is what is needed.


I don’t think anyone was mad, I just thought it was funny that he wasn’t trying to sell any bumpers......lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for being a customer Jason! Let's get real, I'm always trying to sell bumpers! It's just a fine line of trying to provide information and not coming off as a car salesman.




Holy crap those Babz balls are huge. I've never needed bigger than the Exiles I have. Keep me as far off the dock as I need to be, and the sandbar we hang at gets some rollers and I've never had an issue with boats touching, aside from having to remove boards from same-side racks to keep them from banging together.

For the record, you can get BABz up to 24 inches like in the photo. But they are closer to 22 inches when inflated with just your lungs. But they are substantially larger. From my experience the size you need is greatly determined by the contour of your boat. My RZ4 has a pretyt steep angle from the rub rail. So hanging them at the water line requires a bit more space. But we have people request an 18 inch variant all the time. We have thrown around the idea of making a smaller version.



https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190813/5a47a6009a84b3b7b3a9756a1b97a720.jpg

They work great. Deflate and inflate very fast. And are fucking huge. Well worth the price compared to a child's hippity hop balls or the exile balls that seem half as thick. These are now the only fenders we have in the boat. The mission fenders we tried and took back. They simply don't protect our boat with so much freeboard.



Thanks for being a customer! Boat looks great by the way! The gunmetal are rare now days. Won't be seeing that color for awhile! This is also our preferred method to tie these up. Floating on the line like this allows them to move much better than tying a knot at the handle.


We went with Exile during one of the BOGO deals. $24 for two fenders is unbeatable. I like that they’re a bit smaller, we throw them in the OB and never deflate.

Only problem I’ve found is that these boats are widest at the tower. The BABz balls are better for tying up due to the increased clearance provided. You can see how I had to throw in another fender on the tower:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190813/ebcbd5831993411a81de980101f39fe9.jpg



But we rarely tie up and I like that the Exile balls don’t keep my boat really far away from the dock.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190813/86b27a8ed078375f601b6c34505f3c59.jpg

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I just hang an Exile ball from the tower.


Another great looking boat! Love how the flag matches. That is a smoking deal from Exile. While they're not as durable as BABz, and they're smaller at 18inches, they work great for many people and are far superior to a kids hopper ball. Well worth it at 2 for $25!

For you guys hanging them from the tower or just hanging them anywhere, we recommend these gear ties to everyone. You can pick them up at home depot or Amazon. They allow you to hang BABz from just about anywhere. They're also great for tying up gear and just about anything else. We have a ton of these in the boat.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Nite-Ize-24-in-Gear-Tie-in-Black-2-Pack-GT24-2PK-01/203211027?MERCH=REC-_-pipsem-_-NA-_-203211027-_-N

A company called Hook It Clips also makes a carabiner coated with rubber that also works really well. They are especially great at hanging BABz from the cleat when you need just a few more inches.

[larry_arizona]

I'm not here to push product. I'm simply here to answer any questions you might have about BABz...."


Babz, I am just bustin your babz balls, carry on.......


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[zabooda]

Hey guys! I'm the owner of BABz Boat Fenders here in Austin, TX. I try to make myself available to all the forums by periodically scanning the interwebs for activity. Today that led me here! I'm not here to push product. I'm simply here to answer any questions you might have about BABz.

First off, we have just released our Version 2 variant of BABz. These offer some pretty awesome improvements over the previous model. We just shipped out all preorders on Friday. So these should be seen hitting the water starting this week.

I will go ahead and touch on the comparison to the children's hippity hop balls as it's something we hear often. These are 100% where BABz were born from. Long ago I used the Disney Princess balls to tie up in the cove. The worked ok. But I soon became obsessed with boat fenders. I just couldn't believe there wasn't a better option out there for our wake boats. After being extremely dissatisfied with the current offerings, I decided to start BABz and create an inflatable ball style bumper that could not only serve the purpose of the Disney hopper balls, but also act as a full on replacement to traditional fenders. I could write a lot of info on this subject. But the short version is they have a very similar exterior shape and features of the kids hopper balls. We are actually already working on our Version 3 variant that will have some new exterior design elements. But the honest truth is there just aren't many ways to redesign a ball. However, the exterior shape is where the similarities stop. We are constantly tweaking the plastic blend and other features to make BABz the best fenders on the market. Many features we work on like the plastic blend or UV coating are hard to see. But other features are more noticeable. The easiest way to see the difference is having one in your hands. They are much more durable than any competitor out there. The standard kids hopper balls you find on Amazon or toy stores aren't even close. I really try not to bring the Exile balls up on the forums as they make a fine product that suits many customers. But since they are specifically being mentioned, I will say that the photo below is of a handle of a BABz and Exile ball. Again, they work great for many people. But BABz are much more durable and probably more importantly, considerably larger. On that same note, many boaters still use the kids hopper balls! They can work great for tying up in a calm cove. As I said before, I used them for many years. But I would never trust a 100k+ boat to them in just about any except the calmest of conditions.

With the release of our Version 2 line, we're working on a comparison video of several different fender products. This will include cross sections like in the photo below. I think this will really shed some light on the hopper ball issue. Until then, if you're on the fence, I would invite you to order a single BABz on Amazon and see for yourself. We've done away with the package discount. So you aren't missing out on any price breaks by ordering 1 or 10. We've also started to roll out our dealer program. So these will also be in many dealers around the country in the very near future. So hopefully you will be able to go check these out locally very soon.

Attached are two photos. One is the handle cross section I referred to earlier. The other is a post on wake world awhile back where someone compared the BABz and the Exile balls.

Again, I'm not here to push product. I'm here to answer questions or concerns about not only BABz, but just about anything on fenders! I've pretty much tested them all!

-Caleb

https://www.planetnautique.com/vb5/filedata/fetch?id=591449

https://www.planetnautique.com/vb5/filedata/fetch?id=591450



EDIT: As far as the Mission Fenders go, this was my response on a facebook post awhile back asking about the same comparison between BABz, the Mission fenders, and traditional Taylor Made fenders...

"Mission is a fine company. I’ve owned both their Delta wake shaper and their large inflatable mat. Both are well built products. I have not seen their fenders in person (I have now). But I’m sure they are built just as well (they are). That being said, on my boat I want separation from whatever I’m tied to. Those and the other pad style just don’t do it for me. In calm conditions they will work great. But when the rollers come in I just don’t trust them. They also aren’t the best at contouring to different hulls. For me a ball style just works better. The Taylor Made traditional style commercial fenders are extremely heavy duty. They are nearly impossible to damage. But they WILL eventually scratch your boat’s gel coat. Usually sooner than later. It’s why a lot of people run the cloth/nylon sleeves over them. But those too will start scratching when they get dirty. The sleeves will work, you just have to make sure they stay very clean. When I see these tied up at public docks where they’ve been beat up for years without cleaning and people have their brand new 100k+ wake boats tied up, I legitimately get the shivers. Those are my quick thoughts..."

Proper etiquette and a good business method is a short summary and a link. People won't read through all the crap anyway unless they are a few that are interested.

[larry_arizona]

You doing any BOGO’s or discounts?

The exile BOGO was very popular.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[haknslash]

I love my balls :P. Not as big as Babz but I’ll never go back to a traditional fender! They keep the boat nice and far from the dock.

https://i.imgur.com/c7cvr5r.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/8HaX7jx.jpg

[Boatlaunch]

I also went with the Exile BOGO this year and I'm very happy. I think the regular exile size is the ideal size. Any bigger and it would take to long and much energy to quickly blow up ( takes less than 30 sec to huff it up) and I don't need the boat that far away from the dock, making it a stretch for kids and wife to jump the gap. The exile seems very well made. Only complaint is the $$ shipping on the BOGO deal [emoji849]

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

[haknslash]

I blow mine up with a small air pump made for inflatables. Just plug it into the cigarette lighter and it takes less than 30 seconds per ball and I fill them while prepping the boat for launch as part of the launch routine.

[KnoxMojo]

I'd be interested in Babz at 18"..24" is huge and nobody wants to jump to the dock or another boat.

[BrettLee3232]

This thread made me realize I do my exile balls wrong on tie ups lol [emoji2361] I’ve been tying them to a rope and then to the cleat. I never even thought about floating them like that. #imakook


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Arcadyus]

This thread made me realize I do my exile balls wrong on tie ups lol [emoji2361] I’ve been tying them to a rope and then to the cleat. I never even thought about floating them like that. #imakook


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

#kooksonly

[ktenan12]

We went with Exile during one of the BOGO deals. $24 for two fenders is unbeatable. I like that they’re a bit smaller, we throw them in the OB and never deflate.

Only problem I’ve found is that these boats are widest at the tower. The BABz balls are better for tying up due to the increased clearance provided. You can see how I had to throw in another fender on the tower:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190813/ebcbd5831993411a81de980101f39fe9.jpg

But we rarely tie up and I like that the Exile balls don’t keep my boat really far away from the dock.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190813/86b27a8ed078375f601b6c34505f3c59.jpg

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Having my gf get fenders and ropes ready while I bring the boat in is like pulling teeth. Same routine every time, but I have to explain exactly how to do it while trying to drive at the same time. Never fails.

I like your set up with the balls already on the tie-up ropes. Are those ropes a particular model/style or just something you had laying around? I think I'm going to make two set ups the same as yours.

[z28ke]

I hang my fenders from these since we typically aren’t at the dock long enough to tie up, just dropping off or picking up people (unless we are at the in-laws lake house for the weekend).

Easily adjustable to account for dock height or if ballast is full/empty.

Nite Ize CamJam Cord Tightener 2 Pack With 8FT of Paracord, Lightweight Plastic Tie Down Cam Mechanism With Carabiner Clip + Cord https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007RQ3MSC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_5HdvDbRBK78T2