The best buoys are the official AWSA slalom buoys available through AWSA Headquarters. They are made of heavy tether-type plastic with strong molded attachment rings. The official course contains 22 buoys, generally red-orange for the skier turn buoys and the entrance and exit gates and yellow for the boat guide buoys. For a practice course you may wish to use anti-freeze bottles or other sturdy plastic containers. However, do not attempt to use plastic milk jugs, since they are not durable enough.
Most skiers use quarter-inch thick polypropylene ski line for the anchor lines.
It does not rot, stretch, or shrink. Be aware that knots in ski line can come untied easily so it is advisable to splice rather than tie the line, especially at the anchor. The anchoring method used and the amount anchor line and other materials required depend upon the depth of the water and the amount of water level fluctuation expected. With minimal fluctuation, the recommended method is to anchor sub-buoys about three feet below the surface and attach the surface buoys to them with about a foot and a half of some type of elastic. The least expensive elastic that has proven effective is a strip of inner tube.