Many small boats don’t have room enough for storing excess gear, so the best equipment will serve more than one purpose and spend less time just taking up space. Ordinary boat fenders are meant to serve at the dock but the rest of the time they’re only along for the ride. Impact Fenders, a company based in Durango, Colorado, has come up with something different: fenders that make themselves useful not only at the dock but also underway and ashore. The fenders can be bent and then hold that shape to wrap around the rail and provide all-around protection at the dock.
Photographs by the author
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Not a bad idea … would be helpful for my NE Dory. Unfortunaltely the price is 85$ for yellow and other colours. Only camouflage is 49$.
Fenders are often pricey. A wraparound low-freeboard fender of about the same size costs $85 at West Marine.
I also had noticed the lower price for the camouflage fender and asked the manufacturer about it. Here’s the reply:
Great catch. We are in the middle of website rebuild and overhaul, with a launch ETA in early March. All colors except for the camouflage are made with a 32-oz, PVC-coated polyester outer material. The camouflage outer material is 18-oz PVC-coated polyester. It’s still strong, but a bit lighter weight (and lower price point) than the rest.
Nice product. Seems the high visibility colors could double as a day signal for emergency equipment, and they would add some flotation as well.
$25 shipping charges are an immediate deal breaker.
It would be a good substitute on my small boat for bulky fenders that take up a bit of space. Are they a bit buoyant if they wind up overboard or not at all making them stay under water when at the dock? If they spend some time at the dock, would it be ok to use FSR (Fiberglass Stain Remover) to remove marine life – or what should be used that would not damage the PVC-coated polyester exterior?
Impact Fenders do float. FRS, according to its Safety Data Sheet, is composed of isopropanol and oxalic acid and other ingredients. The instructions for FSR note that the product should be used on small test areas to see if it has any adverse effects.
The website says that CG Type 4 approval is in the works. If one of these replaces fender, seat and the required throw cushion it would be worth the $85 + $25. I sent a request on the approval status by the web contact form weeks ago, no reply yet.
We received a reply from Impact Fenders about the status of the USCG approval for the use of their fenders and throw cushions:
In going through the process to earn USCG Type 4 approval for our fenders, we learned that one product cannot have two designations: as both a fender and a flotation device. Our fenders do meet the USCG minimum adult buoyancy to qualify, but they are not Coast Guard approved, and we’ve recently decided not to pursue approval. We’ve updated the site.
—Ed.
Honestly, I’ve been using Type IV throwables as fenders for my dinghy and they have worked pretty well. Not keeping the dinghy at the dock day in day out, but for a weekend at a time they have been pretty good.