If you love to spoil your kids, the idea of having a mini-water park in your backyard may have occurred to you. Too bad most water slides for inground pools cost thousands of dollars. However, if you’re looking for a cheaper alternative, an inflatable pool slide is one option to consider – as long as you don’t expect it to last forever.
What to Look for in an Inflatable Pool Slide
An inflatable pool slide for an inground pool is just like the blowup backyard pools that just about every kid used at one time or another. And just like those backyard blowup pools, inflatable pool slides are intended for kids. They typically won’t support the weight of an adult (or even larger teenagers). Overloading the slide is a quick way to damage it.
An inflatable swimming pool slide sits at the edge of your pool, allowing kids to scamper up the back and slide directly into the water. Because these things take a lot of air, you’ll probably need some sort of pump to fill them up (unless you want to spend all day blowing into a tube). Some slides even come with their own inflation device to help you out.
Along with ease of setup, the important thing to look for is safety. A inflatable pool side should feature a section that fits over the edge of the pool to prevent scrapes and bruises (or worse).
Temper Your Expectations
As with any blowup device that has seams, the service life of an inflatable slide is short. This is definitely not something you should think of as an investment along the lines of a diving board, but rather something that provides a little extra fun for a limited time. Plan on your slide lasting one or two summers – if you get any more use out of it, you’re lucky.
An inflatable pool slide can be a great purchase for a child’s birthday party, as you can probably get your money’s worth from that single use (it beats hiring a clown). Any use you get out of it beyond that is a bonus.
Inflatable Pool Slides Are What they Are
Most inflatable pool slides cost around $100. If that sounds like a reasonable price to provide extra entertainment for the kids for a summer – or for a birthday party – then making the purchase might be a good idea. If, on the other hand, you’re in search of something that will be a permanent part of your pool, you may want to look elsewhere.
