Jump to content

Welcome to TheMalibuCrew!

As a guest, you are welcome to poke around and view the majority of the content that we have to offer, but in order to post, search, contact members, and get full use out of the website you will need to Register for an Account. It's free and it's easy, so don't hesitate to join the TheMalibuCrew Family today!

Boat Fenders


crod

Recommended Posts

I recently bought BABZ fenders (available on Amazon)....they are the round fenders and I love them. Can be easily blown up too 24" in diameter and will protect your boat no matter what with ZERO scuffs...been using them all summer and multiple times at friends dock who is on main channel of busy lake. On July 4th....I was worried, these things are pretty badass.

I had the larger sized normal fenders before that which are black and not supposed to scuff...did ok, but no where near the protection of the ones above. I still use them tho for launching boat, etc. But if I tie up to another boat, or leaving boat at dock for any amount of time.....BABZ all the way (think $129 for set of 4), total protection and you dont have to worry about it. I am too OCD about my boat and have a black hull, so nice knowing I wont be spending the next weekend polishing scuffs out of my boat.

Link to comment

I like the new mission fenders. The blow up ones are bigger but I dont want to blow them up each time.  I didnt like the straps on the new mission fenders so I just installed old school lines.

Link to comment

I use the larger 6.5 x 23 inch fenders 95% of the time (launching, tieing to a dock, etc.). I like these because they give plenty of protection and they work well with my fender pro.  

For tieing up to other boats or long term docking, I also use the BABz balls.  They are AWESOME, but a pain in the a** to blow up multiple times a day.  

Link to comment

I like the mission fenders as well, but they are made to use the cleats.  Doubt that they would work very well with fender locks due to the way they are meant to hang.

@Gavin17 have a picture? Trying to figure out how the mission fenders would work with a rope. 

 

Edited by oldjeep
Link to comment

They work really well with a rope and the cleats. 

I removed the straps which leaves 2 holes in the fender. I put a rope in and tied a knot leaving a loop the exact size I need. 

Then u put the loop thru the cleat and the fender is hung in 2 seconds at the correct height. 

Link to comment

Hey guys. This seems like as good a place as any to post this. Just wanted to express my thanks to everyone who participated in the BABz group buy. To those that took the plunge, we'd love to see some photos (tagged on instagram or emailed) and reviews. I also wanted to take this opportunity to recommend another product to accompany BABz, or any other products you might have on your boat that need inflating. Official disclaimer... We have no affiliation with this company at all. This little air pump off Amazon is pretty incredible. One of our customers brought it to our attention a few months ago. We finally decided to order one. We have only had ours a few days. So time will tell. But other customers of ours have had theirs for several months with no issues. I didn't really think much of it the first time I heard about it. As we have several different types of 12v pumps we use. But not having to find a cig plug with a boat full of people is pretty great. Just recommending a pretty impressive little device. I'm on board with anything that makes life on the water easier. 

As always, I'm available via PM if anyone has any questions about BABz. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XJTWDQB/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

  • Like 3
Link to comment

Another testimonial for BABz.  I used them for a week at Lake Powell with the boat up against a houseboat.  We got some stiff winds, and the balls protected my boat nicely.    

My only complaint is the gnats are horrible this year and the BABz created a nice paste of dead gnats on the side of the boat, haha!  The paste hardens in the sun and is a bear to get off.  Not the balls fault at all.  I previously used some large generic fenders and the rocking from wind and waves did leave some scuffing that I had to buff out.  

 

Link to comment
1 minute ago, TallRedRider said:

Another testimonial for BABz.  I used them for a week at Lake Powell with the boat up against a houseboat.  We got some stiff winds, and the balls protected my boat nicely.    

My only complaint is the gnats are horrible this year and the BABz created a nice paste of dead gnats on the side of the boat, haha!  The paste hardens in the sun and is a bear to get off.  Not the balls fault at all.  I previously used some large generic fenders and the rocking from wind and waves did leave some scuffing that I had to buff out.  

 

Thanks for the kind words! Next time snag some pics! That sucks about the gnats though. Funny you say that. I had a buddy that was out there not too long ago. He said the gnats are worse than he's ever seen. 

Link to comment

Another vote for Babz.  They worked great when tied up to our rental house dock for a week.  My only small complaint is that the plug is hard to remove when aired up fully.

Link to comment
On 7/11/2018 at 5:09 PM, TallRedRider said:

Another testimonial for BABz.  I used them for a week at Lake Powell with the boat up against a houseboat.  We got some stiff winds, and the balls protected my boat nicely.    

My only complaint is the gnats are horrible this year and the BABz created a nice paste of dead gnats on the side of the boat, haha!  The paste hardens in the sun and is a bear to get off.  Not the balls fault at all.  I previously used some large generic fenders and the rocking from wind and waves did leave some scuffing that I had to buff out.  

 

I had a similar experience at lake Shasta.  One of our days, we had a boat sking in the little cove we were parked at, and they were throwing rollers all day long.  They must have passed us 50 times.  Good for them for getting their set in, but it knocked the hell out of the boat.  We ended up moving later that evening.

the BABz balls were a life saver.  Here is a video showing how well they protected against the rollers. 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1sWzy-SfeDloc1ugty8oM9VmNE0rwogKs

 

Edited by SCMike
  • Like 4
Link to comment
ahopkins22LSV
5 hours ago, SCMike said:

I had a similar experience at lake Shasta.  One of our days, we had a boat sking in the little cove we were parked at, and they were throwing rollers all day long.  They must have passed us 50 times.  Good for them for getting their set in, but it knocked the hell out of the boat.  We ended up moving later that evening.

the BABz balls were a life saver.  Here is a video showing how well they protected against the rollers. 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1sWzy-SfeDloc1ugty8oM9VmNE0rwogKs

 

Those are rollers from a ski boat?! Dang!

But those worked really well. Probably should have bought some during the group buy...

Link to comment
3 hours ago, ahopkinsTXi said:

Those are rollers from a ski boat?! Dang!

But those worked really well. Probably should have bought some during the group buy...

Yeah, It Was a good looking white and aqua blue  Malibu.  Not sure what model or year, but looked to be an early 2000’s.  They were running the cove like that all day.  

Link to comment
On 7/11/2018 at 9:30 PM, dlowry81 said:

Another vote for Babz.  They worked great when tied up to our rental house dock for a week.  My only small complaint is that the plug is hard to remove when aired up fully.

We actually have a tool coming out here in the next 30 days or so. I'd be happy to send you out one and some extra plugs when they arrive. 

On 7/14/2018 at 12:48 AM, SCMike said:

I had a similar experience at lake Shasta.  One of our days, we had a boat sking in the little cove we were parked at, and they were throwing rollers all day long.  They must have passed us 50 times.  Good for them for getting their set in, but it knocked the hell out of the boat.  We ended up moving later that evening.

the BABz balls were a life saver.  Here is a video showing how well they protected against the rollers. 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1sWzy-SfeDloc1ugty8oM9VmNE0rwogKs

 

Wow that is some serious rolling! But a great video. I'll put this on our instagram if it is alright with you. 

On 7/14/2018 at 6:17 AM, ahopkinsTXi said:

Those are rollers from a ski boat?! Dang!

But those worked really well. Probably should have bought some during the group buy...

Shoot me an email if you'd like a set. I may be able to get you in on a group order thats going on right now. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
8 hours ago, BABz said:

We actually have a tool coming out here in the next 30 days or so. I'd be happy to send you out one and some extra plugs when they arrive. 

Wow that is some serious rolling! But a great video. I'll put this on our instagram if it is alright with you. 

Shoot me an email if you'd like a set. I may be able to get you in on a group order thats going on right now. 

@BABz, totally fine posting on IG.  My IG tag is scmikec

i can sent a few photos to you as well if you want to send me your email address. 

Link to comment
23 hours ago, SCMike said:

@BABz, totally fine posting on IG.  My IG tag is scmikec

i can sent a few photos to you as well if you want to send me your email address. 

Just saw this and added you in the post! You can send any pictures you have to [email protected] and I’ll post them! 

Link to comment
On 7/11/2018 at 6:39 AM, Gavin17 said:

They work really well with a rope and the cleats. 

I removed the straps which leaves 2 holes in the fender. I put a rope in and tied a knot leaving a loop the exact size I need. 

Then u put the loop thru the cleat and the fender is hung in 2 seconds at the correct height. 

pics?

Link to comment

Just curious how people are securing their Babz to their cleats or Phender pros.  When I loop the Babz handle around my cleats the ball sits to high and doesn't do it's job.  Does that make sense?  Pics would be appreciated.

Link to comment

+1 for Babz.  I finally got a chance to put them to use over the July 4th holiday break.  They kept my boat skuff/scratch free from the rollers that came through during the week that we were there.

 

image.thumb.png.3fd56082aefa0f8343ca3ee196c32db2.png

Link to comment

Are babz any different than the exile boat balls?  I have had my exiles sided by side with $4 hipity hops from the toy store and I could not tell the difference other than color and both work great but would not mind dropping a bit more cash on a set if they were a little thicker. 

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...