Illusion Boat Anchors

Anyone hear of or tried these out. Met one of the owners at Naci over Memorial Weekend, I worked out a trade for a few of them. They seemed to work well the entire weekend. They claim that wind, choppy water and currents do not effect them. Seems like a great idea, no anchor line to set, no shoreline to set, you just pound in 2 poles are your set for the weekend. Also no chance of running over either line and your spot will not be taken by another boater. Here's the website to check it out... www.illusionboatanchors.com

Yeah these were tested out at a Tigé Reunion on Powell a couple years ago, said they worked ok. But, what happens when your on a steep incline? Also, who wants to carry that crap around in the boat? Not me, or do you have to have someone carry them out and do it for? Too much of a pain and hassle. Never had issues using regular anchors. I guess if you gotta be different then they're cool. JMO

No need to be different, just a business trade for a new product that I would not mind trying out. If it works great, if not no skin off my back no money out my pocket.
He set his up at Naci in less then 5 minutes which was quicker then most people can set anchors and a shore line.

Interesting idea. Looks like an old school pile driver & a couple of galvanized fence posts? Worth a try I suppose. Still a process to get it setup, just a different process.

What are they trying to sell? Airjunky is right a trip to home depot and you will have all that. Interesting idea. But where we anchor it's 25 feet deep. Those boats are beached and when I beach j
I just tie off to a tree.

I agree a trip to HD and it's a DIY, for people how have the time. I spend 90% of my time in the Delta, shallow everywhere and very few trees to tie off too plus the current. If they work as expected I don't mind trying them out. Kinda cool to see the expresions on people's faces as they seem to think that the trailer is submurged under the boat.

Cool idea, but not for me. Would be perfect for someone who has waterfront property or people who hang out at shallow areas a lot. I don't know how useful they would be for the occasional anchor-er, though. Obviously limited to shallow water with the length, and you have to store them either in your locker (which I honestly wouldn't want to do with my ballast bag in there) or under the long part of the seats (which are full already). I also don't like the idea of a heavy steel pile driver in or around my boat (potential boat damage and rust if the coating wears off).

Danny

Looks like it would work great for the Delta or shoreline camping. How much is retail on those Johnny?

What about having to get in the water to set them. I usually don't have the liberty nor the time when I want to anchor.

Chris
www.wakejunky.com

No to mention if the water is choppy and or windy, trying to keep the boat close and slam one of those poles in the ground would be a pain...I can set my anchor in 15 mph winds and boat chop by myself if need be.

Your on a boat in the water, not sure why you couldn't just get out and set it outside the boat. Check their website they have pics of anchors being set.

Robert these are great for beach use. I have 5 sets coming, call me up I'll get you a set.

^^^^ U ever seen a wakeboard boat in 10-15 mph wind chop??

With the bimini and tower up , you wouldn't even be abel to hold it in one place, by the time you got the anchor in the ground the boat could be 10-20 yards away from you.

^^^If those are the conditions what are you doing out there any ways???

I'll give you a call Johnny!

"^^^If those are the conditions what are you doing out there any ways???"

What's wrong with those conditions? For some of us that's the norm in the afternoons.If we waited for perfect conditions we'd never get out.

Like i said above it's cool and all but i can't see doing it. I can set mine with shore line in under five np without having to jump in the water and try to hold the boat while i do it and yeah wakeboats are like a sailboat, it'll be gone. Besides to me it would be some what of a pain to get back between them after your done for the day, especially in the wind. I dunno they're not for me but it sounds like some people like them.

what i find cool about them is that you set them up at your base camp. say you head out for the day and end up finding a sweet cove to kick it in for a while. boom, you have your anchor on board and didnt even have to pull it up when you left base camp.

What happens when chop picks up and your boat bounces its rub rail on top of one of those posts. No thanks.

What happens when you're in that shallow water and the tide goes out....... Delta has large tides all the time. and some lakes change drastically overnight as well.

I use an anchor buddy (bungee style) with a small buoy on the end. When we leave the beach to ride just unclip and go. Its there when you get back.

I guess these illusion anchors may have some good uses, just not where we ride.

I dont know anyone that actually camps overnight on the delta and leaves their boat anchored and not moored at a dock... im sure people do, but I dont think i would

hahah HATERS are cool!! i am the creater of this product i have used them in strong current high and low tides and the choppiest of water.. for for depth concerns we offer a variety of lengths.. and for u diy people going to home depot and gettin a fence post is a real bad idea.. that was my first attempt and the poles bend and flare so fast u might as well of used a tooth pick.. before u hate on them try them... ull never go back and plus u look like a pro out there with the most exclusive anchors on the water!! DONT MESS WITH THE REST... JUST GET THE BEST! ILLUSION ANCHORS!!

Seriously? As the owner of the company, you represent it with THAT^^^^^^^^^^^? Capitalize your "I" spell out "you" and punctuate your contractions. If you can't do basic English, I don't trust you to engineer a product.
Have you ever seen Tim White leave such an unproffesional post? No chance. That sounds like a high school kid wrote it.

Travis,

I would delete that post ASAP before you loose any credibility you were gaining during this thread.

Didn't know forums required perfect English. As a business owner my self, I type much differently on a forum then I would an e-mail or letter to a customer. Don't judge people by their writing skills, never a true reflection of their ability. I know a great writer that has a hard time putting air in a flat tire. Wouldn't trust him to engineer jack crap, but he could write one heck of a how to column on almost anything.

Oh and I know carpenters, tile setters, painters that don't even know who to write in English and as a matter of fact can not even write in their native language. But that build some of the most expensive houses in the Silicon Valley.

HEhehe, just got a ton of sales with that post.

I have seen people use PVC like this and then they could break them down to a smaller size with couplers. They worked great but that was in a sandy beach area.

"Oh and I know carpenters, tile setters, painters that don't even know who to write in English and as a matter of fact can not even write in their native language"

Maybe they are illegal aliens. Just a thought. Do us a favor and call immigration on them.

Business men shouldn't use the term "haters" to criticism. You should see it as an opportunity to better your product. I seriously think those that use the term "hater" need to grow up. Also, you should try and act a little more professional. I like the product for boat camping, but don't think I like how you represent it.

Johnny,
It doesn't require perfect English. Not at all. Have you ever seen me post anything like that before? It isn't for a lack of poor English on this board, that's for sure! My critique was in reference to his position as the owner/designer/representative of the company. You proved my point when you said, "I type much differently on a forum then I would an e-mail or letter to a customer." We ARE his customers!!!!!!
If you want to be thought of as a professional, act like one. My first grader knows he has to capitalize "I" for crying out loud!

I agree with Chris. I am put off by his post. I won't say that I expect perfect English or grammar skills out of everyone (although it's a plus!!) However I do think the owner has cast himself in a bit of a negative light and seems pretty childish (at least for me, so I'm sure there are others). There are much better ways to go about a discussion than coming on here and calling people out for being "haters." In actuality, most of the posts were bringing up honest thoughts, opinions, etc. Instead of coming on here with "oh the haters, blah blah blah", the owner could have come on here and addressed any potential misconceptions about the product professionally and maybe helped open peoples' eyes to understand the product better. The owner also could have conceded that yes, in fact, maybe these aren't for everyone or every situation, but that he feels they're great for such-and-such and hey, give it a shot! Although, as said above, positive or negative, it's publicity for the company, so it probably won't matter either way.

Yeah I think this forum would have been a great place to take the concerns of the people and see if you couldn't adjust the product or increase education on how the product would work. Instead he came off like a HS kid and not someone I'd do business with. Negative publicity may work for PR, but in business it can do serious damage. If one person if off put and tells another then you lose both customers and the chain can continue down the line.

How much are they? Didnt see a price on them

Wow Travis, really not the best approach there.

Jason B,
I miss understood your post, it reads as though you were criticizing his grammar not his content. You, in your post, related his grammar to the ability to engineer a product, I do not believe that there is a correlation between the two.

"Capitalize your "I" spell out "you" and punctuate your contractions. If you can't do basic English, I don't trust you to engineer a product. "

Back to the topic:

This product may not be for everyone I know that, I'm trying it for the first time myself and still do not know what it can do.

Here is what I have gathered from comments on this thread:
Cons:
Deep water may be a problem
Rock Bottom lakes as well
Tide Changes (referred to as current by some)
Not practical for a day trip unless you are anchored for a long period of time (i.e. Ski Beach and the like)

Pros:
Great in shallow areas
Soft bottom as well
No lines to get in anyone's way or get chopped by a prop
Still have you anchor for use at the cove, beach what
Great for longer trips

(Message edited by johnny_jr on June 17, 2009)

(Message edited by johnny_jr on June 17, 2009)

I think you handled that well, and I think you're on the right path. Now you have things to test to either make the product better, create instructions to overcome them, or let your customers know the limitations.

Criticism isn't your enemy, it's just another learning tool

chris, this is not my product I started the thread because I traded product with them as a business transaction. I was looking for feedback from others on this board.

I have no affiliation with Illusion Anchors other then this transaction. If the product works I many make a business decision to purchase more if the demand is there. That's it in a nut shell.

QUOTE: This product may not be for everyone I know that, I'm trying it for the first time myself and still do not know what it can do.

Here is what I have gathered from comments on this thread:
Cons:
Deep water may be a problem
Rock Bottom lakes as well
Tide Changes (referred to as current by some)
Not practical for a day trip unless you are anchored for a long period of time (i.e. Ski Beach and the like)

Pros:
Great in shallow areas
Soft bottom as well
No lines to get in anyone's way or get chopped by a prop
Still have you anchor for use at the cove, beach what
Great for longer trips

Johnny, I understand this is not your product, but I am quoting your previous post to show that this is exactly what owner guy could have done instead of coming off like a DB. And who knows, maybe he could have enlightened us on some of those cons that maybe aren't really cons!!

Sorry, mixed you up with the owner. Disapointed that he didn't take the road you did.

After reading what Travis wrote i'm not turned off from the product like some of you are. I realize Travis is probably young, and this may be his first business venture so when he reads negative thoughts or concern his immediate reaction is to go on the defensive and call people haters. I agree the more practial aproach would have been like Johnny's listing the pro's and con's and maybe even dispelling some of the con's.
I think one of the really cool features of this product is your boat is not resting against the boat next to it, and if you have this anchor system just adding one more pole lets you park an aditional boat!
As for spelling, why does everyone turn into a english teacher when they get on here? i personally don't understand that? Look I forgot to capitalize my I in the previous sentence! lol Its not that big of a deal. If you understood how the brain worked you'd realize spelling is over rated. In fact, aoccdring to rscheearch, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are! After all the eye only transmitts 1% of what it sees to the visual cortex! lol

another classic WW thread......this ones for you Robert.

Did you konw you’re a guiens? Jsut the fcat taht you can atllacuy raed •••• psot porves taht fcat. The huamn mnid is so pufowerl it can dcodee •••• txet eevn tguohh eervy sglnie wrod is slepled iocenrtclry. The one cavaet is taht the frist and lsat lertets are pervresed in erevy wrod. Cidrgbame Uitesirnvy cetoudncd a sduty and fnuod taht the biarn deos not raed eevry snlige lteetr, but wodrs as a wohle.

haha, the red dots were actually the word "this" they spelled it
tom, ida, henery, sam,
and it auto blocked it, lol.

So does anybody know what the cost is for the system?

I'm going to guess to much since it hasn't been posted yet. Whoops there I go again. Hatin

Right around 200 to 250 is what i would value these at. truthfull i have even asked another partner is the guy I talked to. simply asked for a trade i asked for 5 systems and he was good with it deal in my book and his.

I will be getting to use these anchors for the first time this weekend so I will get you some feedback on how the process goes. I do know that the lake I will be at and the location of our camp does get fairly choppy at times being that boats are driving by at riding/cruising speed no less than 50 yards out so I believe that I will get a descent idea of how well they handle different situations. I know that I have been there and the wind has picked up and we had to go reset a typical anchor with an anchor buddy in the middle of the night because the anchor came loose and the boat was on the shore. So if we get that weather at night this will definitely be a testament to how well they perform.

Am I the only one that read Bryans' whole post to see if I could understand it? Hilarious

I didn't know there was anything wrong with Bryans' post? Was there some gramar error or something I overlooked?

I do find it funny that the spelling filter bans •••• wether it is spelled forward or backwards. I just had to spell it backwards to see if it was true! lol

Its true, its true! Thats crazy we can't cuss in reverse here! lol

LMAO!!! ^^^^^^^^

back to the topic i like your idea of using these to go boat to boat instead of tying off. i for one wont tie off to another boat ever, but im about as anal as they get. i can see these working really well over at the beach when your plan is to chill for a while.

Thats exactly what I think about using them at the delta Bryan. Not only can you tie off together without touching each other but you can be stable without being on the shore

Good morning everyone.. I apologize for my previous post.. and for calling certain individuals "haters." Byran, Johnny, and Jason I especially appreciate your support. Johnny infact your list of pros and cons is pretty accurate. Let me add to them..
PRO's
additional boat safety at beach
Great in shallow areas
Soft bottom as well
No lines to get in anyone's way or get chopped by a prop
Still have you anchor for use at the cove, beach whatever
Great for longer trips
great for people "as myself" who hate to beach there boat.. it allows the boat to be set back a foot or so back for the shore so you do not wreck the hull
multiple boats may be supported by adding additional poles on either side..
As for a rebuttle against the CON's
rock bottom shores, are not a problem, the end of the pole is cut at an angle.. in testing we actually pounded through an assphault street. (maybe this should be more of a PRO in some minds)
as for the tides or current... over the aluminum pole there is a pvc pole with a pad on it for the boats protection and the pvc pole is able to slide up and down accordingly. ( I had these in blythe and in the time I was there the river went up over 3 feet and dropped over 4 feet in a period of a weekend.. never once did the anchors need to be reset or did the boat ever touch bottom.
and for deep water adventures we do offer an 8 10 and 12 foot pole systems depending on your local preference..

Again I apologize for my unprofessional first thread.. and thank you all of you for your concerns and comments. If you have further questions comments or concerns please feel free to ask...

If anyone wants to try a trial with this system talk to Johnny or myself and I will send him a loaner pair or I will send yourself a loaner pair..
Again my apologies

Additional Thank You to Robert I appreciate your positive outlook and help!

Nicely put.

Sounds like these would be great for a lot of people. I definitely understand where people are coming from with not wanting to tie off to other boats or beach the boat. This is a nice way to keep yourself totally segregated from people and shore!! I don't tie up with boats, though (or anchor for that matter!), but if I did, these would be cool. Would be awesome for a houseboat trip to have a "home base" as I think someone put it above.

Good job Travis way to capitalize all your i's. lol You even spelled 'you' correctly unfortunately you meant to spell 'your'! Gonna have to call the grammar cops on u! lol

As for ur post, nicely written, and that is exactly what most people on this forum expect a post from a manafacturer to look like.

Travis-I think I have seen you using this system at Lake San Antonio a few times. White and yellow Malibu, right? I should have asked you about it then. I could definitely see how this anchoring system would work great at this particular lake. I'd love to give these a test run, as I'm actually gonna be at that lake in a few weeks. I'll try emailing you. My email is in my profile.

Good post Travis. I think that was a very perfessional, and a good way to get information out about both the pros and cons of your product. Have actually looked into your product before and like the idea. Does it have a carrying case to help protect the boat?

Nick yes we have been at san anton many of times with them.. The yellow and white Malibu is my partners boat..Ill send you an email shortly..
Chris.. We do have carrying cases but we found the more of a pain to use than anything.. But yes we do have accessories for them to carry..

Much more gooder Travis.