Which fender to buy

I've had (3) (not new) Taylormades tear over the years. All replaced no questions asked.

I like both Taylor's and Polyforms and both warranty them without any issues. I use either of them depending on the application. Sometimes they come in slightly different sizes and one seems to work better then the other when it comes to storing them, yet being large enough to offer the appropriate protection.

http://www.praktek.com
They take up much less room and take about 30 seconds to inflate with a low pressure electric pump (or the discharge side of a shop-vac)

The bigger the better...

Praktek or ProStockMarine. Do not chince on fenders! $100 is peanuts when it comes to the cost of repairing gel coat or a torn off rub rail.

On a 55' Azimut I replaced the toy fenders Azimut supplied with 3 from Prostockmarine. With fleece covers, the total cost for 3 fender 18" diameter by 5 foot long (that's right, at 5' long you don't have to worry that the boat slips forward/back and the toy fenders come squirting out) was about $1300.

The advantages of the inflatable fenders is that they are light to handle and deflate for stowage. These fenders are made from extremely durable hypalon and the seams are all welded. I've yet to see one pop and the large yachts use them...

I have seen A LOT of these fenders having major issues. They don't pop, the material doesn't deflect like normal fenders, and when they have a lot of pressure put on them, they blow the valve right out of the fender and then they need to be replaced or warrantied out.

Hi,

I was dubious about the lifetime of these Inflatabke Fenders when they firat came along, Now I would swear by them, I have seen them take a good amount of abuse on rough docks and pilings on big boats and not seen a single valve blown out.

On the other hand in my early yachting days I saw a valve blow out of a Polyform Fender at Bahia Mar - A reason why these should always be mounted with the valve down if possible.

One of the companies had a bad set of valves from France and they have been blowing out. I cannot remember the manufacturers name with the issue. A guy was returning a few that were weeks old to a wholesaler I buy a lot of parts from and they explained that to him and they'd exchange it no problem. These were not megayacht sized fenders. More so, the size you'd use on a 70 MY...... maybe 36-48" length.