Water Mat/Float

[jetboater4life]

Ever since my kid's friends bought a water mat (from Sam's Club), my kids have been begging to get one. I've seen the inflatable one but that doesn't seem like an attractive option for me. There are many kinds of foam mats out there. My question is what mats have people tried and which ones do you recommend?

 

[redthumper9]

Wondering as well. Hoping to pick up an end of season deal on one.

 

[scokill]

Ever since my kid's friends bought a water mat (from Sam's Club), my kids have been begging to get one. I've seen the inflatable one but that doesn't seem like an attractive option for me. There are many kinds of foam mats out there. My question is what mats have people tried and which ones do you recommend?

We see the Aqua Lily Pad most often. Can't ever justify the price.

 

[smthng]

The Yamaha Gang Plank (and various other brands) has gotten quite a bit of love on this forum already... I'm probably going that route eventually.
https://jetboaters.net/threads/yamaha-gang-plank.3366/

 

[Detonate]

We've been very happy with our inflatable WOW Water Walkway.
http://amzn.to/1MHcBRz

The key is getting inflated all the way. Most electric inflators won't cut it. We air ours up with an electric, and then top it off with a foot pump.

Makes it very stiff and easy to walk on...

Folds up flat enough that it's east to store. I can't imagine trucking around those non-inflatable ones. Every time I see someone driving a boat with one I think about what a pain in the ass that must be.....

 

[RightStuff]

I don't own it, but have been on the LilyPad brand ones (green and yellow color), and suspect that the other brands are similar. Here are my observations...

• They are great for the kids to walk/play on.
• There is a point where you weigh too much to walk on them without sinking and having the pad fold up on where you are standing. Maybe around 120-150 lbs is the cut off.
• If not anchored to something (anchor/boat/etc) they do move quite a bit when walking on them
• As an adult they are nice to lay on if the kids are not on it.
• Storage on/off the boat is a pain (as you have probably seen), it seems like it fits rolled up between the helm and passenger compartments for bringing it to/from the lake.
• They are light enough when rolled up for one person to carry it.
• Total opinion here...but they are a pretty expensive piece of foam when you get down to it.

 

[smthng]

Just for reference... The Yamaha Gang Plank, Wow Water Walkway and Airhead Gang Plank appear to be pretty much the same thing... 6x10 feet I think. Hydroslide makes a reasonably priced version called the Aquaplank that's a little longer at 12' (I'm kind of leaning towards this one). These are not to be confused with the insanely priced O'Brien Water Carpet that's 18' of foam... which works out to about $4.60 a square foot. :S

 

[mattschepker]

left to right in the picture is @buckbuck aquaglide water mat (its inflatable I think), middle one is the Sams club 15X6 foam water mat (which is mine), @jcyamaharider Yamaha inflatable water mat (I think the size is 12X6). I am a bigger guy and I was on all of them this past weekend at the Shelbyville gathering. The only problem with the foam mat is you need 2 people to roll it up.

 

[Bruce]

I talked to some of the kids playing on the mats at Shelbyville. The order of preference seemed to be @buckbuck's grey may then the Yamaha with the blue foam mat in last place. That was based on ease of walking on them. They were having a great time on all of the mats!

 

[jetboater4life]

I found the airhead/WOW/Yamaha gang plank for $129 on amazon and pulled the trigger. @buckbuck 's is $800. Ouch. I think my friends purchased their water mat from Sam's club for around 250-350. I decided to go with the portability factor over the fun factor so we'll see how it turns out, and according to @Bruce 's observation the gang plank was preferred over the foam. We'll get a good month of use out of it before the water starts to get a little chilly.

 

[Bruce]

I would go for the airhead/WOW/Yamaha gang plank if I was shopping. $800 is too much. With a tube an 8 foot trampoline and a paddle board on board I am running out of room for inflatables.

 

[jcyamaharider]

Yep we love out Yamaha water mat! Folds up easy and stores in a bag.

 

[jetboater4life]

We are loving our gang plank. A buddy has two of them so it made for quite the floating island.

I bought mine for $129 on amazon and if I can find another on clearance I'll probably buy it.

 

[Wayloncle]

We were out this weekend on Canyon Lake. My friend that was with us saw one and kept talking about how cool it was....until he saw the person trying to roll it up and attach it to the back of their boat to head home.

We were in a deep cove so there was no standing in the water to hold on to it to roll it, it was at least the width of his boat and about 4' diameter once he got it rolled up and some straps around it.

I'd go for an inflatable one if I find one for a good price.

 

[Ismael Breton]

Hey all! We purchased this lake mat at Sam's today. $239 + tax. Couldn't find a single review online, but we figured we'd give it a shot and see what happens. Costco sells the Neptune's Lilly Pad for $299 but we are 2.5 hours from the nearest location that has it in stock.

Has anyone heard of this pad and can share any feedback??

 

[BobJohnson]

If anyone has or finds an inflatable one that could hold up to dog nails, I would be all over it.

@Ismael Breton I don't have one of the Costco ones, but have seen them at the lake. Good for kids to stand on. Like mentioned above, once you get past about 100-150#'s of person though, they sink or fold up.

 

[waternutt]

Any recommendations of WOW vs Airhead brands? It appears the Airhead is currently slightly cheaper.

 

[Pinhacker71]

Some sams clubs have the wow for $89 on floor. 7 teenagers beat the crap out of it last weekend and looks brand new.

 

[txav8r]

If anyone has or finds an inflatable one that could hold up to dog nails, I would be all over it.

@Ismael Breton I don't have one of the Costco ones, but have seen them at the lake. Good for kids to stand on. Like mentioned above, once you get past about 100-150#'s of person though, they sink or fold up.

We had the Yamaha Gang Plank, same as the Airhead and Wow. Our 75 pound boxer, Chester, played on it all the time, and I was not a religious guy about trimming his nails...and we never had a problem with the mat.

 

[Wiremanmike]

Ive been through 3 of the ChillRafts(blue and yellow). They are sold all over at LOTO for $550. The kids love it. The first two I had developed bubbles between the layers of the foam but they were replaced for free with no problems from the marina I bought it from. I recently saw an ad for a new one that uses the same thick foam but has seams in it that allows it to fold up flat without needing a second person to help roll it up and it takes up alot less room. Cant remember what it was called though.