The "BIMINI BUDDY" Add-On Bimini Top Extension
Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2015 5:26 pm
Well, I finally pulled the trigger and bought a "Bimini Buddy" from IMBAC Products. I've been contemplating which 2nd Bimini top I wanted to buy for the front of the boat, and after a lot of research, here it is in "Pacific Blue"! 
The owner of the company said it would take 2-4 weeks to get to me, but it arrived in only a week and a half! My daughter and I had it out of the box, assembled and put on the boat in about 25 minutes. I'm sure I'll get it down to about 10 minutes or less after I do it a few times.
It appears to be fabricated with high-quality and simplicity in mind. All of the parts snap together quickly and fit together nicely. The Sunbrella fabric top went on perfectly and attached to my factory 10' bimini like they were made for each other. I opted for the optional $55.00 Sunbrella storage boot, and it zips on with ease and provides a nice stowage option for when the wife wants to get sun on the front of the boat.
We haven't had it out on the water yet, but from what I understand it's supposed to perform just as good as my factory bimini. I have no doubts. It seems just as sturdy as my factory bimini top when I tried to shake it around. Those clamps aren't going anywhere!
The PROs:
- HIGH-QUALITY Sunbrella Fabric
- Easy to assemble
- Quickly breaks-down for stowage into several easily manageable sized pieces
- No need to drill into the boat
- No need to permanently mount a forward 2nd bimini top
- No need to have my factory mooring cover cut / modified to fit around permanently attached 2nd bimini hardware
- Matches my boat pretty well
- Provides an additional 47.5 square feet of shade on your boat, at 6' L x 8.5' W (with 5-6" of overlap over the factory bimini)
- Mated to my 10' factory bimini, it shades all but the front 3' and rear 3' of my 22' boat
- VERY sturdy FRP Fiber-reinforced plastic "Quick Clamps" used to attach it to the rails seemed to work very well--easy to use "cam-action" levers similar to quick-release levers on mountain bike wheel hubs
-It appears that the overall height and angle are somewhat adjustable with how far apart you spread the "legs" that clamp to the rails
The CONs:
- Instructions are basically WORTHLESS. The instruction sheet has been photocopied so many times it is completely illegible; both the text and the pics. For $629.00 shipped, I would have expected an easy-to-read instruction sheet.
- All parts had cheesy yard sale price tag decals with assembly sequence numbers written on them in non-permanent marker, that bled with sweaty hands.--Could be smaller, weatherproof, longer-lasting decals for easy assembly time after time. (I may engrave the numbers onto the square tubes myself with a vibrating tool etcher).
- All aluminum tubes could stand to be "De-Burred" on all the cut edges before assembly at the factory. (I'll do it myself with a sanding sponge, but it made me nervous handling large, awkward, sharp-edged metal tubes around the vinyl seats on my BRAND NEW boat).
Sorry, but I'm PICKY. I write curriculum and teach aircraft metal fabrication for a living, so I have extremely high standards.
OVERALL: A very nice, well-engineered product designed for people like me who need a second bimini sometimes but don't want to permanently modify their new boat or accessories.
The owner of the company said it would take 2-4 weeks to get to me, but it arrived in only a week and a half! My daughter and I had it out of the box, assembled and put on the boat in about 25 minutes. I'm sure I'll get it down to about 10 minutes or less after I do it a few times.
It appears to be fabricated with high-quality and simplicity in mind. All of the parts snap together quickly and fit together nicely. The Sunbrella fabric top went on perfectly and attached to my factory 10' bimini like they were made for each other. I opted for the optional $55.00 Sunbrella storage boot, and it zips on with ease and provides a nice stowage option for when the wife wants to get sun on the front of the boat.
We haven't had it out on the water yet, but from what I understand it's supposed to perform just as good as my factory bimini. I have no doubts. It seems just as sturdy as my factory bimini top when I tried to shake it around. Those clamps aren't going anywhere!
The PROs:
- HIGH-QUALITY Sunbrella Fabric
- Easy to assemble
- Quickly breaks-down for stowage into several easily manageable sized pieces
- No need to drill into the boat
- No need to permanently mount a forward 2nd bimini top
- No need to have my factory mooring cover cut / modified to fit around permanently attached 2nd bimini hardware
- Matches my boat pretty well
- Provides an additional 47.5 square feet of shade on your boat, at 6' L x 8.5' W (with 5-6" of overlap over the factory bimini)
- Mated to my 10' factory bimini, it shades all but the front 3' and rear 3' of my 22' boat
- VERY sturdy FRP Fiber-reinforced plastic "Quick Clamps" used to attach it to the rails seemed to work very well--easy to use "cam-action" levers similar to quick-release levers on mountain bike wheel hubs
-It appears that the overall height and angle are somewhat adjustable with how far apart you spread the "legs" that clamp to the rails
The CONs:
- Instructions are basically WORTHLESS. The instruction sheet has been photocopied so many times it is completely illegible; both the text and the pics. For $629.00 shipped, I would have expected an easy-to-read instruction sheet.
- All parts had cheesy yard sale price tag decals with assembly sequence numbers written on them in non-permanent marker, that bled with sweaty hands.--Could be smaller, weatherproof, longer-lasting decals for easy assembly time after time. (I may engrave the numbers onto the square tubes myself with a vibrating tool etcher).
- All aluminum tubes could stand to be "De-Burred" on all the cut edges before assembly at the factory. (I'll do it myself with a sanding sponge, but it made me nervous handling large, awkward, sharp-edged metal tubes around the vinyl seats on my BRAND NEW boat).
Sorry, but I'm PICKY. I write curriculum and teach aircraft metal fabrication for a living, so I have extremely high standards.
OVERALL: A very nice, well-engineered product designed for people like me who need a second bimini sometimes but don't want to permanently modify their new boat or accessories.