How Durable Are Netted Mamba GaGa Ball Pits?

I recently received an inquiry from a potential customer regarding the durability of our Mamba GaGa Ball Pits. Here’s what I told him:

Thanks for reaching out with your concerns about purchasing our Mamba GaGa Ball Pits. We are aware that some of our competitors have less expensive options, and honestly these are sometimes the best solution for some customers.

Having said that, durability should not be a concern in purchasing our products. You specifically cited the nets and bungees. The nets are made from heavy duty twisted, knotted DuPont type 66 UV protected black nylon #36 mesh. If you research netting, you will see that we could have saved significant costs by:

 

• using a lighter weight twine,
• by choosing a knotless weave,
• by using braided versus twisted twine,
• by using poly plastic instead of DuPont nylon,
• and by not choosing a UV protected formulation.

Instead, we chose the netting that we did because it has well over 1,000 lb. burst strength which our supplier tested in Florida sunlight for 10 tears during which it retained 90% of its strength. Again, this adds significantly to our cost, but is part of what makes our entire system truly “commercial grade”, along with the 14 gauge powder coated steel oval bars and solid ABS hinges that we use. Our experience is that the nets simply do not wear out. We do offer replacement nets on our website since customers want to know that they are available, but frankly we rarely sell any of these and I have actually told customers who wanted to order extra nets at the time of their initial purchase to not even bother.

The bungees do take the brunt of the wear on the panels since they are also what create the dynamic, rebounding play surface. Having said that, even these do not very frequently require replacement. We sell packages of 20 on our website, which under normal use is more than enough for most of our customers.

I hope this helps you to understand that our Mamba GaGa Pits are truly engineered to be durable as well as light weight, portable, and easy to store. Many of our school customers also place high value on the fact that our walls are not opaque, which allows supervision of the children even from a distance, and doesn’t create a hiding place for unauthorized people. In fact, some insurance carriers do not allow for opaque structures and have forced the replacement of older playgrounds with modern, visually unobstructed equipment.

We could sell a cheaper product if we were willing to compromise on quality. And incidentally, be aware that plastic (and wood) will also deteriorate over time with UV exposure.