What's the best step fender?

[FabioC]

A step fender is an essential piece of equipment for us to guarantee safe in and out to and from the boat and the dock (because of a combination of high freeboard and low dock...).

We have been using the fender2step, and it works great. However, it is apparently a bit "temperamental", since it may fail abruptly (typically, the joint with the "black part" lets go) and dump you either in the water or on the dock, not necessarily something to look forward to.

Two boats at my marina experienced this kind of failure, and there are reviews online pointing out this problem as well. What seems to make the problem worse, according to what I was told by those who experienced it, is that there are no real warning signs of wear, the joint just fails suddenly.

I was looking for alternatives to fender2step (or to its smaller brother fenderstep), and came across the Plastimo 2 step ladder. From a cursory look, the Plastimo 2 seems to have a better design of the joint, so it may not experience the same type of failure of the fender2step.

I cannot find any review of the Plastimo 2 online. Does anybody here have any experience with it?

[Wavehiker]

I have Plastimo 3-step. No problems so far Would prefer to see step slightly wider

[a64pilot]

We have the three step, it was only about $5 more and is enough to get out of the dinghy too.
Too soon to tell, we haven’t had it long enough, but I agree, step is very narrow, just barely enough for your foot.