After-market trampolines or Hobie brand?

I want to get tramps for for my TI but I'm not sure if I should get after-market or go with the Hobie ones. Has anyone tried the after-market tramps, specifically the ones sold by Tampa Catamarans? http://tampacatamarans.com/

They are local for me and I've emailed them to see if I could stop by and check out their quality but I think they are made in someones house and won't let me come by where they're made. They are half the price! ($200) so I'm really thinking about buying a set. Anyone have experience with this company?

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2015-Tandem Island

At that price, plus your close proximity to the seller in case of problems (!!), I reckon you have little to lose by being guinea pig for the rest of us!

Let us know how you get on.

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Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker

+1

Sent from my SPH-L720T using Tapatalk

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2015 Hobie Tandem Island Hibiscus
"Third Normal Form"

• Trampolines
• Hobie cover
• Davis Spar Fly
• Kayakbob's Sprayskirts
• Spine Board Hakas

For those interested, I contacted them, and they will sell one side for $99, and stated that the tramps carry the same rated load capacity of 200# as the Hobie ones.

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Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker

Took a look at their site. Seems legit. I might even buy a set of spray skirts at that price.

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2015 Hobie Tandem Island Hibiscus
"Third Normal Form"

• Trampolines
• Hobie cover
• Davis Spar Fly
• Kayakbob's Sprayskirts
• Spine Board Hakas

The advantage of kayakingbob's sprays kit are that the extent past aft of the crossbar. This allows better splash protection on the days you don't use your tramps. I'm partial to the look of kayakingbob spray skirts as well but everyone may be different there.

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Greg

2016 AI - Spinn & Jib

“Out of sight of land the sailor feels safe. It is the beach that worries him.”
– Charles G. Davis

I have these tramps, even with shipping to Australia still much cheaper than Hobie branded.

Havent had any problems, i think the Tampa tramps now have upgraded from buckles which may achieve better tension but harder to setup while on the water and also deassemble if needing to quickly drop them if catching the wind (never had this problem myself)


My tampa tramps have buckles and initially a bit of work to achieve good tension.

If the photo works, that's a mate of mine having a beer and sushi out on a tampa tramp


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Last week was the first time I took my new Hobie tramps out of the box and went to use them on an expedition camping trip.

I've always purchased Hobie trampolines on all my previous Hobie Islands and was always satisfied with their quality. However their current version of tramps are crap. Hobie's new one size fits all means the tramp no longer fits over the aka knuckle on the starboard side ... at least on my 2016 AI. I can't imagine what the engineers were thinking when they put that into production. For $399 you should get a good quality product not a piece of junk. By not going over the knuckle the tramp slides outward leaving a larger than desirable gap between the hull and the tramp. Very disappointed.

+1 for Tampa Cats. I have their tramps on my AI that I bought from them. Great folks and great customer service after the sale.

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Zach

Thanks for all the input on this topic. Sounds like they make a good product. I think I will order a set for my TI.

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2015-Tandem Island

Now that I'm preparing for another camping trip this week, I again pulled out my flawed AI2 Hobie tramps. This time I examined the tramps more thoroughly and noticed that they were not correctly cut by the knuckle. Sloppy cut of 1/4" to 1/2" on the starboard side. Sloppy enough that they absolutely would not fit over the knuckle. So a sharp knife was used to trim the tramps correctly and a lighter burned away the frayed edges. Now the starboard tramp fits correctly and will ride close to the hull the way it should and the way I like it. Especially when hauling camping gear.

Of course customers shouldn't have to trim their own tramps but trimming is one way to get them to work correctly if you already purchased a poorly cut set of tramps from Hobie.

These guys make great main tramps, wing covers, etc.

http://www.slosailandcanvas.com/

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2015 Hobie Tandem Island
Ivory Dune
Trampolines, Spinnaker Kit, Lowrance Hook4, Vantage Seat Accessory Bags, GoPro Hero3+, RTIC SoftPak 30, WaterPORT Day Tank

Just placed an order for the Tampa one's based on this thread - will let you know how it goes!

I have a the yellow set of traps/splash guards from https://saltcitysailing.com with metal cams.

I can stand on the tramps when i need to and not destroy with my 300#...

The Hobie tramps could carry far more than 200#. The weight limitation is for the aka structure and over loading the sail rig in higher winds.

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)